Grundig TK6 Reel to Reel Tape Recorder repair

[@Pyridox]

The old Grundig Co. made excellent equipment. Their old shortwave radios were really good.

[@12voltvids]

Pete Ciallella Yes the old grundig gear was very good. I have an old Normende stereo I will service when I can dig it out of my garage and get it on the bench. That one has been in the family since new. In pristine condition.

[@ltshering]

i am a regular viewer if your channel , i am writing to you from India, with your video of SONY TC 540 i repaired my SONY TC 350 motor issue by replacing 1.5uf motor capacitor , i am not from technical background , but your videos can help a lot to persons who have interests in electronics. you are an inspiration to us

[@georgethomas9436]

I so much liked this video. Amazing that it works so well and never been serviced like you said. Keep them coming.

[@12voltvids]

Yes this shows how well these old beasts were made. Not like the crap that they make today. One of my favorite tape recorders of all time is my Panasonic NV9200. That would be a video tape recorder that uses the huge 3/4" cassettes. There is a shot of it unloading a tape in my opening logo. Those things are massive, and it weighs about 80 LBs.

[@stevenmann9769]

I agree about the caps. If an old piece of equipment is working and sounds good it is good.

[@CassetteMaster]

Beautiful recorder, and well made! I have the same model, and for some reason, a previous owner had removed its battery compartment, and I had to make a makeshift compartment for it.

[@markanderson350]

Fantastic sound and huge flywheel for a tiny machine

[@maicod]

nice to see this design being used long before cassette players/recorders appeared. It looks so indentical in design with the buttons on the top.

[@12voltvids]

Too bad it isn't stereo

[@maicod]

yes I noticed its mono only :(

[@rudderless1975]

Great video - really useful, thanks! Now I just need to convince my father-in-law its OK to open up his TK6 to give it a good clean.....

[@pablobaldomir9430]

Good reel to reel, good mic and good amp and speaker

[@frankowalker4662]

Only just found your channel. Great vid. I just orderd one of these off ebay, then I decided to google the model and your vid popped up. Being in the UK, I will have to put an AC/DC switch on it. (But I might try a relay switch that latches when on mains).

[@SoundsVintage]

Quality machine. Excellent engineering and sound. Mine only runs on batteries because the internal transformer is open. I've hidden a 9v d/c barrel in the right hand compartment to save on batteries. I wonder why they restricted the max reel diameter given the size of the unit

[@12voltvids]

Portable

[@manueldi_77]

Wow. This was built for eternity.

[@Musicradio77Network]

I also have my Grundig TK 247 and it works good, but the works fine, and when I tried the tape, the music is a tad slow due to the DC motor. There’s a voltage switch on the back where you can switch the voltage from 110 to 220 volts and another switch for 50 to 60 hertz depending on your country like if you in the UK, it will be 50hz. and 220w.

[@tinicum54]

Grundigs were made well but a real pain in the ass to repair, for me, in the early 70's,

[@RobertKohut]

Nice!! The speed selector knob is upside down. Great video!

[@Gioagla]

Little piece of gold✌️🌅😎😉

[@12voltvids]

I don't use these old units, more of display pieces. Same goes for old cameras. With today's technology we all too quickly forget what we used a few years ago.

[@edithboozy1000]

Remove the cover, expose the head, rotate the shaft.

[@petemoss1938]

Not quite as rugged as a UHER but pretty damn close -great condition for its age!

[@zx8401ztv]

It sounds very good on it's recordings considering the mic input isn't a perfect match for the line output :-D i assume the mic is acting as a 600 ohm load or so. Shame about the meter, it looks very similar to the S-meter in old c.b radios, perhaps a scale swap over and series resistor would make an s-meter work?

[@12voltvids]

zx8401ztv I was thinking the same thing. I actually have an old browning mobile cb radio somewhere that has a meter of about the same size. Just have to find it. If it hasn't been tossed that is.

[@zx8401ztv]

I used to repair a lot of c.b radios, i like the real moving coil s-meter better, led bargraphs are not quite as nice :-(. Im supprised that most meters lasted, a moving coil meter vibrated to hell in cars/trucks.

[@franciscooliveira7089]

Hello, please i need help! I have one of this, and it seems to be working reasonably well, but i listen to a ton of motor noise, much louder than the music. Do you have any idea what it might be?

[@channelsixtysix066]

The cassette recorder you had, before there were cassette recorders.

[@ltshering]

i will sure try to repair my Lafayette reel to reel

[@TheGuitologist]

Can I play my guitar thru it?

[@12voltvids]

You could, yes. Just rewire the microphone jack.

[@TheGuitologist]

I know. Just kidding. :P

[@dhpbear2]

37:04 - "Plug unit into itself to power from battery" :)

[@zakhummus]

My played fell while replacing a belt, now it won't fit snug, how do I set it in place again?

[@litzdog911]

Sweet!

[@rudderless1975]

Do you know if it's possible to get an adaptor to convert the output DIN jack to 3.5mm or USB?

[@frankowalker4662]

ebay is full of DIN plugs to 3.5mm socket adapters

[@kgsalvage6306]

When you say it's a half track head, Does that mean mono?

[@12voltvids]

KG Salvage Yes mini, and record on half the tape so you can turn it over as opposed to a full track head which I only runs 1way.

[@Felix2417425]

Half track is actually a 2-track system. Can be played also on stereo machine if you listen to only one channel at a time.

[@kgsalvage6306]

Felix2417425 What happens if you play a stereo tape on that machine . Does it only play one channel ?

[@rawr51919]

Plays both channels at once unless you mute one of the channels. Both playing can result in an unintelligible aural trainwreck, so to speak.

[@frankowalker4662]

@@kgsalvage6306 It will play one channel of side 1 and one channel of side 2 (but backwards). Sounds awful!

[@흑석김용호]

항시 독일제 미터는 자석이떨어지더라 The German meter always dropped the magnet.

[@maicod]

is this a 220V/50hz device ?

[@12voltvids]

Both 110 and 220. @ 37:16 you will see, wight next to the fuse where I am pointing the selector jumper to select the voltage.

[@maicod]

oh sorry I am still watching the vid and haven't yet reached that point. I guess you do have an inverter for 220V/50hz only devices ?

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

That fabric belt is actually Nylon and will degrade and break and should break and I should know as I had a CROWN-CORDER Reel to Reel and the fabric belt broke and I tried to fix the belt using typewriter ribbon shortened to the right size it worked alright but there was a speed change and that snapped also so the whole unit was dumped.

[@12voltvids]

Don't know if it is nylon or some other woven fabric, but it has a felt backing to allow for torque regulation by slipping.

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

12voltvids not on the CROWN -CORDER reel to Reel tape decks

[@kgsalvage6306]

Should have cleaned the pots.

[@12voltvids]

KG Salvage I did. Camera wasn't running. Sometimes I miss the beep that tells me the camera is rolling and when I pressed it to stop recording I actually started it up. So I missed the shot. If you heard any noise after it was reassembled it was just the cleaner hadn't worked it's way totally into the control yet. It is quiet now.

[@jmh47slc]

First