Akai GX-260D Repair & Restoration Part 1

[@sammcrae8892]

I am sooo glad I found your channel. I just bought this exact real to Reel from a second hand shop in a fit of nostalgic madness, and I'm going to have to go through and clean every last bit of it to try and put it back in full service. Luckily it actually works right now, but it's a little glitchy on the buttons and stuff at times, so I think a good cleaning and lube would certainly be a good idea. Thank you for your video Amiga! Via con Dios!

[@alevanbergeijk6618]

Those beautiful hands curing this machine! My GX-260D will be repaired with the help of your instructions. Although mine seems to have mechanical problems.

[@MsMadLemon]

It's a nice Machine, I hope you manage to get it fixed :o)

[@SDsailor7]

If I buy an Akai 260D that i have my eye on i will refer to this video to do the troubleshooting/repair if needed. Thank you Maddie!

[@bilhep]

I admire your determination to fool around! One thought; It would be nice for you to say WHY you're doing a process and what your intended outcome is. The feeling, as I'm watching you is that you're a factory-technician, working on your own. You WILL get better at the video production. I used to have a Sony TC-630, Team a4010S, 3340 and a Pioneer RT-707; never had the courage you have!

[@MsMadLemon]

From what you're saying, it seems like you didn't even watch the video, I'm explaining every single thing as i'm doing it. I explained in the beginning of the video that i'm doing a restoration. not fooling around.

[@bilhep]

@@MsMadLemon I did watch it! I promise!

[@tough213]

Great job you are lots of fun to watch in my opinion it is best to watch a person that makes it fun to fix vintage gear and you do that and you are very skilled and I learn lots from watching you thank you for all your posts and keep them coming and a very happy holidays and merry Christmas and new years

[@AttilaTheHun333333]

The "green freakin frog" cracked me up...you are genuinely funny! I recently purchased an Akai 625, so your restoration videos will come handy some day. Thanks! Maybe a tip...The solder wick works even better with a little bit of flux I believe.

[@MsMadLemon]

Haha ;o)) I just saw the Akai 625, it looks goood! Yes indeed I was using flux and it does make it better, thanks! :o)

[@edwhite7475]

ive been using it dry for 20 years, and its kind of a pain in the ass that way.....wow....thanks for the tip-

[@3butalcomp3]

At 3:20 she says "dude what makes this thing so frickin heavy". Young lady is a trip. Pretty too.

[@RetroHawk]

Nice work there appears to be so much more to older electronics compared to nowadays.I opened a vcr recently to clean the heads i didnt get very far.The solder wick is brilliant i use that myself before i found id just scrape the solder off with the iron tip as the suckers were hopeless 😀

[@MsMadLemon]

Thanks! Yes, lately everything is just surface mount non serviceable. I like the fact that you can just open the cover off an old amp and tinker with it. You opened a VCR? Brave! Haha my comfort-ish zone is audio electronics. My last memory of tinkering with a VCR was just opening it, looking at it, then closing it up again and moving it very slowly to the side. ;o))

[@SDsailor7]

So Maddie, how easy is to use the solder wick? I have the solder sucker pen and it seems to do the work. I have never used the wick I hope you show in the video how to use it.

[@hgrunt100]

Hahah those feet running away is such a problem I feel haha, those are always escaping me

[@louiswhite8375]

Hi Louis here. Was watching you’re video on restoration of the of the x-260d, you were very good in explaining what you were doing appreciate the Clarity in your explication. I have an x-360d which have a vary loud feedback problem, perhaps you can me some idea as to solving this problem, would greatly appreciate it.

[@zoltardreamusic2552]

Muchas gracias, amiga! Greetings from Spain; once again you make electronics easier for everyone! :-) at least, when seeing your interesting videos, but, perhaps the thing that most surprised me was the spanish group Mecano music at the end, one of the most important bands in Spain in the 80s! I found very surprising those connectors at the bottom of the equipment, that is a nice way to destroy the RCA'S 😲 I see your fight against some English words, wondering which one is correct, it often happens to me the same way :-D Take care, my Amiga; I wish I could be that skilled on electronics... I started studying it when I was 18 or so... but I stopped doing it the first year... I regretted it some years later and from then until now :-( but since I started again towerizing my Amiga 1200 by myself in 2016 I learned much via phorums, webs, youtube... not the same but I did some incredible things I never thought I ever could so I feel somehow proud of it :-)

[@mrfurrutia]

Hola, I just got an older Akai 260D, I have test run the machine and so far looks like it's working (plays audio, and records apparently partially) did you have a list of the capacitors and transistors that you replaced?

[@congryful]

Hello,I have a problem with Akai GX-260D,the automatic reverse,is not working,only manually,when i push the button.So what can be the problem?.I wait your answer,thank you very much,my best regards.

[@johnstark5324]

It is cool to see a woman doing this stuff! I thought about your amp problem. Have you checked the cinch plug from the heads? These have a tendency to crack and cause problems with the input from the heads.

[@MsMadLemon]

Thank you John! I checked the plug earlier but I think i'm going to test the plug and socket for continuity by terminals either side. The person who gave me this said it had an issue however jiggling wires helped. It could indeed be the plug you mentioned.

[@SDsailor7]

Should I change the variable resistors on my Akai M-10 amp and preamp board?

[@hassankate6187]

لدي جهاز Akai Gx260 احيانا وعند ضغط زر التشغيل يخرج فقط صوت دون ان يعمل الجهاز واحيان يعمل بصورة صحيحة علما ان ليطة الحساس مضغوطة

[@josecastejon8428]

we're do I Get my tape Akai repaire no sound?

[@helmutdurst6770]

Great story about your retauration. I guess I have the same problem with my Akai 260D and would like to replace all the spare parts as you did. Unfortunately I couldn't find any provider for the spare parts yet. Could you help me out and give some advice what to do to find these electronic articles. I have shown the spare parts list to some providers here in town (Hannover, Germany) unfortunately they could help me for all parts. Some capacitors are in stock but others not. For the Transistors Type 2SC711/1312 no chance at all not available in town. Any advice from your end what I can do to get the spare parts from? Greetings Helmut

[@MsMadLemon]

Actually the two transistors have substitutes: 2SC1312 you can replace with a 2SC2240GR (or BL) or you can replace it with a BC550C (but the pinouts are different on the substitutes so do check them before replacing) 2SC711 you can replace it with a 2SC945 or a KSC945C .. again do check the pinouts before replacing. Like you I had lost hope searching for the original transistors but these substitutes were a little bit more easier to find. I couldnt get them from town here either but instead I tried ebay, and generally they tended to be from international sellers or specialists... The Capacitors are just the usual values, again I get them from ebay. I wish you the best of luck with your restoration. Greetings.

[@helmutdurst6770]

Many thanks for your response. Makes my life much easier. In particular the proposed substitutes BC550C /KSC945C are very much easier to find from a bunch of website providers, even in Germany. I will start purchasing proccess and hope to kick-off the replacement process by March. In the meantime my wife and me have planned to visit Kuba to enjoy in the caribbean sea and relax for the great moment to hear a clear sound out of our old Akai 260D. Take care, good luck for all your future projects and thanks for your help. Helmut

[@MsMadLemon]

It's my pleasure, i'm glad to help... Wow, I hope you both enjoy your time in Cuba :o)

[@macrocomteknik5552]

Hello.. My name is Mustafa.I need your help. ;) I have a reel of 260 g of reel. it does not seem to work and is not troubled.And it starts with listening and midler is no problem.I do not get enough to try and have a matt sound. I do not have a shrill sound. I get the recording lp den lp sound is tremendous, but when the recording is over and listening from the roll, there is no treble. how can you help. Thank you very much in advance. I do not know what I have to do ..

[@СергейДеточенко-ц8т]

Не говорю по-английски,но очень интересно и приятно,впервые вижу девушку,ковыряющую подобную технику.

[@godfreypoon5148]

Are you excited about the possibly upcoming adventure of levels, equalization and bias setup? And perhaps (hopefully not) lapping the heads? It's lots of fun!! (Actually it is pretty fun.)

[@MsMadLemon]

I would love to be at the stage where I can do all that, unfortunately i'm having issues with this, I hear popping and squealing in the speakers. A friend just told me it sounds like something called "Motor boating" (oscillation or noise of some sort) lapping the heads means aligning the heads?

[@godfreypoon5148]

Aaaghh :( Oscillation. That can be such a pain. It could be some dirty contacts in a switch, if you're lucky, or it could be some obscure component somewhere that you find after untold hours of frustration... I would recommend a thorough visual inspection, making sure all connectors are seated, no wires have been broken loose, etc... I wish you luck! Lapping heads is for when you have played far too many tapes, and the heads are physically worn down to a shape that no longer makes contact with the tape. You lose the high frequencies, usually unevenly between the left and right channels, and you can make it a bit better by pushing the tape harder onto the heads with a piece of cloth or something. The lapping procedure involves taking the heads off and grinding them back into shape using progressively finer grades of emery paper (wet). It is a risky procedure, as if you need to grind them too far to get them back into shape, you can find you have gone through critical parts of the head and turned it into junk. I would not recommend this for the faint hearted!! I have trashed one set of irreplaceable heads this way. :(

[@MsMadLemon]

Yikes! I dont think i'm brave enough to sand paper the heads :o) besides after the playback and recording test I did before opening it apart, they sounded great. But it's sad you had to trash heads. :o( From what I see they're freakin expensive! Haha i've already experienced quite a few hours of frustration and already got half the footage for part two of this due to me cursing this thing and poking it with sticks. But at least I know what it is now or a direction to go into and that it's not a totally unusual problem with reel to reel. I'm learning as i'm going along. Thank you! :o)

[@AttilaTheHun333333]

+Godfrey Poon Don't these Akai reel to reels have glass-heads?

[@godfreypoon5148]

Attila theHun Some of them do. Not sure about this one specifically, though. None of mine do.

[@andrewthestarfam9668]

your amazing love your videos ,keep making them best wishes

[@MsMadLemon]

I'm glad you enjoyed, thank you! :o)

[@flyentity]

I very much enjoy your videos, thanks for them. What I don't quite understand, regarding this video, relates to replacing the variable resistors. If you trust them enough to measure their resistances in order to replicate on the new ones, why replace them at all? I have to admit I know next to nothing about electronics, but this seems highly illogical to me. Thanks again for your fine work.

[@SDsailor7]

I hate working on pcb's when they are attached to all those wires. But i guess is better than removing all the wires from the boards.

[@SDsailor7]

What do the variable resistors/trimmers do? anyone know?Thank you

[@matambale]

Just to update your list of "things with legs": (1) Servisol Cans (2) Pens and let's not forget (3) Servisol nozzle tubes

[@virgilwilliams8082]

Her Reel to reel was invaded by Disco dust bunnies. Lol

[@pablobaldomir9430]

great work !

[@VintagehifiistanbulBlogspot]

You're doing a good job

[@MsMadLemon]

Thank you!

[@robappleby583]

I know this is many years later, but if you're using the resistance as measured from the component, then why change the component at all? Surely you'd change the component if it was not giving the right reading.

[@MsMadLemon]

Because the component is unreliable and prone to failure. I assume you're talking about the skeleton type variable resistors.

[@ohmmeters]

Charming!

[@evgenykeller1018]

What songs are playing from 14:47 ?

[@MsMadLemon]

The song is a Spanish 80s Mecano - La fuerza del destino

[@PhenixBriggs]

Keepin it reel

[@GeigerCounterVirtualMuseum]

New sub here. Sure is a lot of caps to replace.

[@MsMadLemon]

Welcome! Indeed there were quite a lot.

[@akaicollector694]

wow your are the best i love your videos i recorded it on vhs yours video for archife nice

[@MsMadLemon]

Thank you :o)

[@МихаилКубочкин-ы8т]

Молодец ,любит видимо винтажные аппараты и даже ремонт делает,ну и ну !

[@AlexdaCunha]

Impressive skills you have! :) are you electrical engineer?

[@MsMadLemon]

No, i've just done it as a hobby thats all, and thank you :o)

[@AlexdaCunha]

hmm... I think you are saying that only to humiliate me :-D because I am an Electrical engineer... and my soldering skills are terrible and I have a bunch of vintage decks and turntables to repair and I did not dare yet to open them :-P

[@MsMadLemon]

Hahah the first time I soldered was when I was 10 years old, which might explain that... you ask me to do mathematics and formulas, ohms law is as far as I can go, after that, feel free to take over as i'm sure you're the expert there :o))

[@AlexdaCunha]

I believe most electrical engineers will only remember the ohms law after some time they finish their studies =0) You have quite interesting videos. Soon I finish to watch all of them. My favourite subject is the vintage audio but the other topics are also fun. You got yourself a new subscriber :-)

[@leocruz3202]

Gostei muito do seu vídeo 😊

[@costicaciulin3181]

Super

[@t0nito]

A woman interested in electronics? I'm in love! :P A question, why did you replace the variable resistors? I mean if they were bad then the values you are measuring before replacing would be bad anyway.

[@MsMadLemon]

I was advised these these "skeleton type pots" arent the best of quality, so to simply replace them with cermet ones.

[@t0nito]

Ok cool! Keep up the good work!

[@pablobaldomir9430]

salutes madlemon

[@hennessy4666]

when u think u have seen it all , u find a beautiful lady restoring a reel ............my wife shoud see this, instead of saying ....another one? u have too much ger already........

[@pablobaldomir9430]

oh sorry , mi english is bad , you have fb??

[@Rassokhin70]

Молодец!

[@pablobaldomir9430]

you are fb??

[@godfreypoon5148]

"Cermet" is how I pronounce it... Uhh.. That wasn't helpful, was it? I mean not "Kermit". "Ceramic-Metallic".

[@MsMadLemon]

;o)))

[@alexandrossotiropoulos5621]

This job is difficult and complicated.

[@MsMadLemon]

It is, I wasn't sure I was going to succeed at first, but all is well now.

[@alexandrossotiropoulos5621]

When you repair something nicely then you want to repair another. When i go walking, I find an old hifi on and off and I am happy when I fix it ang give it again some value. Then I either donate it or sell for a low prise.

[@sylvaind9086]

I guess there are a lot of "stupid" parts...😁

[@wernerkriesel9486]

Das Ganße in Deudsch.