MORE ARGOS CUSTOMER RETURNS to FIX - Can I Make More ££$$€€

Hi, in this video I attempt to fix more Argos customer returns.
Will anything be fixable or will it all be broken beyond repair.
Let's find out.
If you would like to support these videos, please click here / mymatevince
Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.

[@radiologe9271]

if you record your own voice on a tape recorder which is too slow or fast your voice always sounds correct because you play it back on the same recorder. The Motor has a regulator inside the Metal Case. That´s why the Motor does not respose to different Voltages. The Speed of the Motor can be adjusted by the small Hole on the Motor.There is a potentiometer behind the hole.

[@sdjmchattie]

Exactly what I came here to say. Slow tape will be slow during recording and playback. You need to listen back on a known good tape player.

[@LIFEbytheMEKONG]

Never noticed this comment I commented the same as soon as he did it hehe

[@AndyHullMcPenguin]

The speed controller may have failed. The motors with speed controller are (or at least were) available. This is probably a clone of one of the higher end motors, and the speed controller is probably not very high quality.

[@Gary-Seven-and-Isis-in-1968]

That's what I came to say and it really annoyed me that Vince had no idea..🤬

[@flusensieb244]

I thought the same.

[@adamdavies163]

The motor on the tape player will have it's own speed regulator, a small screwdriver into the hole on the back of the motor will allow speed adjustment (normally). The blue head is the permanent magnet Erase head.

[@terrygee210]

Beat me to it! I can remember the very early cassette decks that used centrifugal governors, bob weights which flew out and opened contacts, to control the speed.

[@markpirateuk]

Clearly visible in the video, I thought he would have spotted it?

[@dlarge6502]

I think the issue was the spring here. The pinch roller was being quite deformed and was pushing the capstan!

[@Dr.-Smart]

@@terrygee210 he beat me aswell haha

[@williamgreen5575]

A recording made on a slow machine WILL always sound correct when played back on the same machine. This doesn't mean the machine is working correctly.

[@TrueBrit1]

The only thing we can deduce from the last few videos, is that if somebody gives you a birthday or Xmas present and it's made by BUSH, you're going to be devastated. And inconsolable. You may as well send it straight to Vince, unopened, with a note saying "Vince, fix this. Cheers".

[@s0dfish110]

Hahahaha

[@WolfiesDen0827]

The motor has the adjustment, but a lot also have a secondary adjuster on the board.

[@richardnowak2941]

The left side of the pinch roller retention spring should be in the tab on the upper left. It was not installed correctly and is stuck in the wrong position and adding increased tension on the roller and slowing the tape.

[@MrBIG4D]

This is exactly correct. You can see the spring end that is fixed is under the tape head, nut under the the catch tab where it should be. Thats the problem right there.

[@tonycross8101]

Hi, the excessive pinch roller pressure on the tape player at time 25:00 You were nearly right if you look at the other end of the spring you can see it's not seated in the little notch on the chassis. It's jammed in the play head.

[@MarcelSchr]

21:21 I'm not sure if it will help, but when I once disassembled a tape motor, I found a circuit board with a potentiometer that control the speed of the motor under the metal cover at the back. With this, you can usually readjust the motor's speed. There's a small hole in the motor, so maybe you can access the potentiometer through it, allowing you to solve the issue without having to fix the mechanical problem.

[@Mymatevince]

Nice one 👌👍👍

[@wrathofbod]

i thought the hole in the top of the motor was a speed adjustable pot?

[@Karthor.]

@26:32 But when you're recording with the same tape player it wouldn't be any difference even if it was slow

[@staciesims9339]

Agree you need to record on another recorder thats working and compare on the slow one

[@paultasker7788]

Yep. Because it will record slow and play slow as well. However if it records slow and you play it back in another tape player it will sound fast or you could record on that and play it back and it would sound slow. Either would be fine.

[@Mymatevince]

Very good point Karthor!!!

[@Boogie_the_cat]

I was gonna suggest this. TY

[@technixbul]

21:15 No the motor have speed regulator inside, no need to mess with this Tanashin mechanism. You see that black hole on the top? Put a small flat screwdriver throgh it, throgh black foam, there is a potentiometer that regulates the speed, but don't touch the the case (it is grounded) and potentiometer at the same time or you'll burn the regulator. No need to be afraid of transformers in linear PSUs, as they are well isolated and live hot connections are on the primary coil, buried deep under the secondary coil which is wounded over with capton tape. Yo can't touch live wires there. 48:08 missing battery voltage feedback to MCU = bad resistor or bad connection. Oh well ... 🙃

[@vitor900000]

44:25 If you look at the datasheets there is a code for the voltage output. 18 = 1.8v 28 = 2.8v 30 = 3.0v 33 = 3.3v 43:55 The last number on your chip is / 33 with means its a 3.3v.

[@ErrorMessageNotFound]

If it's rated for 6 volts and they are running it up to 8 volts that's why it failed. I wouldn't put that model back in there if the one you put is properly rated to handle the voltage. It could have been a bad batch from the factory. Maybe somebody loaded the wrong reel of regulators in the pick and place machine. It would have probably worked long enough to get past QC, if there was any.

[@vitor900000]

@@ErrorMessageNotFound Made in China = made as cheap as possible. They don't care about ratings. As long as it works for a while its good enough. They know that no one will ever claim warranty on this kind of cheap junk. Anyway the code I talked about refers to output voltage not input...

[@madamada888]

@@ErrorMessageNotFound I agree. Putting the original back will certainly bring the fault back.

[@Wenlocktvdx]

The pressure roller can make quite a difference to the drag on the motor. Definitely the spring was pushing it too hard and increasing friction in the capstan bearing. With the radio that fixed itself, I wonder if the switch was failing to make contact or there was a dry joint that decided to make contact. Typical any disturbance can “fix” a contact fault. Nice fixes again!

[@renatocamargo5756]

Vince, about the "self-healing" radio, my guess is that the problem was the switch that blocks the batteries when the AC cable is plugged in.

[@madamada888]

It might also be a partially shorted capacitor, micro crack. The transformer has a limited amount of output power, but when the batteries were inserted, the inrush took care of the short. Happened to me once, and I realized after the short was back. It was a 0805 100nF capacitor. Also heating it would clear the fault.

[@befuddledhodler6305]

Yes agreed. He needs to try the radio on AC again, but without the batteries. I don't think it is fixed.

[@TheStanHill]

That would be a perfect explanation if it wasn’t working on batteries - the switch just disconnects them. But it wasn’t working on the AC instead, so it can’t be related to the switch.

[@toomanyinterests]

I've had that issue with a radio, the one I had must've been designed for a plug that was a bit larger, or the switch was worn out, because it would only work when the cord was twisted about to depress the switch enough.

[@exetermetaluna1881]

That black spot on the back of the motor is where you insert a tiny flat screwdriver to adjust the speed.

[@TheDefpom]

@48:00 look for a resistor divider that goes to a pin on the uC, (not after the voltage regulator), the divider will be tapped off before the regulator so the uC can see the battery voltage.

[@Mymatevince]

Will do, thanks Scott👍👍👍👍

[@dash8brj]

You fixed the tape recorder. It is the job of the capstan and pinch roller to set the tape speed, not the supply/takeup reel hubs. They are only there to apply pressure to the tape to ensure what comes out the takeup reel side of the capstan and pinch roller is wound into the cassette, not bunching up and eventually getting wrapped around the pinch roller. Also what people say about the motor is true. The easiest way to set the tape speed is to use a signal generator app on your phone to record (on a known good tape recorder) a few minutes of test tone, then play it back on the same recorder with a freqyency analyzer app to see what frequency it registers. Then play the same test tone tape on the argos return tape recorder and adjust the motor speed until the frequency matches that of the known good recorder.

[@annaplojharova1400]

And for the BT speaker: The regulator too low voltage won't give "low battery" warning. The output of that won't be the basis of the warning at all. In the contrary, too high output of that regulator is way more likely to cause the low battery warning. The thing is, if its voltage has any play in the voltage monitoring at all, it will serve as the reference voltage. The true battery voltage would be then sensed via a dedicated resistive divider and compared to a reference, like that 3.3V (either directly via a comparator, or via an ADC in the processor and then the code) What could have happened is the regulator to be unstable, causing voltage overshots. Once used as the reference for the Vbat monitoring, it may have triggered the LowBatt warning. Reason for the oscillation could have been the wrong capacitor type: The regulator datasheet says it is designed for a ceramic load capacitor, but there is an electrolytic. The ESR could be just too much for the regulator to become unstable.

[@adamdavies163]

If you record your voice when it's running slow (or fast) it will play back at the same incorrect speed so your recording will sound correct.

[@jonathananderson6388]

I have been welding 18 years now and I live in the desert. Nice to hear your appreciation for how hot and tough it is to do. You eventually get used to getting burns on various body parts. The hardest part is usually trying to get into the most comfortable position and sometimes it just isn't possible.

[@fr0zty86]

atleast with welding, you don't need to worry about things flying about like with air soldering? as a welder, try soldering sometime, with lead free, now that needs temps ;) also I envy (want to try) welders. so good for you :)

[@force4200]

Love your channel I have a thing in the tape that goes slow and you test your Voice as a test. If the tape goes slow and you record it will be normal for that speed. Best test is to record on another device and take that tape to the repaired tape :) Hope you understand my english an explaning have a nice day

[@andymouse]

Yes just fine Sir ! and you make a great point :)

[@force4200]

@@andymouse it just acurred to me vhs longplay the tape goes slower. In Sweden it did in the 90s

[@DEmma1972]

landfills are not being filled now Vince has these videos

[@priestblood]

The tape cassette player speed adjust is the trim pod on the motor the black dot is a rubber seal with veripot under it

[@TheDefpom]

@25:30 yeah I agree, that spring looks wrong, straightening it looked like the correct thing to do.

[@pvc988]

These little tape deck motors have speed controllers built-in. That's why you wouldn't get any speed change with varying supply voltage. There is a pot behind that little hole on top that sets the speed. Speed should be about the same with and without the load. It can only change when there is too much load put on it. I bet that some cleaning and lubrication od the mechanism would make the thing work again. Cheap and dirty way to know if it plays at correct speed is to record single tone of known frequency (1 kHz is often used) on a known good working deck and use that to set the speed. Simple spectrum analyzer phone app should be good enough to measure the frequency.

[@jrigvd7291]

You can adjust the tape motor speed slightly. It could be sloppy adjustment by the factory. The motor contains a speed controller circuit board inside of it. Put a very small flat head screw driver in the black hole. There's a potentiometer underneath.

[@MrMarkymarksurrey]

Love these videos. The guys' articulate and down to earth approach is great .

[@GadgetUK164]

Great job again Vince!!!! I think you are right on that tape deck! It didn't look right with the bend that was in it before you tweaked it. When mounting a different component than the original, always a good idea to mount at least one of its pins to a position on the board (eg. scratch ground off and solder ground tab down to a ground area, or join one of the pins to the original pads), then when using wires etc, there's no chance of that component coming loose at some point. As it heats up, hot melt glue just wont hold it - and regulators dump their heat into the pins and ultimately the PCB they are soldered onto.

[@Mymatevince]

Great advice Chris, I should have scraped back the solder mask and soldered up the ground pin. Nice one 👌👍

[@andyvitz]

​@@Mymatevincesuggestion see if the headphone jack works first if it doesn't it's just a failed headphone jack

[@shiroshine7227]

Thank goodness for people like you. Anything you can save and flip is one less thing rotting in a landfill.

[@MrMaxeemum]

Nice repairs as usual. On the cassette deck the motor has internal speed regulation so any voltage change (full battery to flat battery) on the input should not affect the speed there is a potentiometer inside accessible through the hole in the rear of the motor but they are usually tiny. As you say, the speed of the motor is probably correct, but the capstan roller's friction caused belt slip. One mistake was presuming that if you record your voice and play it back as a test, but even if the speed was 50%, recording and playback would be at the same speed so it would sound correct but prerecorded stuff would still be 50% slow. I think you are on the right track and releasing the pressure on the capstan roller some more would have it sorted, well as sorted as a £29.99 cassette player will ever be.

[@hamishspencer]

Excellent point re record/playback speed. Didn't think of that

[@loktaiextatus]

Came to say the same about the relative speed of anything recorded on the device playing back correctly if its spinning at the speed its recorded at..., and I didnt have to because everyone understands that with some reflection.

[@kevinlegg8218]

There’s a speed adjustment screw under that black hole on top of the motor just needs a tweak

[@wisher21uk]

I never thought I would hear the word premium as part of the description of a Bush item 😊 Great fixes Vince well done

[@stepheng8779]

Many years ago they were quality. It's a shame what's happened to the brand, like JVC, now just a Curry's badge.

[@wisher21uk]

@@stepheng8779 total agree with you, I had a separates stereo system as a kid it was mint

[@DaveBrown1]

On the bush tape recorder, the blue head that moves in is the Erase head (during recording) not the record head as you stated. Also, no good recording to check the speed on the same device use a known good device to record your voice the play back on the suspect device.

[@gwheregwhizz]

Reminiscent of the old Lada joke... How do you double the value of a Bush boombox Fill it with batteries.

[@Holycurative9610]

The bush tape player is £20 on clearance at the minute so you could expect to get £10 for yours and with postage that would make it about £15 so realistically most people would buy a new one and get a warranty. That makes it worth about £5 I suppose🤔🤔 It's tough making money off of refurb electronics unless you're selling consoles or computers, these low end items are just not worth buying and repairing unless you keep them at home for your own use☹☹☹

[@georgeyreynolds]

MMV could offer a warranty though or swap it for another he has... you don't normally get much from a warranty these days anyway, considering it's on clearance

[@garyeast7259]

Its not unless ur gonna record a youtube video of the repair. Its what u can get at the time i suppose. Its more about the fix sometimes.

[@russgladstone432]

While I think of it, I purchased a cheap unknown brand Bluetooth adaptor on eBay for £3.99 and free postage from china… it has the exact same Chinese voice saying “ batree low prease charge”.. it worked ok for a few weeks, now has same fault as your “Premium” 😂😂 speaker… hope you fixed it ok, and sold it for a couple quid at boot sale, I stopped watching, after you said premium…. Sorry… was laughing too much

[@guilhermephsor]

That hole on the back of the tape deck motor is for adjusting the speed. Maybe it's out of adjustment or the guys at the factory didn't do it at all. There should be a potentiometer in there (usually it's on the pcb or on the back of the motor, that seems to be the case there)

[@guilhermephsor]

also the blue head is an erase head. It's usually a head made just to do that, but manufacturers use a magnet to get it cheaper

[@samuelfellows6923]

I was expecting that ~ that “BUSH” is a zombie brand, and it was made in a Chineseum crap factory ~ where quality control is non-existent

[@timf-tinkering]

On the Bush cassette recorder, I think your diagnosis is right; the spring is too tight. In fact the other end of the spring doesn't look like it's in the right place to me. It could be, but it looks like it's under far too much tension in that position. (Also, as I'm sure you realised, the tape will run at the same speed during both recording and playback, so obviously its own recording will sound right ;-) )

[@arnonoordover4054]

See @23:07: I think the spring should be behind the spring holder on the left side on the screen that is just a little bit above the spring.

[@PhilipBryden]

Well done Vince. Good fault-finding on the faulty semiconductors

[@Mymatevince]

Nice one Philip, thanks very much for the Super Thanks👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@PhilipBryden]

@@Mymatevince you're welcome 🤗

[@jasejj]

I think that's a perfectly valid fix on the cassette deck, although I've seen a few of these and the mechanism they've used is garbage - they all seem to have problems with pinch roller tension and some seem to apply tension unevenly as well, causing the tape to run up the capstan and get chewed up by the mech. Pretty awful units overall!

[@georgeyreynolds]

There is only "one" type of mechanism made these days although they can do them with slight improvements. Maybe this was the cheapest they could do?

[@jasejj]

@@georgeyreynolds One type, yes, but many manufacturers of the same basic form. They're all lumped together as "Tanashin" but the reality is the quality varies widely. The original Japanese Tanashin ones (originally a Toshiba design) are good, and so are some of the modern copies - these ones are crappy though.

[@MikeSmith-sh3ko]

On the bush cassette unit that is playing slow you have a speed adjustment on the motor with a little flat blade screwdriver just adjust it to get the correct speed

[@jasinere35]

check the traces along the leading edge of board the first thing i say was either a crack on the left or a scratch going through 2 of the traces

[@Dee_Just_Dee]

36:50 I marvel at cheap modern radios like these. The tuning can be remarkably good... there must be some kind of circuit in the generic all-in-one radio IC that allows it to really "lock in" when it gets close to a station. I found a new-in-box pocket radio forgotten beside a trashcan at work earlier this year, and I was surprised by how well it worked. I looked it up on Amazon and it was $25 CAD... that's £15, just like that Bush radio.

[@triple5even]

23:36 there is a little metal catch on the top left side of the center of the spring. Maybe this is the spot where the spring should have been attached originally? This would reduce the strength of the spring.

[@Mymatevince]

I see that!! I'll check it out to see how it fits there👍👍👍

[@CBitsTech]

Yep, I noticed that too, it's punched out of the plate of metal by the looks of it. It's probably there for a reason. I think the left side of the spring shouldn't be under the play head, it should be under that catch.

[@SymbolTech21]

The motor have a small hole on the top you can see it black dot over there. Inside there is a potentiometer which allows you to change the speed of the motor

[@john2800]

I actually brought a job lot mainly personal DAB radios probably from the same seller, as amongst it all was also the stereo & same probably the same issue (10.24) . Thank you, you've probably just saved me a lot of time

[@HA05GER]

Absolutely love the returns repairs.

[@ChillToMusic87]

Does the wife think the same?

[@HA05GER]

@@ChillToMusic87 what?

[@ChillToMusic87]

@@HA05GER Does the wife also love the returns repairs?

[@sp523]

Another great video Vince! You showed a nice selection of honest repairs that were very interesting to watch. I learn something new every time you put up a new electronics repair video because you always talk through and demonstrate your troubleshooting technique to find faults. That is very helpful to me as a novice that just wants to try to repair my own personal items that do not work properly!

[@tech5298]

Excellent comment. Voice of one speaks for many.

[@weehappypixie]

Recording your voice on the tape player isn't a good test as it will record at the speed the current mechanism is running at so playback on the same unit would be OK. The recording may playback fast or slow on another deck. Like one of the other comments you would be best to use a calibrated 440Hz test tape however given the low quality and cheapness of the deck playing a prerecorded tape would suffice. Great video.

[@andymouse]

Yeah a quick test tape using Audacity or the like, great point :)

[@jasonudall8614]

Re.....the slow cassette....note on the motor...there is a speed adjust potentiometer.... There have there own regulator built in. Which is why when powered wt adifferent voltages you get the same speed......... Also. Recording on a slow deck will play back fine for obvious reasons

[@4th_Lensman_of_the_apocalypse]

The pink one could be worth thousands due to rarity! 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@TheSudsy]

The tape recorder, you could see the steel rod that the rubber wheel pushed against deform (bend) - after you straightened the spring, it stayed pretty vertical when the wheel pushed against it.

[@wanjockey]

I agree the capstain(spelling) sets the speed of the tape across the head. if the bearing is bad in that, it would allow it to bend over and cause a lot of friction in that bearing. Good catch @TheSudsy

[@bernardleaf1397]

@@wanjockey 100% that looks like the bearing is the fault

[@dlarge6502]

That spring was really pushing the pinch roller onto it! I have several very cheap portable cassette players that all have speed issues. I thought it was just because they were crap, which they are, but now I realise they may also need adjustments to the pinch roller tension.

[@TheTkiller9999]

@@bernardleaf1397 the plastic bearing is cracked... you can see it at 24:21... they are normally not cracked

[@bernardleaf1397]

@@TheTkiller9999 thats just the clip holding the capstan shaft on

[@TheTkiller9999]

at 24:21 the metal capstan that turns... the base plastic has a crack in it... and that allows the capstan to be pushed too far over and bind... causing it to slow...

[@gedtoon6451]

Great video. When working on mains powered stuff, its a good idea to put a few strips of insulating tape over any exposed connections to protect you from accidental contact.

[@steveflatman]

Or wear insulating gloves, we used to have them at a place I worked. They felt like marginally thicker surgical gloves but we're electrically inert and you could barely put a scalpel through them (and that took some real effort). I once found myself holding a live 400V cable (I was just a dumb salesman showing customers round the workshop) and only knew because one of the sparkies came running over screaming!!

[@6581punk]

24:51 That's the erase head and it's a cheap mechanism so it is a permanent magnet not an electro magnetic erase head. The actual recording is done by the main head which also does playback. On a fancy tape deck you get three heads, erase, record and playback which lets you monitor the recording as it is being made.

[@MrRelevance02]

I was thinking it could be the unregulated, linear power supply causing that transistor to continuously blowup. 5V seems a bit high for a two watt amplifier like you can run 40 what amplifiers off 4.2V and 7.2 V with portable Bluetooth speakers. and example of a Bluetooth speaker would be JBL’s lineup and they’re quite powerful with their respective size and voltages

[@RealEpikCartfrenYT]

its a different type of amplifier. Bluetooth speakers use Class D amps while that amp in the radio looks like a Class AB amp which require more voltage as they aren't as efficient as Class D amps, plus they draw more current compared to what you'd find in a Bluetooth speaker. This is the case of cheapening on components, resulting in a too small transistor.

[@MrRelevance02]

@@RealEpikCartfrenYT Yep. Budget item. Makes sense. I should’ve known that fact about the class of amplifier used. Crazy how good Bluetooth speakers are.

[@tektonike]

On a casette player, the playback speed is given by how fast the tape spins. So it would have to do with the spinny things that drive the casette. Maybe they are dirty or something is preventing them to spin properly. Or the motor is malfunctioning or it's not receiving enough power to spin at the correct speed.

[@ShcherbynaM]

21:00 Usually motors that are used with tapes are changing speed using potentiometers that are built into the motor or located on the PCB. Since you've tried to ignore the PCB and provide voltage from separate PSU to the motor and the speed haven't changed, the potentiometer is located in the motor itself.

[@jrigvd7291]

There must be a 2 resistor voltage divider going directly from the battery to that bluetooth SoC to measure the battery voltage. Find and check that. That could be the cause of the low battery message.

[@leekay07]

its the torque caused by the tape tension. You have to fast forward the tape to the end and then rewind and play it unless you back off the spring load. I used to have this on my personal tape player pulled it apart and rebuilt it and stretch the spring. If it gets too slack it will cause the cassette win up and jam.

[@robertweiss4171]

After removing the 3.3V regulator ther won't be a voltage drop across the resistor as there is no current flowing through it.

[@AshleySmith-su5mv]

You can get big pallets of these from gem wholesale in wales. I used to buy and sell them but it was way too much hassle. It’s amazing how cheaply made bush items are!

[@Dr.-Smart]

the cassette player that plays to slow , on the back of the motor is a hole behind the black cover is a potentiometer to adjust the speed

[@mikethedigitaldoctorjarvis]

Hey Vince ! showing our ages.i had the ZX Spectrum + 2 with the cassette deck built on !

[@ovalwingnut]

I was able to get my hands on some BUSH last weekend and was quite happy. Just saying. Thank you for the Video-Vince

[@f1remandg]

I think I’ve put that down as a fix. If you’ve got anything that you read the boat or use and you knock it and Ben something then if you unbanned it and it works it’s fixed I don’t think it has to be a electrical fix to fix it, could’ve been bent manufactured whenever so up to you of course.

[@TurboTimsWorld]

We can hear Mrs Vince washing up in the background, Its about time you fixed the dish washer! LOL Great Videos keep them coming !

[@wirdy1]

Sounded like the dish cleaning room of a Chinese restaurant.

[@andytipping70]

if you pull a load across a resistor - of course you will get a voltage drop - now you have effectively disconnected the input - there is no load - hence no voltage drop

[@beautifulsmall]

That 22R R18 used to drop a few volts before the 6V max input reg is a very dirty design, a couple of diodes maybe but an 0603, eghh. Great fixes. Adventure.

[@TheSkaldenmettrunk]

What a great episode! The last one looks really good. I like the wood and the vintage look.

[@patricknelson2655]

You were right with the spring the next side of the spring have to go into the small tab cause it loose

[@waderyun.war00034]

On the cassette recorder the small shaft that the roller is pressing on the bronze bushing wears out and becomes elliptical instead of round. It will slow down again eventually. It is playing back at the right speed because you recorded it at that speed. lol. Use music and a metronome to get it to the right speed. Set the metronome to the known tempo of the music and adjust the potentiometer for the motor speed control until it matches.

[@kenabi]

yeah, in regards to the cassette player/recorder; the pinch rollers shouldn't be forcing the capstan out of its resting position at all, it should just be pressing against it enough to grab the tape, and nothing more.

[@selwynandrews9665]

The fact you're fixing such cheapo devices is crazy, HOWEVER, it' s one less thing in the landfill and to be highly applauded. It's the kind of repair I do myself, often not cost-effective but it saves things from being thrown out. With the cassette deck, I think you HAVE fixed it, as much as such a flimsy, basic transport is capable of being fixed. It's tricky managing friction with a cassette deck - too little on the pinch roller and the tape will run too fast, too much and it will run slow. Good work, StezStixFix brought me here.

[@skeelo69]

Vince .... i have the same DAB radio and THE SAME PROBLEM !!! OH Lordy 😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😆 im gonna fix mine ... thanks Vince 👍👍👍

[@AnthonySmith-wu5ku]

At around the 22:45 mark you are working on the pinch roller when I was younger I worked as an apprentice at a repair shop and I had to clean the metal spindle and run an emery board over the rubber wheel. With use the wheel goes smooth and shiny and it drags on the tape. Also make sure you clean the opposite side of the spindle which is driven by the belt. Hope it helps

[@t0nito]

Well, that test recording on the tape recorder was quite redundant because even it was recording at half speed, if it plays back at the same speed it was recorded it would sound ok. What you need to do is record a tape on a known good recorder and then play it back on that recorder, then you can actually hear if the speed is different.

[@leewright6101]

tape player,, the ruber hole in back is a speed adjuster,! on the motor

[@annaplojharova1400]

Why the transistor failed? Could be the overload in the circuit behind, very often from a (low quality) electrolytic capacitor needing reforming (when mechanically abused even before assembling, they tend to develop a high leakage that uses to disappear after some time, but it could overload the circuit upstream before it does so).

[@delta_4209]

😂 I might be slightly evil cause when that tiny part flew away I giggled just a little!

[@Mymatevince]

😂

[@MrBugsier5]

on the cassette player you can vary the speed on the motor itself, there is a potmeter beneath the black dott on the motor.

[@hoog111]

Yes yes yes. I was screaming look at the motor lol

[@hoog111]

Ha ha. Recording your voice won’t work cos the record and playback speed will be the same on one machine. The motor has adjuster on the back.

[@shambleslongplay3566]

you cant record yourself on a device that you think may be playingfast or slow. as the recording will also be fast or slow and will play back at the correct speed but ONLY on that device.. as the recording will match the motor speed.. (you should really have a constant tone recorded from a known good source, and then compare that)

[@davidbird4021]

I reckon the spring that goes behind the record/play head should actually go behind the lifted up tab that is to the right of the record/play head.

[@lwplwp]

I sure wish I had videos like this when I learned electronics repair 45 years ago..😊

[@malcseaman9807]

Don't beat yourself up Vince with the Cassette. It didn't work, but now it works. You fixed it. 🙂

[@Madrrrrrrrrrrr]

Spring of the pinchroler should be attached to latch on the left side. It's below it now putting to much pressure on the pinchroler.

[@chekiechekie]

On the tap recorder, why not just adjust the motor speed pot?

[@paranoidgenius9164]

I have one of these Bush shoebox recorders from new, bought from Argos & I believe it's still being sold. I haven't used mine much & it's terrible to listen to music on. The problem with mine is, it keeps randomly auto stopping the tape!

[@brad9529]

You 100% fixed the tape player, that kink shouldn't have been in that spring. That was the problem and you definitely fix it.

[@ObsessionoftheMonth]

30:54 d1 through D4 is your bridge rectifier, the output of a bridge rectifier (with a filter cap) will be the input ac voltage times 1.414 so 10.88 volts DC the item you were testing was Q1 d882 is an npn power transistor.

[@wfukurch]

Hi Vincent long time viewer first time commenter I use the personal dab radios and they all fail on the jack and have repaired a Couple myself always good to see the experts catching up😊

[@doslover]

I wonder if that voltage regulator was dipping just enough (and quickly enough) for the device to notice but not enough to shut off or register on the multimeter. Anyway, nice work!

[@BrizzyMike]

On the cassette player spring. The opposite end to the end you bent looked like it was caught on something. There’s a metal hook it seems like it should slot into and if that’s where it went there would be much less tension

[@HankPanky]

I was going to suggest adjusting motor speed on the cassette player, but I like your fix better.

[@JonGallon]

Wow, lots of Bush to be trimming. The end results are always very 'pleasing'. 🤭😉

[@jonathaningram4672]

The problem with products today if they're cheap nobody would bother to spend time and money to fix them as there is no money to be made but good videos and educational too.

[@RobertCraig12]

Just a note to consider - For the tape recorder. If you record on a slow mechanism it will in all likelihood playback properly as the playback speed will be the same as the record speed.

[@RobertCraig12]

Sorry I saw that there is already a thread for this very statement lol

[@bobsbits5357]

hi when they made this they did not set the speed up right there's a mini pot what the volts coing in to the motor will not change the speed of it i have worked on alot of cassette decks put in a mini driver and you can hear the audio change the pcb in side the motor reg the speed of it to keep the motor turning at the right RPM the reel to reel get there speed of the mains the tascam 30 line have a pcb that deal with the speed it's out side of the decks

[@darrenbird2526]

Wow! Another great video! Just an observation! When you repaired the Cassette Recorder and recorded your voice to playback, you sounded just like Eric Idle from Monty Python and you also sound like that bloke from the "Buy it Fix It" channel! Cheers for the channel, the eBay repairs are my favourites!

[@eGoCeNTRoNiX]

Every time I watch you use the Hot Air Station I'm amazed.. I obviously need more practice.. I have never gotten anything to come off the board that easily.. lol Great Work!

[@nigelpearson6664]

The cassette deck motor likely is a FG servo type. A device sends pulses to a servo chip. The chip sends what the motor needs for correct speed. There should be a preset resistor to set the speed hopefully? FG is frequency generator.

[@bullshitdetective1]

you are a very clever man.

[@coondogtheman]

Vince if you look on the motor itself there is a hole on it. There is a variable resistor inside basically a speed controller built-in to the motor. You'll need to take a small screwdriver either a Philips or minus I can't remember and you can turn this control to change the motor speed. Try not to touch the metal (not sure if it matters). Modern cassette machines have this control mounted on the board and the board sends a specially timed pulse signal to the motor as well as power. Putting different voltages to the motor will not matter. It's probably just switching on 6 volts from the batteries when you press play or FF/REW.

[@Mymatevince]

Thanks The Man, I will have a look for it. Nice one 👌👍👍👍

[@sw6188]

It can matter if you use a metal blade screwdriver and you touch the case. I have seen motor speed control boards burn up by doing that - but it isn't a problem with all motors, just some. Plastic shaft screwdrivers with brass tips are just the thing for doing this. I have been doing it for a long time so I can get a screwdriver down that hole and onto the trimpot without it touching the case.

[@philiprowney]

10:01 - the heatsink is the ground for 1/2 of the chip, you only have a 1 channel amp without a link across the 2 large grounds! Check ground continuity on chip grounds, I bet the r/h side is 'floating' now for ground, hence the Silicon diode [ volt-drop 0.6v ] level voltage on the other side.