Sony DTC700 DAT multiple problems to fix

[@gianlucagiacopello]

Thank you very much for your helpful video. I got a Sony DTC-55ES Dat deck with a missing rotary encoder gear. I was able to fix it up with a new gear as you did here. I really enjoy your videos because I learned a lot from it. I spent around 80$ for the whole unit sold as not working and only 5$ for a new gear and now the deck works fine. Thank you again

[@frankvercillo8659]

Can you please let me know where you bought the gear. Thank You

[@nunyabidness1888]

Great info about the rotary encoder gear. Thanks for the tip on how to repair the gear using a soldering iron. Now my DAT is working perfectly again. Thank you so very much.

[@davidritter1558]

Thank you for a well produced video! I have one on my bench right now with a missing gear. Only place I found one was Poland! Your video will help me to get the timing right. Thank you so much!

[@bentsignpost]

I've a DTC55ES that failed in a similar fashion, I was living in Thailand at the time, it's still there, now back in the UK, I want to bring it back and repair it. Thanks!

[@alexispieltin9379]

Nice work once again. The preamp caps replacement was indeed a necessary task, when you observe the corrosion marks... I have a DTC 57 ES perfectly functioning, but I think I should have it for such replacement on the bench soon. Your capacitors choice is here a reasonable one, there's plenty of place, but you can also replace with new SMD caps wich are now far more leak proof than 30 years ago, of course if you ask for quality caps, no noname brand from China... For these assembly washers, I know many people and even so called qualified technicians that still don't get these are here for no reasons. How many times you find something malfunctioning for one missing spacer or washer. And these are always a pain to replace! I remember having to troubleshoot some tape mechanism with a capstan problem, only to find it greasy with a missing protection washer! As you can admit, bench cassettes wich have been smashed, greased and mistreated are also a great problem, it's a known problem for DAT tapes subject to dust and high temperature to suffer from early failure. These tapes are more fragile than audio analog standard cassettes and have to be kept protected in their boxes.

[@Louie_n_Poppy]

I've just repaired my DTC-700 by soldering (melting it) the rotary switch gear and setting the mechanism as you showed in this video. It's as good as new. Thank you for these videos!

[@12voltvids]

Have done this on both my 75es and 670

[@Louie_n_Poppy]

@@12voltvids do you recommend Rubber Renue for things like pinch rollers on cassette decks and what about inside my DTC-700? Anything I should do preventative maintenance on?

[@nenaxen]

24:50 "rewind is not working" Usually, it would cause by left supply brake pad needs to be adjusted (loosen a bit). It's accessible from the top of the mechanism, just open tape loading plate and will see brake felt pad around left supply tape holder, losing a bit might resolve rewind operation.

[@jimbergen5232]

Enjoy watching you work. " Someone has been in here before.. " If they watch your channel, they would know how to fix it.

[@svenschwingel8632]

Ah, the dreaded rotary encoder. There are 3D-printed replacement gears available. But I don't really know if they are any good. From my purchases, I always preferred the later design of the DATM58 mechanism.

[@Billvis77]

I have a DTC 700 and the transport will pull the tape out, and then put it back in, all while the "caution" is displayed. The guy I bought it from, fixed it by cleaning the switches the tape depresses when it loads. After a bit, it went back to the same issue. I took it apart and got to and Deoxit cleaned the switch and it worked again. Used it for a bit, but then let it sit again and next time it was back to "caution" and same load then unload. Tried cleaning it, even desoldering solder joints at all switches and connections from that little PC board. When I push the left switch (of the two), the lights come on. The right switch, seems to do nothing. It sure doesnt cause the mechanism to load. I'd send you my transport and maybe you could fix it???? Thanks!

[@12voltvids]

I could go through the usual things but a transport by itself can't be tested. I would need the entire unit as i don't have any machines I could just pop the unit into. It's usually the 2 detection switches under the control cam that cause most of the issues.

[@nenaxen]

21:04 encoder alignment is done incorrectly!!! Procedure says in pinch roller touch with capstan HOUSING, not capstan shaft!!! Basically, keeping pinch roller in 'PAUSE' mode when encoder line is pointed toward arrow. 'Play' position will be when pinch roller in contact with capstan shaft and will be determined by encoder internal traces.

[@CanonPanasonic-ProUser]

Correct, adjustment by Service Manual procedure.

[@engelberthuckriede6481]

thanks for the video. i've still got 2 problems. first playing stops after 2 seconds an second fast forward is only a kind of half speed. what do you think are it mechanical or electronical issues?

[@MichaelSpringer-l4c]

Hey All, After watching this video and having the same deck that will not load a dat tape and I get the red caution light i opened mine up and when i took off the housing that hold the small gear there was no gear there at all ! Checked around inside for pieces but there was no sign. Any thoughts ?

[@12voltvids]

Someone wrote a comment that the mode switch gear is being 3d printed.

[@Matthew-vr5gz]

Just gave me the confidence to fix my dtc-75es again 😂 gonna order a new gear set

[@12voltvids]

The 75es is one of my favorite dat decks. The tascam da40 my favorite so far because it is not crippled with scms and can edit really accurate not that i do any of that. I just use them to play my old tapes.

[@Matthew-vr5gz]

@@12voltvids all the timing is messed up in my machine so I'll have to be really careful when installing the new gears. I'm praying I don't break another set, it's such a beautiful machine and I need it fixed lol.

[@frankvercillo8659]

@@Matthew-vr5gz can you please let me know where you buy the gear. Thank You

[@Matthew-vr5gz]

@@frankvercillo8659 Ebay

[@darrellgregory516]

I have a DTC700 that was working fine; I decided to clean the tape path with cotton swob and alcohol; after that I cleaned the rotating head with the swob and alcohol; after doing so, the deck won't play; everything functions but it is as though the head is NOT reading the tape information. IS there any solution for this???

[@12voltvids]

Q tips should never ever ba used on rotary heads. They are fragile and you likely broke an unobtaonium part.

[@PilotCyrus]

Good Job!!! Chapeau!

[@mohamedmahmoud3397]

Greetings from Toronto, Canada. I have a Sony DAt that was not in use for years, and it needs head cleaing any videos of best way to clean the dat

[@stevenferentzy9317]

My DTC-700 is playing intermittently. The light in the tape well goes off and on, and when it's off, all I can get the machine to do is open and close the tape door. I was hoping the deck in this extremely informative video was going to have a similar problem to mine, but it doesn't. Do you know of a common problem with a possibly simple fix?

[@carissamagnus4227]

Does anyone have any idea how to bypass the caution light for moisture, is it possible and what could cause the light

[@peterjohnpj2778]

can you still get old new stock parts for retro gear just wondering have you ever search

[@12voltvids]

Nope. Don't search. Just repair. Nos parts are just as likely to fail as original. By the time shipping and broker charges added a .50 gear costs 50.00

[@east-west-777]

Hello! I have the SONY DAT DTC-M100 deck. But there is a problem, the cassette is loaded correctly, the tape is straightened on the drum head and on all the rollers, but the drum head does not rotate and the cassette is unloaded again. Please advise how can solve this problem? What needs to be checked? Apparently there is a problem with the servo board of the head? I checked the limit switches, they work. Thank you!

[@12voltvids]

Could be drum motor. I had that on a 75es.

[@PedjoGT]

Hy man....i opened perfectly working DTC 75 es and i wanted to check brakes i just dismantle dd bottom plate...cleaned and put together...now head wont turn and engage....mecha pull tape round the dum but drum nor moving at all and mecha pull tape in house? What you think? Tnx BTW in my dat is also one black screw to hold transport on chassy

[@12voltvids]

I think you broke something 😂

[@PedjoGT]

@@12voltvids what engage capstan motor?

[@frankvercillo8659]

Any idea where we can buy those mode switches. I have 2 recorders, a 75ES and a 700 and both gears are in pieces.

[@12voltvids]

Glue them back together.

[@12voltvids]

@@frankvercillo8659 i bet someone is making them

[@12voltvids]

@@frankvercillo8659 once you fit the pieces together you will need to set the timing. That info is in the sm available on HiFi engine.

[@12voltvids]

@@frankvercillo8659 I fuse the plastic together using a hot soldering iron.

[@kenthsanz]

Hello. Do you sell parts?. I bought a DTC-700 from ebay but seller cheated me with a device with all missing parts of the right assy, such as: washer, retaining ring, claw reel and tension spring. Seller never warned me about it and certaintly omitted those details in product description. Could you please help me?.

[@12voltvids]

You buy from eBay you get what you get. No I don't sell parts or working machines either unless they are local buyers. Last vcr I sold worked fine when it left and apparantly doesn't now.

[@gregsteil6206]

Does anyone have a pdf available for the timing of the rotary encoder gear? Thanks.

[@12voltvids]

Go get the manual at hifiengine

[@gregsteil6206]

@@12voltvids thank you!

[@darrellgregory516]

IS is possible to send a DAT deck to you for repair???

[@12voltvids]

I can look at it. Contact me by email. It's under the about tab on the main page.

[@EstudioMidimusica]

Hola! I´ve one of this! (DTC700) but no way... Until yesterday it was working fine but when I changed the cassette all stopped, no Play, no FF, no REW. and at first it didn't even eject it then it started to do so but when I press play the frequency indicator starts blinking and nothing work. Could it be a cleaning issue? Thank you very much from Argentina, if I can be of any help to you I would be delighted (you know, Google translate...)

[@12voltvids]

Have you inspected to make sure the tape is threading correctly?

[@EstudioMidimusica]

@@12voltvids I try whith several cassettes and when the tape is engaged its spin a quarter aprox

[@12voltvids]

@@EstudioMidimusica yes the wrap is 90" not 180 like VCR. Could be dirty head or caps in preamp.

[@EstudioMidimusica]

@@12voltvids Thanks, I'll try

[@cajetano2011]

Can anyone help me with the following problem, the drum sticks and grinds on the Sony PCM-R700, I checked it and can't see/find anything that is causing it, is some kind of oil needed for lubrication perhaps? any help/info is welcome

[@12voltvids]

Seriously you should check the rotor magnet and see if it has any tiny screws stuck to it. I had one given to me that had that happen. Unfortunately it shorted the drive ic and blew it up. Had to source a new drum and those are rare as hens teeth these days. No way to live it. Ususlly if the bearing is dry and starts sticking nothing will fix. You might get it working long enough to sell it to s sucker that will over pay for this obsolete tech. Personally I have never paid more than $20 for a dat machine and I have bought 3 for that price and had about 6 just given to me.

[@cajetano2011]

@@12voltvids Thanks for the message, I checked what you indicated after seeing "that piece of video of yours on YT, that was also the first thing I checked with the result that there was no small metal between the coils and magnet, However, a black substance that looked a bit oily came onto the magnet, perhaps there is something under the magnet between the magnet and the metal ring? Where is the bearing located and could that also be the cause? Apologies for my English and love your videos!

[@12voltvids]

@@cajetano2011 that could be the rotary transformer disintegrating. It's under the head drum and can be damaged by cleaners used to clean the heads. Digital audio tape, 8mm video minidv and Betacam SP use metal tapes that require the heads be cleaned by abrasive cleaning tapes. cleaning with alcohol generally doesn't work because the metal particles clog the heads and it needs to be essentially filed off. But many people will get in there and spray cleaners in and try all kinds of other home remedies that might work fine for an audio tape recorder or regular VCR and sometimes the cleaner attacks the rotary transformer. the rotary transformers essentially powdered metal that is pressed and glued into a shape that allows wires to be run in concentrated circles around it. There's an upper and a lower half one part spins the other part does not and the wire is contained in it transfer the signals from the heads to the deck. these chemicals can attack the bonding agent and allow the rotary transformer to start to come apart which might be what you're hearing grinding as it starts to grind particles will come off and because they are magnetic stick to the magnet below as they start to spew out from the gap between the rotating head and the base. in all likelihood the drama shot and you're going to have to try to source a replacement or scrap the unit. this is another reason why the bearings generally cannot be lubricated as people also make that mistake by trying to put oil into them to lubricate the bearings and the oil has the same effect on the adhesive that holds the powdered metal in the rotary transformer together get oil on it it's going to come apart and you will need a new drum.

[@cajetano2011]

@@12voltvids damn, that's a bummer, can the rotating transformer be disassembled for overhaul or is that a very stupid question? anyway, thanks for your response/information

[@12voltvids]

@@cajetano2011 sealed unit

[@zx8401ztv]

I'm surprised the mode switch gear cracked, it has next to no load on it. Not an ideal choice of plastic i suppose. Well done on catching the crapacitors in the head pre amp, it would have failed and that would have been a shame. Yep it's the weather for mowing the lawn, ill have to fire up the briggs&stratton and frighten the grass soon :-D. My mate has one of those battery bikes, it's made him very fat as he hardly needs to peddle. It's not good, use a real bike if you can dave.

[@12voltvids]

It is a real bike. Has elecriic assist for basically going up hills. Got it free about 18 years ago.

[@shenlun]

Thanks

[@maestromaestro]

$15 bucks on eBay for the 3DP mode switch.

[@12voltvids]

15 bucks and 50 shipping.

[@maestromaestro]

@@12voltvids I paid $10.

[@12voltvids]

@@maestromaestro to Canada? Shipper then decided that fed ex is cheaper than post. When part arrives 3 weeks later a bill for 37.50 broker charge arrives. I don't order anything off eBay because I've been burned too many times. Here's the problem USPS is much more expensive than UPS or FedEx. Someone can send something to Canada by FedEx pretty cheap where is USPS charges a small fortune even for small packages. The problem is UPS DHL and FedEx have broker charges to do the paperwork that gets billed to the recipient. I have had bills come in for 3750 or more for stuff that was sent to me for free. Why because it cost a shipper six bucks to send something by FedEx or it would have cost him 11 or $12 to ship it by post so he ships the cheapest way even when I have requested do not ship by FedEx because the shipper doesn't care he's not the one that's going to pay the broker charges the receiver is and there's no going back on that if you don't pay they send it to collections. if I'm ordering something from the states I will usually have it sent to my American PO box and go and pick it up myself but that's another $5 that that company charges to receive the package so it has to be something that's of high value I'm certainly not going to pay $15 for a gear and then another $15 to have it shipped to the states and go and pick it up that's $30 for a plastic gear little bit of glue or some heat for my soldering iron will fix that gear for free.

[@frankowalker4662]

Cool.

[@mikemorton7149]

I can see it fine

[@ivanmarshall9806]

Please give me your exact website , so that I can get your email address, and ask you to Repair my Sony DTC-700, which has a bad Rotary Encoder, at least. Thank you.

[@12voltvids]

I don't have a website

[@ivanmarshall9806]

@@12voltvids , OK, Can I please have your email address, so that I may contact you for the Repair of my DTC-700?

[@12voltvids]

@@ivanmarshall9806 its on the about tab on main page have to view on browser not mobile device