Sony TCRX420 Cassette Deck with 3 different problems

[@albertocabezas282]

Ohhhh. That small gears at 23:31 . I bought a Sony deck and those small gears were the culprit of almost all problems: the smallest one had a fracture and because of that the unit became berserk eating the tape, running fast but in the wrong direction making horrible noises. Too bad those little demons were made of plastic but I managed to fix one of them applying a droplet of superglue.

[@Watcher3223]

I just got through repairing my TC-K707ES. Dirty mode switch problem. Had to tear it down to remove the mode switch, so I could crack that open and polish the conductors with a pencil eraser followed with a wipedown with QD Electronic Cleaner and a followup with DeoxIT. Glad I was able to get it all back together properly; I just took my time and remembered how it all went together. Also had to replace the capstan belts, especially the small belt responsible for delivering power from the motor to the supply side flywheel. The belt had become loose enough that it would ride up the pulley on the motor's output shaft just enough that it would get caught up on a raised section of the pulley and speed up the capstans, like a changing ratio on an automotive CVT. Obviously, that just wouldn't do. I ordered a belt kit specific to the model on Amazon from a supposed domestic hi-fi parts vendor. Paid more than I wanted, but then again it helped get my deck back in order with properly sized flat belts for a closed loop dual capstan.

[@fisher46789]

I have the same deck.It won’t play tapes.Forward /reverse works.Replaced all belts .Do I have a dirty model switch also ? When I press play I can hear a whirring sound for 2-3 seconds then shuts off .

[@Watcher3223]

@@fisher46789 It can be. In my case, the cassette deck kept mechanically cycling back and forth, but never getting into play.

[@mrflashport]

The 190 series transports were decent, but this was the beginning of the end for Sony building high quality LONG LIFE transports. The plastic/nylon gears, along with the shit belts and pinch rollers that glaze and crack (way more than say Pioneer or Denons of the era with Alps built transports). I have a 1991 era Pioneer CT-W850R with Alps transports. Thousands of hours on it. AFAIK, it has original belts and pinch rollers. While it does have some plastic in the transports, nowhere near what Sony did. I clean and demag it regularly. It still shines and makes a great recording (has Auto BLE) and was one of the rarer decks with separate Dolby NR circuits for each deck allowing you to properly decode a tape during dubbing. Still, that deck is 1000 times better than the knock-off Chinese Tanashin clones in the few decks made today by Teac/Tascam, etc. Those are are utter SHIT.

[@micdev42]

Hi. How can I tell what transport my deck has? I have a Denon DR-M24HX (3-head, closed loop dual capstan) that I bought new back in the day in UK. Can't remember when I bought it. Thanks

[@musicnerd72]

Best solution I've found for melted belts on pulleys is to use a piece of white string dipped in alcohol. Wrap the string around the pulley and work it and/or the pulley back and forth. 👍

[@12voltvids]

I believe I will try that next time

[@Truckguy1970]

I learned the hard way on my Akai GXC 760D that I should have marked the brush caps to the motor housing before taking the reel motors apart to clean and lube them. I took a picture of the wiring before I unsoldered the wires to the motors, then wired them back up the same way they were and even double checked it. I went to test it out and the motors ran backwards and shredded my tape, luckily it was just a junk tape that I use to test old tape decks before I use my good tapes. I googled the issue and found out that it is a common thing on DC motors that when they're disassembled there is a loss of field orientation if the caps aren't put back on where they originally were. Looking at the motors on this video I can see the brush caps are keyed making them so they can't be put on the wrong way. Have you ever had that happen to you on any other decks before?

[@12voltvids]

No

[@micdev42]

Great video but... Why didn't you clean your hands after doing the messy belt removal and before you started the motor lube etc.? Maybe it's my OCD-ness, but watching you handle the mechanism with dirty hands really got to me!

[@12voltvids]

Sucks to be you. My hands are always dirty. That's what happened when you work on stuff.

[@sdjgfashjasbfasd]

I got an Aiwa cassette deck last week for $10 that had the exact same squeal as this deck. Lubed the motor, rubber renew on the belt and it plays like new again.

[@Godzilla941]

If I ever find my Penn State engineering degree, it's going in the bathroom vanity drawer in case I run out of toilet paper. 🤪

[@12voltvids]

That's about what they are worth these days.

[@nigelsears7191]

seen all sorts used to remove the black nasty slime but i found blue roll and cotton buds soaked in cellulose paint thinner is great it proper dissolves it

[@neverknowit11]

In a couple of videos you melt the gear together to repair the cracked gear. Been there, “time element”.

[@ShadowsOnTheScreen]

Ugh….the 8 track players I repair always have melted belts. One of their favorite things to do is melt all over the circuit boards. I have started putting in rubber gloves when I have to start scraping.

[@alfredomenavasquez2994]

My rx dt60 Panasonic cd outs rca behind box. ?can I use as aux on outs for Bluetooth adapter

[@b.powell3480]

Hi Dave, that test recorded music sounds like music the local bank would play while they have you on hold !, lol 😆

[@12voltvids]

It could very well be music bakeries music has been used on using on whole systems for years. BlackBerry used one of their tracks that I actually have and I recognize that the incident I got put on hold back when I had a BlackBerry.

[@magnuskarlsson3411]

Older Sony was good quality. I had an TC FX-5 deck and it was awesome. I got an Sony FH-7 Mark II and the deck is real crap. I had change the belts 3 times so far and thats not a simple job.

[@jimjones8527]

what the name of the songs you played in this video please? I like them.

[@12voltvids]

Go back and watch it. The song title is displayed.

[@Brooks0511]

I got a Sony boombox I need the cassette deck fixed on it’s no longer engaging I think a belt is bad

[@usernameg5]

i wonder if flat belts are more likely to turn mesh than square belts. a deck where i changed the belts recenlty, had 1mm by 1mm square belts and they we not mesh, just loose

[@12voltvids]

This had both and both were melted

[@12voltvids]

@Eddie Edwards I think much of this depends on whether the belts were made out of natural rubber or synthetic. I've seen belts from the 60s that also do the same thing as I have an antique Phillips cassette recorder. Actually the first bottle of cassette recorder ever sold, I have one. The belts melted on that. I have other tape decks that are from the '70s and '80s did the belts are original and they're fine. So I think it just depends on the materials that were used and the manufacturer. Just like some of the crappy caps some manufacturers have production problems that don't show up for years and then they all start failing in High numbers

[@stpworld]

@@12voltvids I have decks like that to I have a jvc and a technics both from the 70s belts are fine one got a frozen recorded play switch I fixed that . I also have 2 in my living room that work super reliably there run daily and my sony is from 1986 never broke down not once o have a rare double cassette model that records on both sides and has the number pad for skipping tracks.

[@mraaron1584]

there is a company online selling replacements for that gear $12 shipping inc to canada.

[@UrielX1212]

That gear is readily available on eBay. Very common failure on the tcm-190 mechanism. Part number is X-3363-501-1. Not my favorite Sony mech.

[@kawmic7]

Question about hx pro. I think it sounds digital, does it convert to digital and back? Just wondering.

[@12voltvids]

Sounds digital? First of all digital you can't hear. Unless you are talking low bit rate mp3 then you can. If someone was to record some rumble, and add some pops and clicks to a digital recording and then play it back while showing you a record spinning you would think you were listening to vinyl. A good CD player will blow the doors off anything analog. Hxpro is nothing more than dynamic bias adjustment. When you record high frequency sound The High frequency energy will add to the bias signal that is used to record on your cassette or reel to reel tape. This extra energy amounts to overbising the tape which in effect reduces the high frequency capability. just like if you turn the bias control way up you'll find that the high frequency response suffers and if you turn the bias way down the high frequencies sizzle off the tape but the bass is muddy. HX pro reduces the bias level during passages of high frequency content so that the tape bias is correct at all times there's nothing digital about it it's just a voltage controlled amplifier with a band pass filter. When content over 10 khz is being recorded at a high level it reduces the amplitude of the bias signal slightly to allow the high frequencies to be recorded without oversaturating the tape. Nothing more nothing less and it only operates on record. I have a very high-end JVC three head deck which has switchable HX pro and you can certainly hear the difference when it is on the highs are far clearer when they're recorded at high level such as crashing symbols and high hats etc

[@Mister-Salieri]

33:45 these gears are pain. I had the exact same issue on Technics RS B765.

[@MrJDNJ]

Is there such a thing as a "gear driven" cassette tape vs. a "belt driven" tape? Would a direct drive tape unit have any benefit over belts?

[@12voltvids]

There are direct drive cassette decks. I have two. What is a Technics sl m275 and the other is a JVC tdv 1010. Huge benefits over belt drive besides no belts to wear out. Both the above mentioned units do have belts in them but not part of the driveline. On the Technics the drive belt is for the loading cam and other JVC it's the drive the second capstone flywheel off primary which is direct drive. It just cost more to make such a motor to spend the precise speed. it's much easier to make a faster spinning motor and use the belt drive reduction to get it to the correct speed. So it's all about cost. The jdc sold for $1,300 when it was new, the Technics sold for around 900 when it was new. The highest end cassette decks were direct drive everything else belt. They're real cheap ones just use one motor and a whole bunch of belts to drive 2 transports. It's all about cost and those high-end decks they were pre CD days. Once the CD hit the market the days of the highly engineered precision cassette deck we're pretty much over and the slide started. Manufacturers were putting in very little R&D into tape technology once we had digital audio tape and CD. All the engineering went into the digital devices and not analog. Cassette seem to have a cult following I don't know why but to some people they just like them. Personally I have no interest in cassette other than to play them back to transfer them to a digital. I have the same amount of interest in tape-based cameras and reel to reel. I only keep a few real to real machines because they look cool

[@lachlanlau]

Sony's DD series of walkmans also..

[@12voltvids]

@@lachlanlau The DD on the walkman did not stand for direct drive. It shoot for Disk Drive. The motor shaft was pressed up against a rubber tire on the front of the flywheel. My JVC and Technics direct drive cassette decks use a true direct drive motor. The rotor is attached directly to the capstan shaft and it is a quartz lock motor.

[@matthiash.4670]

This little gear is available, but I tent to put a metall ring on the upper gear-shaft and the problem is solved.

[@b.powell3480]

Sometimes I have gotten lucky by using an 'o' ring for a replacement belt !

[@glsoterios]

The Gear's cracked I've had the same problem with mine and bought the gear off of eBay and I fixed mine and out it works fine

[@12voltvids]

The reason the gears crack is because plastic shrinks over time and the metal shaft doesn't. Somethings gotta give

[@Raptor50aus]

Yeah I can see you can only repair and clean this deck to a point for the time you spend. It will never sound as good as if the owner did it himself where cost is not an issue. That is why I restore my own fully and get the absolute best sound quality result with the min wow and flutter etc which of course for you to do would cost the owner alot. Great job for time you could spend on it.

[@12voltvids]

Remember these decks didn't sound that good to begin with as they were right at the end of the cassette deck run. This one, in addition to belts and lubrication could use pinch rollers, but that costs money and nobody uses cassette decks these days. There are hundreds of them sitting on facebook and craigslist for 40.00 and they just sit there for weeks upon weeks. Nobody wants them. The guy that owns this one paid me 70 and I spent the better part of the afternoon on it. Obviously if you have the ability to do it yourself then go for it. Most people don't have that ability.

[@ManuelGarcia-cc4mt]

hello, I have a sony ccd tr81 handycam that I just bought at a thrift store. I charged the battery and the viewfinder turned on for a bit but the cassette compartment wouldn't open. I tried ejecting it for thr first time and it whirled a tad bit and it said it was water condensed or something. now none of the button work the small screen with a counter is still on but just at 00000. it won't even make a noise trying to eject now. I don't know what to do. could you help?

[@ManuelGarcia-cc4mt]

if I could talk to you on instagram or something for easier communication that would be nice

[@12voltvids]

@@ManuelGarcia-cc4mt I am not on social media

[@ManuelGarcia-cc4mt]

@@12voltvids could you possibly help me on here tho?

[@12voltvids]

@@ManuelGarcia-cc4mt could be just about anything wrong with it.

[@neverknowit11]

I think I was to work on repair returns, no way! There must have been a reason why a high change of new employees to resignation of old employees.

[@neverknowit11]

I turned down a job at Sony consumer repair after suggestions from people I knew. Was the start of the Engineering Technology decline at Sony. Their products started to use more plastic and parts would break easily.

[@12voltvids]

I was only there for a year. And they offered me a permanent post thing in Winnipeg. I laughed and said thanks but no thanks everyone I know left Winnipeg for a reason.

[@svdw1795]

Hello i just came upon this channel and i seem to have a problem with my sony CCDR417e i have the error message C:33.20. I tried the power reset but the side just wont open. Could it be that it jammed on the inside or is it purelly a software isseu. Also i hope i can fix it myself because theres no repair shops in my city

[@12voltvids]

C3320 is a rotation sensor error. The camera won't eject because it's not detecting that the real is turning to wind the tape in. If the supplier take up real is in fact turning then the sensor is not being read it is usually caused by one of two things one you can fix one requires parts. Usually it's the edge connectors where they plug onto the main board. I've done several videos on several models of Sony camera where I showed doing just that receding The edge connectors and it fixes the problem.

[@svdw1795]

@@12voltvids thank you for the response, i will look at those videos. I have yet to watch one that has a simmilair model to mine but i will update if i fixed it

[@Mogwai7991]

hi :-) there is a guy on ebay who makes new proper gears- not 3d printed ones, proper molded ones for the 190 ? mechanisms. he`s tzech i think or bulgarian. about 10 bucks a piece. i bought some and they fit good and work well. you have to search on ebay. the glue will not be a lasting repair. good work, enjoy your videos. keep going. greetings from germany

[@12voltvids]

Well there's not even room for a $10 gear. By the time it shipped and imported because there will be broker fees that $10 gear all of a sudden becomes $50 and when I have a limit of $70 to spend on the mechanism. I actually epoxide the gear on I use super glue in the video but I added semi epoxy for extra strength so it should be good for a while after all that gear is not really doing much other than activating the cam on the mechanism. The guy that owns it however is not really looking for a tape deck to listen to on an ongoing basis. He just wants to be able to digitize about 30 cassettes that he has and then the unit itself will be scrapped more than likely. I know there's a few people that hang out on my channel and on the internet that think that cassettes are the greatest thing ever invented but for 99% of the people cassettes were a joke nobody wants them the only time people want to fix the decks is if they have tapes that they want to transfer. I actually offered to transfer his tapes for him but at 10 bucks a tape it was going to cost them more to transfer than to fix the deck and do it himself. These tapes aren't so much music tapes but voice tapes of family members that he has that are important to him so what's the tapes are transferred I'm sure this deck will get recycled or sold or scrapped. I didn't make any money considering the amount of time that I spent on this which even though the video only shows about an hour it was more like about 3 hours of work. I only showed taking the mechanism apart twice but I actually took it apart four times. That was to resize belts and get the right size belt on it because the initial set weren't the correct size. The ones I show on the video were the final set going in but there was two before that that were too loose and slipped

[@Mogwai7991]

@@12voltvids i know this struggle with the belts well :-) for 70 bucks there is no room for parts sadly. epoxy will hold a while. used it before on gears and it works. keep your work going. learned a lot from your channel. thx and greetings

[@12voltvids]

@@Mogwai7991 It's not just belt it's all parts. I can see a day and then not too distant future where we won't be able to get anything for any of these old units. I'll keep fixing them as long as people want me to attempt to but the writing has been on the wall for years.

[@theotherchannel2279]

Yeah thats the chap I used him for my Technics TR-333 His gears are really good quality.

[@12voltvids]

@@theotherchannel2279 epoxy works wonders. I have gears i cemented years ago still working.

[@lachlanlau]

Windex works great for belts and doesn't leave a residue like WD-40

[@12voltvids]

99% alcohol works wonders

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

@@12voltvids I tried Kerosene for cleaning up belt residue and for some reason it did a better job than IPA.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

I always thought Sony's were great. That last one in the other video was the exception. On this one, I seem to see what looks like an IF transformer? Or do my eyes deceive? Oh there's more. I suppose it controls the frequency of the circuit.

[@12voltvids]

That would be the bias oscillator coil for record bias

Hello. I like and follow. Can you add Turkish subtitles? Because I want to understand what you are saying.

[@12voltvids]

Nope.

[@robertoney5665]

I have a Sony TC WE 825S. The cassette deck mechanism is very similar to that one in the video. Plastic Galore that's all I have to say. My Pioneer CT w 704 RS is more better mechanism has more metal and less plastic than the Sony.

[@zx8401ztv]

So i'm not the the only one that gets a cotton bud wrapped around the capstan lol. That deck is not as bad as the pile of shit in the other Sony deck. I hate that black decomposed belt crud, the first time i saw it was in an old Philips tape recorder. It also appeared in a friends reel to reel, it was on every part and a bugger to remove. Didn't you say something about baby oil for hands, maybe it would move the black crud, or has my memory faded Rupert :-D So you have been watching Aussie Dave?.

[@12voltvids]

That baby oil works great for getting it off your hands. It would probably help clear it off of parts as well however then you have to use alcohol to strip the baby oil. Same with WD-40 it does a wonderful job of removing it from parts and from your hands as well but then you've got to wash that off. Better just to use 99% alcohol and be done with it

[@426hemicuda1090]

omg the wow and flutter is horrible.... oh well it's not a quartz locked direct drive LOL

[@brentnearhood8874]

Thanks!

[@bugsyjonesband]

excellent! -

[@paulb4uk]

That cracked gear is prone to going same gear as in my 3 head sony ,a number of panasonic/technics models are also prone to gear failure parts are available in my case i had a denon deck with a panasonic mech i just got heads alighned and it recording and sounded great as the gear failed ,being a budget model cost of gear was not worth it and i broke it for parts a denon m07 from 1987 ,the center gear is flexible plastic and teeth break over time ,even the plastics on some technics direct drive can crack and cause it to not function .This sony is a much better one than that awful twin deck the sonys with the its a sony sticker were often better made products in my opinion .

[@Mogwai7991]

sony used a lot of the 190 mechanisms in their range of tapedecks. from the bottom of the line like this one, their twin tapecks even to the 3 head top of the line decks. this gear is probably the cause of failure in 90% of the defekt decks out there. a design failure. the mechanisms are good and reliable, but this gear and shitty belts are killing them.

[@paulb4uk]

@@Mogwai7991 Funny thing is two phillips mono decks i have still have good belts and their from 1975 and 1976 .

[@chriscutress1702]

SHAZAM says it's "Terrace in Giannutri" by Francia Jazzline Orchestra. All it means is a PIA for legitimate user like you every time KZbin flags it.

[@12voltvids]

KZbin doesn't flag this one thanks to me contacting Musicbakery about it and reporting it. They used to flag it but no more. Now it would be nice of MB would submit samples to YT to prevent this but this would cost them money. Copyright holders get this benefit because it benefits YT. If for example you use content you don't have the rights to use, YT flags it, and sends it to the rights holder to decide what they want to do. The rights holder can choose to allow the content to be used and split the revenue with YT just like the content creator does. Of they can choose to block the content in some countries or worldwide. KZbin provides this service for all content creators. For example if you copy a portion of one of my videos and put it into your video I receive a notice. I can allow you to use it and collect revenue if your channel is big enough to be monetized. If it is not then I have the option of doing nothing or have it taken down. It is a little different for royalty free content however. YT actually charges a fee to companies like MB to whitelist their content. So royalty free producers are more likely not to bother, because they already have their license fee. If someone claims that they own the content like Francia jazzline did, it will draw a match, and then anyone else that used it gets notice that francia is taking the revenue. When the legid licensed user (me) sees this it makes his blood boil and a dispute is opened with the claimant (usually a 3rd party company like CDbaby) CDbaby gets a copy of the documents proving that their client is a cheat, and immediately releases the claim. The odd one doesn't file any paperwork supporting their client, and the claim expires after 30 days. I was fooled initially because I searched francia and they had their stuff up on amazon music believe it or not. I involved musicbakery and they took action to stop amazon from selling it. If you go to musicbakery and search tasty jazz you will find the track. I have had that track in my library since 2000. Francia was formed in 2003. The track was originally released in 1997

[@12voltvids]

I just found the album that they are still trying to sell in Italy. Every track except for the last 2 are direct rips from musicbakery. For shits and giggles here is the link to the album www.jazzlineorchestra.com/music/mediterraneo/ I should link all the legit tracks here. Francia released this in 2014. I have the original CD back from 2000 or 2001 when my former business partner got carried away and bought a subscription. A new CD every month for about a year.

[@annierenard5954]

👍👍

[@b.powell3480]

Brakekleen!?

[@Rob.DB.]

That will remove the black slime that used to be a belt. But be very careful if may melt other things. That is some way strong stuff ! Especially when rubbing alcohol (isopropyl) at,a minimum of 80% works just fine . ... "Dont use a bazooka for squirrel hunting." :-)