So we have here another Panny from my friend 'Oooop North' that initially we both thought just needed a good service! (Sounds like my ex wife!!) How wrong we turned out to be........... On initial strip down to replace the belts, I noticed that on removing the flywheel plate that the capstan shaft was very wobbly - I could move it from side to side as well as up & down resulting in a horrible grinding sound Now, I have had this before over many years but I have to admit that it's a rare occurrence!! The brass capstan shaft bearing had shattered into several pieces & once I withdrew the capstan shaft, I was able to see that most of the bearing was jammed solid in it's hole! Being the type of bearing that's pushed by a press in the factory (Upmarket cassette decks often allow the changing of the bearing) Boomboxes rarely do.......So it was a case of "Drop Everything & accept that for now, I am left "Caught up in the tentyhooks" Machine put aside for now....... Fast forward to yesterday, we had located a cheapish doner machine so got it bought & sent down to me!! Not in great condition & completely dead, no power at all - But who cares! We want the cassette deck chassis that's all! :O Broken posts in the casing & bits of plastic rattling around inside - it did look to me like it was historic damage going way back & that's perhaps why it was cheap (ish) So now I have both decks in front of me & I am not going into every detail about what I changed or replaced - Suffice to say that just half an hour later I have a completed deck, capstan bearing perfect so I treated it to a drop or two of fine machine oil & used the capstan & flywheel from yesterday's arrival, the shaft was also f**ked in original stereo & hardly surprising as sharp fragments of old bearing were tightly pressing on it! Anyway, I digress & returned to my newly built & serviced deck, new belt fitted even though old one was still working just lowish torque on fast wind etc - new belt restored strong torque in both directions! A great result so far.......... I've often said in my posts that the big japanese brands made decks to a very high standard, even the budget decks are excellent - This meant not surprisingly that no adjustments needed to motor speed or azimuth I love these well engineered stero's!! Replace deck in chassis, connect her up permitting me to clean the rollers & head block......The pinch roller & heads looked like new after cleaning - Life's lessons teach you to leave pinch rollers alone unless they have liquified or gone barrel shaped! It was the right choice, this one was good!! Left heads & roller to completely dry after a lot of alcohol was used to really polish them all up before headphones on & test tape tried at first........ All Trumpets!! Perfection achieved & I was rewarded with great stereo sound!! The Panny lives on for many more years now! This is a nice example of this entry level stereo from 1981 I believe & now that I have caught up with the even keels it was time to connect the speakers & screw it back together! These models really do sing & they go loud too, the full range speakers do an admirable & more than acceptable job, taking me back to my teenage years at boarding school! A few owned this model & the 5030 too both similar machines! I enjoyed today, nothing went wrong at all & the result is superb, really detailed sound from the two full rangers! These are underrated no question & normally easy as anything to do...............We were unlucky David, but now all is well! Et Viola: Hi-Res Images Here: https://onedrive.live.com/?id=BEA218B70F2B18D1!31280&cid=BEA218B70F2B18D1
