Thanks for stopping by! I’m wondering if anyone can tell me what I should look at replacing or fixing with the following two issues. 1) Radio works, but not the cassette player. Reels don’t spin. There is some crackle in the audio when pressing play, if that means anything. 2) Right speaker crackles a bit when adjusting the volume, but sounds ok once the volume is set and untouched. Any leads would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
I love the mid-sized Hitachi's, I just got the slightly larger brother to this unit; you have to love all of the buttons on the top for the tape deck, mine actually has 7 which might be a record. If your not familar with DeOxit, it's a life saver for old electronics, the metal inside the switches gets either rusty or a green coating of corrosion which prevents a good signal. The two switches affected the most are Volume and Function selector. One of the oldest members of this forum posted a long guide over on Audio Karma on how to clean these switches. There are lot's of other cleaners and lubes but you can get DeOxit easily in the USA online or at musical instrument stores. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/the-idiots-guide-to-using-deoxit-revisited.207005/ The other issue is most likely the belt will need to be changed, if you haven't done it yet, I'd get a set of JIS Screwdrivers on Amazon.com for around $15 USD, find a service manual and take the back cover off and try to change the belt.
Great information! Thank you! Since this post, I've also purchased a Sharp GF-9696, and guess what? Everything works except for the cassette player. I'm learning this issue is VERY common among old boomboxes. lol I'll cross my fingers that it's a belt. Belts sound like something I can tackle. Anything beyond that sounds like it gets complicated. I glanced over that guide. I think I can make sense of it. There's just a lot of parts/pieces mentioned that I have no idea what they are. It sure would be great if someone would make a video of going through that process. I'll just have to take my time when going through it and I imagine the things he mentioned will start to fall into place for me and make sense. Thanks again! That's a lot of great info for someone new to all of this like me. ggg
None of the "maintenance" work is too difficult, some of the smaller Walkmans require wires to be unsoldered and that can be a pain. Belts and "scratchy" sound are the #1 and #2 issues with old players, expect to encounter it at some point. Being able to fix these issues will fix 80% of your purchases, some equipment needs more work. Take notes and photos, you'll forget where the screws, washers and springs go. I'll use painters tape and keep groups of screws together or write notes on the tape. I also have a blue electronics mat that has little holes for screws, you can line them up in the order you take them out. While you have the tape deck exposed, watch the movement when you press the buttons, sometimes the metal plates will stick or hooks won't grab pins because the lube turns sticky.
I actually have one of those blue mats for working on other electronics (mostly older game consoles). They're great! Attached is a picture of some lube I picked up recently for working on laserdisc players. Would this be a good lube to keep handy for boombox internals?
I think so, I can't remember what I have in the shop, maybe silicone? A lot of people have WD-40 and use that, it tends to collect dust and be counterproductive, something that doesn't "run" and sticks in place should be fine. There's a whole world of different lubricants, search old threads on here or over on AudioKarma.org to see what the professional techs recommend.
