Pioneer CT-M55R Cassette Changer Repair/Demonstration
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- čas přidán 24. 09. 2011
- While CD and record changers are very common, cassette changers are much less so. Yet some were made by various companies. This Pioneer unit appears to be one of the better known examples. It's actually pretty well made and the mechanism appears to be very well thought out, straightforward and (probably, hopefully) reliable. I had to do nothing other than clean the heads, free up a sticky solenoid and set the speed on this unit to get it working properly.
These units show up on eBay fairly often.
Interestingly enough, this unit does support recording.
I'd like to get ahold of a proper service manual for this unit.
CZcams user fortyfiveplayer had an eight-track changer/jukebox thing he was working on at some point...so even 8-track users could join in on the fun. - Věda a technologie
Wow, I've never seen anything like that. You never cease to amaze me Bill! I always look forward to seeing what shenanigans you and your family are up to. One of my fav channels on youtube!
Awesome deck and an even more awesome demo video.
The video is very very well made. The camera, the lighting and the narration all synchronized as if in a well directed movie!
You must be a television presenter at least. I really admired your language and the uninterrupted but very precise narration about the whole damn thing. Kudos.
I have a Mitsubishi DA-L70 7 Tape deck, recently acquired.
Just picked up a Pioneer CT-M66R Deck at Goodwill yesterday. I works 100% and sounds great. I will be doing a video on that tomorrow.
I've followed you for a while now. When I first saw your video bout a week later I found one for 10 bucks. Mine must have not been used too much since it records and plays beautifully.
That has to be the best device I have ever seen!! I wish I had one of these as a youth!!
Wow, I saw one of these in a Goodwill about a year ago. I tested it in the store and it did exactly what yours did--load, but not play. I must have had the same solinoid problem, so I passed on it, even though it was only 5 bucks. Now, I wish I had bought it. I will probably be a while before I see one of these babies again. Nice video.
Very nice film, and very nice tape deck. The working mechanism is excellent. Best regards!!!
I'm supprised that a company the size of Pioneer doesn't have their service literature available as a pdf file. As far as the microfiche goes check with your local public library, they quite often have microfiche readers with built in copiers for making hard copies of the information you are researching. Very cool unit :)
I got back to cassettes, this time with proper decks and I'm enjoying it. The only think I missed about the tape format is longer live recording/play without flipping or changing them. Or just recording three hour show when I'm not around all the time. Now I hope to hunt down one of these have many more hours of fun, it looks amazing :)
That's cool! I like how the tray slides in and the door closes.
And for some reason, I've always like the little rattle noises that cassettes make when being moved around or inserted/removed from a holder or player. I have no idea why.
An alignment tape and frequency counter or scope would really come in handy for setting the tape speed. I think you can actually get software for PC's that let you use the sound card input to test things like that too.
I own the M66r which is the bigger brother of the M55r. I had the M55r for years until it develop a high pitch squeal. I first brought my M55r back in 91 and pick up the M66r around 06. The M66r comes with a remote and has the HDX system.
Thanks for writing back. I have now found that I have to be careful about the tapes I insert in this player. The thin tapes don't work as well. The 120 minute tapes are a no-no. Usually the commercially produced tapes work better.
I also like the random feature, it's really cool. Works just like my 5-CD changer. Kinda fun.
And I have the Pioneer CT-M55R which is collecting dust now, but I still love my cassettes.
But I'm also a big fan of vinyl, which I understand is coming back.
That's really cool!
Great video! I skipped through a lot of it so maybe I missed it but how would you say the sound quality is on this deck? Compared to say a high-end or low end deck?
I never knew that there was ever such an animal made, hen I first seen the title of the video I thought you made a mistake in the title.
Nice!
@matthewh16 They are similar yet totally different. Microfiche comes on an approx 4X6 inch sheet of film, Microfilm comes on a roll of 35mm film. The benefit of microfiche is being able to go directly to the part of the sheet of film with the information you want is located. Microfilm you have to wind through the roll to find the info you want. It's also easier to store microfiche as it is usually stored in a card file, microfilm rolls are stored in file cabinets.
We came across a CT-M5R. That is right, one 5. I have an issue where you can turn it on and open and close real quick, however the device doesn't even try to recv the tape and displays ERR to no end. The conrols seize up and the device is useless till you power off/backon, quickly pressing eject in time to recover your tape. Every time it attempts to play it stalls with no movement in the deck
i have seen a few of these items one was a pioneer and the other one was a mitsubishi very nice idea. to bad i didnt get either unit. i would have but the mitsubishi unit was bundled with a whole stereo setup and couldnt be seperated. nice find none the less
Hi Bill, my CT-M6R just started to slow down. How hard is it to adjust the speed, do I need a special tool? Would I just play the tape and adjust it by ear or is there a specific setting? Thanks for any help!
Never knew this existed :D I'd love to have a '70s one to match my setup
this is a real MUST HAVE!!!!
I think the Scan button is to search between songs on each cassette which works by detecting the few seconds of silence between songs if, of course, the cassette was recorded with those in place.
buen dia amigo. Tengo un DEck de estos, pero el carril 1 no funciona. Se puede reparar? cual será el problema?
Hey Bill, Nice video .I've got a CT-M70R which is similar to this unit which I am restoring. I've got everything working except I can not get reverse to work in either the 6 cassette player or the standalone. Only one side in the player turns and jams up the tape. I had to change the belts I'm wondering if I messed something up .Forward play, rewind and fast forward are flawless. Any ideas. Can't find a service manual for these. Thanks
+John Dinse Mine seems to be doing the same thing now. I got the speed adjustment worked out, i'm just trying to figure out the reverse adjustment
I don't have same system , but I worked on different deck with same mechanism, Play and Rev Play are controlled by solenoid and Cam Gear witch locates between/under capstan wheels. Cam Gear has grooves , solenoid is pushing metal pin to proper groove, bottom side of the capstan wheel has little gear wheel witch is turning the Cam Gear to push head and pinch roller up, side is depending of chosen groove. Mechanism has two motors, motor in the middle is for moving tape roll on both side play, rewind and forward, second motor , (on upper left) is for capstans and mechanism.
Ah memories. I had one of these.
My I love listening to my cassette tapes all the time this device would be awesome to keep all my tapes out of site and keep them in a mechine like this is Need more then one for my tape collection lol
Very nice, congratulations!! i´m looking forward to find one on ebay but looks like very difficult to find some.
Rgds
Antonio
thats a really interesting casset tape deck, would be usefull for a radio station back in those days, if they should play some casset tapes on the air.
On the topic of Pioneer products, I happen to own a Pioneer RK-560 AM/FM/TV Radio Cassette Recorder from a good 32 years ago. Sadly it's missing the cover for the battery tray and has a broken antenna. I don't know how familiar you are with items like this.
Bill, nice video. Did you ever get the service information other than micro fiche ??
Unfortunately, no. And as my digital fiche reader was misbehaving, I didn't even manage to digitize it.
I spy a partially disassembled Boose Wavy Radio!
The demand for cassette changers was largely obviated by the ease of making one's own "mix tapes". So instead of loading up 5 or 6 tapes with a few good songs on each of them, you could just do some dubbing and carry with you one tape with all of your favorite songs on it. (This may be why CD changers also seemed to fall by the wayside once CD burners became common.)
Hi UXWBILL, I have a problem with a deck like this in the transport area. Some pieces are out of place and by this reason the transporte doesn't carry any of the six tapes, but it certainly moves like it should. Do you know by chance how to dismantle the transport platform in order to insert the pieces where they have to be? I will appreciate a lot your advise. Thanks!!
Hi Bill, I have this tape deck and the speed is too fast. What did you use to change the speed on yours? Was it the little screw you showed in this video? Thanks
czcams.com/video/60dG35aJPmY/video.html
If you have the patience you could always set up an automated ebay search. That's how I was able to get the service manual for my record player, although it was a 2 year wait!
What is the best way to remove a "stuck" tape? I had to completely destroy the tape itself to get it out of there. The rest of the cassette came out just fine. That was frustrating! I guess you need to make sure that the cassette you insert into the player will "behave" itself normally.
Hi, I have the same tape changer as in your video. It was working fine, then a tape was loaded and won't return, play, or rewind. I just get an ERR message and nothing happens. Any suggestions to free it up? Thanks!
It is very likely that a drive belt in the mechanism started slipping. Unfortunately, I've never seen a service manual for the mechanical parts of these, only the electronics.
Hi Bill, I have a pioneer CT-WM62R multi-cassette changer. Haven't played it for several months but recently tried but an error appeared and I turned it off and back on. When I tured it on, it just made sounds as if it was trying to engage. I tried to rewind the tape and now both deck one and two will not play, rewind, or fast forward and the carousel will not move. Any suggestions? Thanks for you help.
My best guess is another case of bad belts. These units are certainly old enough to qualify. However, the mechanism in both of the Pioneer changers I've owned has become "stuck" and needed some careful manual encouragement to free it up. The one I still have (the unit in this video) still works perfectly after having been freed up.
@@uxwbill Hi Bill I just subscribe to your site and I love your videos. Anyway my question is I have a Pioneer 6+1 multi-cassette changer model CT-WM60R I have bought new in the early 90s but the problem I have now is it's been sitting for a little bitI can't get either deck to engage into play I'm guessing it is a solenoid how do you clean the solenoids?
Is it possible to change a tape while another is still playing? Or does the system mandate that playback is stopped?
Did you ever find a service manual?
@uxwbill Is MicroFish/Microfiche the same as MicroFilm?
got an M6R here, same sort of mechanism, but the deck has dolby-C & hx-pro for recording, slightly different display. mook seller shipped it to me with a cassette loaded, & this messed up the sliding caddy with the cassette in it. long story short- I have it working, but it thinks slot two is occupied while in fact the caddy from slot one is occupied & loads into the transport.
did you ever get a full service document for it? I have schematics, but they're worthless for mechanical issues.
No, I have never found the full service literature.
@@uxwbill well, I got it running properly.... there's an encoder on the side of the sliding caddy, & the position of this encoder w.r.t. the worm gear is critical to the caddy knowing where it is inside the box. this had taken a knock, + two of the locating pins from the cassette tray are loose.... circlips ordered. the springs are safe, at least. so currently mine runs but only with four cassettes. this ain't a nakamichi, though... :-)
Hey Bill. I just bought one of these and it showed up broken. The tray is sitting in sideways and will not move. Any ideas on what I could do to get this to work? It looks like as soon as you turn this on its side it goes to crap. It looks like it just got derailed any help would be awesome
I really couldn't even guess, since I've never had to go into one that far. It really sounds like something got broken, though I'm not sure what it would be or how repairable it is.
I've never had any luck finding anything more than electrical schematics for these.
Do you like sony or pioneers changer better for cassettes?@@uxwbill
I just brought a CT-M6R home and it played a tape or two and is now stuck and won’t open. It runs the motor for maybe 20s and then displays error. I paid 25 for it and I think I’ll keep it as a project. Any tips?
Follow the Boy Scout motto and "be prepared"? That's about the best I've got. You could be dealing with anything: a tape spill, bad belt, stuck mechanism, bad driving motor or even an electronic fault (unlikely).
I've never seen a mechanical service manual for these, only the schematic drawings for the circuit boards.
I have the same cassette deck and It's the best tape deck I have!!!!
nice peace of kit.
Great gadget!!
I have worked on one back in the late 90s at model electronics they had the schematics for it in a book form and had all the info to tear it apart all I had to do was replace a power diode in the power supply . I will send them a e-mail and see if they still have it and make me a copy I am unsure if they still have it as they moved and now only work on car audio and spedos.
Super. Обалденная техника. Хочу такую.
Sony did a tape changer with the Betamax SL-C7 VCR using the AGC-7 BetaStack....could play or record up to 4 tapes at a time!
Wow never seen or heard of aneything like this befor, didnt know such a thing was avalbe thats amazeing i want one!! Ive got a twin deck vcr you might be intrested in but its not asgood as this fined! Hope you dont mined me asking but did you pay much for this on E-bay??? Im going to ask again like i always do lol aney progress on the garage electrics???
Uxwbill Does your library still have a reader that prints out ?
I have the 66, it won’t load the cassettes. It will go to position but won’t pull the tape then just returns. Any tips or direction on where I could figure out a fix?
Bad belts, most probably. I've never seen a service manual for the mechanical part, so I can't offer any more assistance on that.
uxwbill ok, thanks for the reply!
@uxwbill I was going to say, call a few libraries in your area and see if they have a microfiche printer and then print them to pages and put it in a binder and SCAN THEM! I'm sure a lot of people out there would REALLY like to have the service data for this thing because they are really complex, I've turned down a few of these for that reason, lack of service data. One of those things I really don't want to disassemble without a manual.
1:05 what's going on with the bose radio on the bottom left? Just wondering.
It stopped working and eventually I just gave up on repairing it.
I learned the reason you unload media before shipping first-hand. I had a Spectra Logic T50 tape robot shipped from another location within my employer. Little did I know they'd just pull it out of the rack and slap it in a box!
It reads in big bold letters, "DO NOT SHIP WITH THE TAPES INSTALLED". They mean it.
I had to fix the resulting carnage that 10 DLT7000 tapes caused to the loader. Not fun! (A much worse fate befell the server that drove the robot.)
I have a ct-m6r and the cassette #2 just got stuck in the open position and the carriage has left the original position. Ugg! I'm going to attempt to fix it myself. Any suggestions would be appreciated!!! HELP!!!
This is likely a result of bad belts. Unfortunately, I have not seen a service manual for the transport, only the electronics.
@@uxwbill Hey thank you for the reply. cassette 3,4,5,6 works great. I just have to get #2 back in line with the rest. (fingers crossed)
I believe I once saw in a radio and electronics store a cassette changer for use in a car, that was in 1992 I believe, I don't know how many cassettes it held. i'm far too young to know about MicroFish, but believe it or not my step father's parents showed me a MicroFish reader years ago and I saw one being used at my primary school once upon a time, would you please make a video talking about MicroFish for those who don't know about it? I think some people may find it interesting.
Thanks UXWBILL anyway. I'll try to fix it myself very carefully.
I have another question you may be able to answer. I arrived here searching for something like this, but with videotapes. Did that ever exist? I thought it would be quite useful for CCTV security systems before the arrival of digital, but I can't seem to find any evidence of their existence.
I bought mine also on ebay. what problems that I am having is that the door will not open to laod but the motor runs inside.
Bad belts are becoming ever more common with these.
the motor sounds week. .the door will not open all the time and only once half way then it will get err on the screen.
So I sent that one back.by looking at the rest of the ones on the net this one had the tray in side ways or should I say not level from being banged up in shipping. I found a WM62r and bought it but the problem that I am having now is that the carriage is not going in far enough to take the tape and the motor keeps spinning inside I'm thinking that it is a belt there is some where marks in the pinch rollers but I think that it was from being played a lot.the single deck on it seems to work ok. it looks like the rest of the belts are going to be hard to put in but the carriage belt should be ok. thanks for your replies. .In my view they have got to be one of the coolest decks ever built.
@uxwbill Thank you very much. That was really helpful. :-)
@MegaOuster they had a sign on the front door saying they no longer sell electronics due to health and safety issues. my guess, i dunno, the electronics could be bad or something since there not tested? lol
That machine has a major speed problem! Other than that, a really neat machine. It would be a pain to clean, though. :) JC
Ola uxwbill ! Por acaso eu tenho o manual de serviço do CT-WM70R que pelo que pude ver parece igual a este a única diferença é que ele tem mais um cassete ou seja ele tem um cassete frontal no lado direito,Mas vamos ao que interessa,o detalhe é que este manual veio em micro filme e ainda não consegui amplia-lo para poder imprimi-lo mas tão logo eu consiga entrarei em contato e tentarei postá-lo para que voce tenha acesso ok ! grande abraço ,,Alberto Lamas do Rio de Janeiro-Brasil
some libraries have a fiche printer,,for printing microfiche
Is that a Bose music system on the floor to the left?
gypsyThree97 it is and I was wondering what was going on with it.
?DEVICE NOT RECOGNIZED ERROR
apparently my local thrift store can't sell electornics anymore due to "health issues" :(
no more picking up lucky deals on old electronics lol
Check out the Philips N2408
Is the manual on Hi-Fi Engine?
I don't know. That web site's designers never heard of a robust account management system.
You just create a free account and log in. Then you have a search bar where you type in your make and model of whatever equipment you have. They usually have most service manuals as well as original brochure documents all in PDF form.
Implied in my original commentary is that the whole account thing went horribly, horribly wrong. And it is still wrong, but it has exceeded my ability to care. :-) I did try quite hard for a while to straighten it out a while ago.
I bought the manual I have from StereoManuals.com, along with several others over the years. I've been quite happy with everything I ever got from them.
Looks like a nice toy. :)
I don't think they did, I didn't get that much into VHS b/c its what "everyone" had....no frills, same ole thing...Betamax interested me because it was a great format, wasn't very popular when compared to VHS, but it was superior....kind of like Laserdisc....it wasn't until BluRay that the laserdisc wasn't number 1 in audio quality!
Leave it to pioneer to make something awesome! lol that's cool.
Retificando não é micro filme e sim MICRO FICHAS.
uxwbill; there is a group on facebook called cassette tapes and players i have the same unit on mine the vu meters don't work i ask for help and one of the group members put the manual on the page so could print it out i would try there if you don't have it yet i know this video is 8 years old good luck and i love your videos
As a rule, I don't use Facebook and neither should you.
At 8:02 it's S6 not (week) 56
You have a luxury I didn't when making the video -- the ability to closely examine what the motor says. There is a certain pressure to keep the dialogue moving while the camera is running.
ive seen these before in the store I never thoght they would catch on with people . Its too complexed of a machine prone to breaking down too much .Just like some cd changer are .
sys 64738 enough said! XD
I know this is an old video it did you ever find a copy of the service manual for this? I’ve been hunting one for it.
Only for the electronics, not the mechanism.
Hi UXWBILL, I have a problem with a deck like this in the transport area. Some pieces are out of place and by this reason the transporte doesn't carry any of the six tapes, but it certainly moves like it should. Do you know by chance how to dismantle the transport platform in order to insert the pieces where they have to be? I will appreciate a lot your advise. Thanks!!
I have worked on one back in the late 90s at model electronics they had the schematics for it in a book form and had all the info to tear it apart all I had to do was replace a power diode in the power supply . I will send them a e-mail and see if they still have it and make me a copy I am unsure if they still have it as they moved and now only work on car audio and spedos.