Thanks for the in depth trip through this Technics tape deck. This series of deck was a few years before CD's came online and you can see by the construction, Panasonic/Technics still tried to put out a quality product... (lots of metal used for construction.) There just seems to be something about those old purple Matsushita and blue Elna caps of that era; if you catch them in time, you can save the circuit board. If someone leaves it in a closet and no electricity flows for years and years, those caps let go. Thanks again for your time Trevor! 👍
Thanks Craig. This deck was produced right at the end of the cassette era so it contains all of the best technology for this format. Remember, the Compact Cassette was created in the 60's and this technology lasted nearly 30 years until digital came along
@@TrevorsBench i have two technics decks bought in 1979 and one of them i stop using it when it needed new belts i had others and still have in use this deck showed in the video in ash colour as technics called it as their extra colour to grey brushed aluminium, bought later a akai hx-1 but a friend and me transform the deck but today i don´t remenber how we did it but as a much bigger record/play head and even today because while playing music in a friends group night bar that closed at 00hours or 24 h ,in reality it was open till 2 in the morning or later and i took this akai to record some cassettes there, some friends asked me to record to them some cassettes and today they say that the cassettes still sound perfect compared to others they had, this deck today is restored and records and plays with a higher quality and some philips i bought cheap ,one was still in the box since 1979 it records with a very good sound, one thing i remenber is using it as an extra deck on a complete new es system from sony and it recorded with very good sound allthough the new sony seemed much better and digital recording in a dat deck was incredible good, i having a lot of diferent decks since mid 70´s till the 90´s the ones that recorded good still record good today ,and i´m comparing them to trop end models released in the 90´s which some are better but others don´t
Nice vid Trev. The odd solvent smell of rubber renue stays strong like grandma pepermint candy for a while after use. I keep mine in a ziplock in a tobacco jar. It works great. I use it on DUAL idler drive tires. Dr. Cassette uses windex on hIs pinch rollers and components....because he says it is easier on the rubber bits and plastic bobs. Apparently ipa dries out the rubber and makes the plastic even more brittle. So the cleaner you are using is prob a good call.
Hi ! I found one of these beside the local public container bin. Was looking nice but not functionning. I cleaned up the wheels and tyres like you showed and tadaaa ! Also instructions for unmount were precious. Thanks a LOT !! I'm happy I have a cassette deck for free :D
I will reference your quality work have a M45 which uses the same mechanism. Haven't done a complete breakdown of the mech only replaced caps and a new pinch wheel. The sound quality of the technics of that era is quite nice.
Great sir.Nice to see all these high end decks.These are not very popular in India , obviously price matters.I do have little knowledge but interested to learn.I admire you ,your work a lot.
hello Trevor, great, it's great when a person knows what he's doing :-)) please, what do you use for the lubricant, for the lubrication, as you have in the syringe,and I would also be very interested in what brand of capacitor you use, please
Hi Luke. I use a synthetic grease that can be found on the Chinese online marketplace. It has worked well for me on many applications both rotating and sliding. Maybe somebody knows of something better. I'm open to trying new things. I'm not loyal to any specific brand of capacitors but instead I look at the ratings and specs. I select 105C capacitor for almost all of my stock. I also try to get capacitors that are rated for 5000hrs or more. The higher hour rating at temp means the capacitor can last and has been built to a higher standard. I've bought bulk Chinese capacitors from LCSC at very good prices that have 7000hr or more ratings. If you're brand loyal, LCSC will also sell brand name caps for far cheaper than you'll find at DigiKey or Mouser
this was very gut in the 79 year, but had several good ones from other brands so i bought the under this model, it is slim but long, this must had been released in early 80´s it as dbx but in this decks it only worked if you had the terrible expensive(but perfect) DBX system for home use or only jumps or punches would be heard with dbx on
I am a fairly new subscriber to this channel and love these videos. This was a pleasure to watch :) -- @trevor When you service a tape deck do you also check the wow/flutter too (along with checking the azimuth on the head)? Not sure if this is something you did off camera.
The problem I have with servicing cassette decks is they all require specialized alignment tapes. Some are specific to brand. These tapes are difficult to get and expensive. Most manufacturers have long moved past cassettes (and CDs) and no longer support the supply of repair tools like alignment tapes or jigs I also don't have the right test gear for W&F so I'm left with doing my best without all these specialized tools or equipment
@@TrevorsBench Hi Trevor, thank you for taking the time out to respond. W&F is actually not hard to check these days with software based meters, theres a free one called WFGUI which is well known, pretty easy to test with that, just record a tone and measure the W&F on the outputs in playback - for anything else though I agree, you need specific calibration tapes which can get costly. Funnily enough, they are probably easier to get for reel to reel since MRL still produce them brand new. - Happy new year! :)
Hi I am writing to you from Chile, I have the same deck and its bulbs are burnt, can you tell me the characteristics of the two bulbs so I can look them up. Thanks a lot Ariel
The two lamps appear to be 12v bulbs. These would be low current and wattage (less than 100mA or 1w) and subminiature in size. Here's a link to something that will work (if CZcams allows me to post links) www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004518808044.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.13edtwFwtwFwzg&algo_pvid=dc897ad1-4764-49a7-8cb6-83a3f151b805&algo_exp_id=dc897ad1-4764-49a7-8cb6-83a3f151b805-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000029449222074%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21CAD%213.87%212.68%21%21%21%21%21%4021021aa216730340397531642d0701%2112000029449222074%21sea&curPageLogUid=8g22C9gYy0Nl
I have sony mhc p99x. 125w small mini ...its fan does nt work and it gets hot around 60..70 C. can i use computer fan? will it burn if fan is not working?
Hi Trevor, New Subscriber. What are you using to lubricate the shafts within these decks. I could see it was a syringe, but i couldn't catch what was on it? Great job and thanks for sharing.
Hi Brian and welcome. I use one of two things. 3 in 1 oil for motor shafts and the like (with bearings) and I also use a generic synthetic grease for pretty much everything else. It's not critical as some would lead you to believe. Replacing the old sticky dried up grease with new is the biggest benefit. The longevity of the generic grease I use is questionable but it's still better than the vintage stuff from the factory. IMO
Hi Trevor. Amazing video. I have had this unit for about 3 years. Did some small maintenance to it (speed adjustment, rubber renue, etc) but last week it started making an intermittent static noise. It is present always when on but loudest when in play. It also records this static sound to blank tapes. I'm not sure if it is the Matsushita capacitors or transistors somewhere... what would you recommend I do to troubleshoot?
Hi Cam, The M270x is complex and can be difficult to troubleshoot. I would start in the power supply and check the regulators. If the power isn't clean it will cause havoc in the audio circuits. It could be a lot of things and me giving you the answer is impossible but there are things yo can check Check for cracked solder joints, esp around power semiconductors and other larger components. Check for cracked solders on the input RCA jacks, Check for any electrolytic capacitors that have leaked and spilled onto the board creating stray current paths. Aside from that, it could also be a failing component like a voltage regulator or transistor. Good luck
@@TrevorsBenchI really appreciate the detailed response. I just spent the afternoon in there taking inventory of electrolytic capacitors. A good amount of them were leaky. I plan to recap it. I'm hoping doing that along with cleaning the boards helps the situation.
MG chemicals makes 408C for rubber belts rejuvenation, acetone dissolves synthetic rubber and may be harsh on a number of plastic compounds, depending on the latter's composition.
Hi Trevor, my friend Andrew from Canada said that you might be able to help me repair my Kenwood KC-6060 Solid State Audio-Lab Scope. The unit powers up but the Scope stop working. I’m in Washington State how can I get in touch. Thanks William
Hi William, If you were local I would help no problem. I would really not advise shipping cross border for something that has a glass CRT and has a high value such as this piece, too much risk and I'd hate to see it get damaged
@@TrevorsBench hi Trevor, unfortunately I have no choice, I would take that chance and bubble wrap this well to protect for shipping. Please let me know if you can. Thanks William
Trevor is a master at resurrection of old hifi gear and he really cares about his clients. I’m sure that deck is worth more than $50 to the person who will treasure it…
Thanks for taking the time to record and post, Trevor! Your quality content is much appreciated!
Your support is appreciated Serg, thanks
Thanks for the in depth trip through this Technics tape deck. This series of deck was a few years before CD's came online and you can see by the construction, Panasonic/Technics still tried to put out a quality product... (lots of metal used for construction.) There just seems to be something about those old purple Matsushita and blue Elna caps of that era; if you catch them in time, you can save the circuit board. If someone leaves it in a closet and no electricity flows for years and years, those caps let go. Thanks again for your time Trevor! 👍
Thanks Craig. This deck was produced right at the end of the cassette era so it contains all of the best technology for this format. Remember, the Compact Cassette was created in the 60's and this technology lasted nearly 30 years until digital came along
@@TrevorsBench i have two technics decks bought in 1979 and one of them i stop using it when it needed new belts i had others and still have in use this deck showed in the video in ash colour as technics called it as their extra colour to grey brushed aluminium, bought later a akai hx-1 but a friend and me transform the deck but today i don´t remenber how we did it but as a much bigger record/play head and even today because while playing music in a friends group night bar that closed at 00hours or 24 h ,in reality it was open till 2 in the morning or later and i took this akai to record some cassettes there, some friends asked me to record to them some cassettes and today they say that the cassettes still sound perfect compared to others they had, this deck today is restored and records and plays with a higher quality and some philips i bought cheap ,one was still in the box since 1979 it records with a very good sound, one thing i remenber is using it as an extra deck on a complete new es system from sony and it recorded with very good sound allthough the new sony seemed much better and digital recording in a dat deck was incredible good, i having a lot of diferent decks since mid 70´s till the 90´s the ones that recorded good still record good today ,and i´m comparing them to trop end models released in the 90´s which some are better but others don´t
I own 2 of these awesome decks in mint condition..,they even sound better than most of my 3head decks..I'll never sell them..thanx bro..nice work.
Nice vid Trev. The odd solvent smell of rubber renue stays strong like grandma pepermint candy for a while after use. I keep mine in a ziplock in a tobacco jar. It works great. I use it on DUAL idler drive tires. Dr. Cassette uses windex on hIs pinch rollers and components....because he says it is easier on the rubber bits and plastic bobs. Apparently ipa dries out the rubber and makes the plastic even more brittle. So the cleaner you are using is prob a good call.
Hi ! I found one of these beside the local public container bin. Was looking nice but not functionning. I cleaned up the wheels and tyres like you showed and tadaaa ! Also instructions for unmount were precious. Thanks a LOT !!
I'm happy I have a cassette deck for free :D
I will reference your quality work have a M45 which uses the same mechanism. Haven't done a complete breakdown of the mech only replaced caps and a new pinch wheel. The sound quality of the technics of that era is quite nice.
Great sir.Nice to see all these high end decks.These are not very popular in India , obviously price matters.I do have little knowledge but interested to learn.I admire you ,your work a lot.
Great work!
Thanks Alexis for your continued support
Very nice work. I envy your skills.
Thank you
I like to use goo gone or stuff like it or rubber and stuff that won't come off. Lighter fluid works great to it drys fast.
You're a legend
Lol, high praise, thanks
I have an M65 in excellent condition. Found it at Goodwill for 19.99. It plays very well just behind Nakamichi deck.
hello Trevor, great, it's great when a person knows what he's doing :-)) please, what do you use for the lubricant, for the lubrication, as you have in the syringe,and I would also be very interested in what brand of capacitor you use, please
Hi Luke. I use a synthetic grease that can be found on the Chinese online marketplace. It has worked well for me on many applications both rotating and sliding. Maybe somebody knows of something better. I'm open to trying new things.
I'm not loyal to any specific brand of capacitors but instead I look at the ratings and specs. I select 105C capacitor for almost all of my stock. I also try to get capacitors that are rated for 5000hrs or more. The higher hour rating at temp means the capacitor can last and has been built to a higher standard.
I've bought bulk Chinese capacitors from LCSC at very good prices that have 7000hr or more ratings. If you're brand loyal, LCSC will also sell brand name caps for far cheaper than you'll find at DigiKey or Mouser
@@TrevorsBench hi Trevor ,thanx 😊😊😇
this was very gut in the 79 year, but had several good ones from other brands so i bought the under this model, it is slim but long, this must had been released in early 80´s it as dbx but in this decks it only worked if you had the terrible expensive(but perfect) DBX system for home use or only jumps or punches would be heard with dbx on
I am a fairly new subscriber to this channel and love these videos. This was a pleasure to watch :) -- @trevor When you service a tape deck do you also check the wow/flutter too (along with checking the azimuth on the head)? Not sure if this is something you did off camera.
The problem I have with servicing cassette decks is they all require specialized alignment tapes. Some are specific to brand. These tapes are difficult to get and expensive. Most manufacturers have long moved past cassettes (and CDs) and no longer support the supply of repair tools like alignment tapes or jigs
I also don't have the right test gear for W&F so I'm left with doing my best without all these specialized tools or equipment
@@TrevorsBench Hi Trevor, thank you for taking the time out to respond. W&F is actually not hard to check these days with software based meters, theres a free one called WFGUI which is well known, pretty easy to test with that, just record a tone and measure the W&F on the outputs in playback - for anything else though I agree, you need specific calibration tapes which can get costly. Funnily enough, they are probably easier to get for reel to reel since MRL still produce them brand new. - Happy new year! :)
Hi
I am writing to you from Chile, I have the same deck and its bulbs are burnt, can you tell me the characteristics of the two bulbs so I can look them up.
Thanks a lot
Ariel
The two lamps appear to be 12v bulbs. These would be low current and wattage (less than 100mA or 1w) and subminiature in size.
Here's a link to something that will work (if CZcams allows me to post links)
www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004518808044.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.1.13edtwFwtwFwzg&algo_pvid=dc897ad1-4764-49a7-8cb6-83a3f151b805&algo_exp_id=dc897ad1-4764-49a7-8cb6-83a3f151b805-0&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22sku_id%22%3A%2212000029449222074%22%7D&pdp_npi=2%40dis%21CAD%213.87%212.68%21%21%21%21%21%4021021aa216730340397531642d0701%2112000029449222074%21sea&curPageLogUid=8g22C9gYy0Nl
Hope this helps ,e fix an M85. They are kind of similar. 95 caps just to try to get a few lamps working?!! The one i have here won't even play!
bulb change on deck well?
I have sony mhc p99x. 125w small mini ...its fan does nt work and it gets hot around 60..70 C. can i use computer fan? will it burn if fan is not working?
Hi Trevor, New Subscriber. What are you using to lubricate the shafts within these decks. I could see it was a syringe, but i couldn't catch what was on it? Great job and thanks for sharing.
Hi Brian and welcome.
I use one of two things. 3 in 1 oil for motor shafts and the like (with bearings) and I also use a generic synthetic grease for pretty much everything else. It's not critical as some would lead you to believe. Replacing the old sticky dried up grease with new is the biggest benefit. The longevity of the generic grease I use is questionable but it's still better than the vintage stuff from the factory. IMO
@@TrevorsBench Thank for your reply. 👍
Did display become brighter?
No
Хороший аппарат, отличная работа!👍
Hi Trevor. Amazing video. I have had this unit for about 3 years. Did some small maintenance to it (speed adjustment, rubber renue, etc) but last week it started making an intermittent static noise. It is present always when on but loudest when in play. It also records this static sound to blank tapes.
I'm not sure if it is the Matsushita capacitors or transistors somewhere... what would you recommend I do to troubleshoot?
Hi Cam, The M270x is complex and can be difficult to troubleshoot. I would start in the power supply and check the regulators. If the power isn't clean it will cause havoc in the audio circuits. It could be a lot of things and me giving you the answer is impossible but there are things yo can check
Check for cracked solder joints, esp around power semiconductors and other larger components. Check for cracked solders on the input RCA jacks, Check for any electrolytic capacitors that have leaked and spilled onto the board creating stray current paths. Aside from that, it could also be a failing component like a voltage regulator or transistor.
Good luck
@@TrevorsBenchI really appreciate the detailed response. I just spent the afternoon in there taking inventory of electrolytic capacitors. A good amount of them were leaky. I plan to recap it. I'm hoping doing that along with cleaning the boards helps the situation.
DBX included?
What are the replacement caps? Rubycon, Panasonic...1000 hours...5000 hours?
I have the same deck...the red one.
Try using acetone instead of alcool for cleaning rubber belts and tires, pulleys.
MG chemicals makes 408C for rubber belts rejuvenation, acetone dissolves synthetic rubber and may be harsh on a number of plastic compounds, depending on the latter's composition.
Hi Trevor, my friend Andrew from Canada said that you might be able to help me repair my Kenwood KC-6060 Solid State Audio-Lab Scope. The unit powers up but the Scope stop working. I’m in Washington State how can I get in touch. Thanks William
Hi William, If you were local I would help no problem. I would really not advise shipping cross border for something that has a glass CRT and has a high value such as this piece, too much risk and I'd hate to see it get damaged
@@TrevorsBench hi Trevor, unfortunately I have no choice, I would take that chance and bubble wrap this well to protect for shipping. Please let me know if you can. Thanks William
Lot'a Caps for a low power cassette deck.
Your video is humming. It goes away nearly when your hands are removed. (:
Yeah, sorry. It's time to up my game and get better equipment for making videos
Curious why you would invest this much time and effort in a deck that's probably worth less than $50?
I know. If I scored that in a buy, I'd put it in the recycle bin at the bottle depot. I'm biased because I hate cassettes and tape players.
Trevor is a master at resurrection of old hifi gear and he really cares about his clients. I’m sure that deck is worth more than $50 to the person who will treasure it…
Uhmmm, if you aren't aware tape decks have had a huge resurgence in the past couple of years and this deck, although not high end, is very nice.
@@rjonzun5828 im skipping cassettes and going LP and cd.
@@Poppinwheeeeellllllieeeeez I'm CD myself but there is a huge resurgence in tape decks these days
Too much bla bla bla, poor editing