Kenwood KX-54 cassette deck repairs
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- čas přidán 21. 03. 2020
- This seemingly simple 1985 entry-level Kenwood stereo cassette deck just doesn't want to be fixed.
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Patience is THE word, you amaze me! I've done a lot of restorations/repairs and sometimes it ended with me using a (heavy) hammer...Life is too short too bother...
Several times I was about to give up, but eventually I decided to finish the cassette deck somehow, just so that the work I put into the video would not be wasted.
This was the cassette deck I had growing up! 😮 ...and this is the first time I've ever seen what it looks like inside. 😊
Its people like you that are keeping these classic vintage retro machines alive. Take care.
"I'm going to need to wash my hands now!"
"There was a lot of swearing..."
Gotta love this guy... 😜
You must have had an infinite amountbof patience while repairing this deck! Great video, keep up the good work!
A lot of swearing while fixing a tape deck,I can totally relate to that.
Excellent repair after all! Thanks
Thank you! :)
That mechanism looks very daunting if you have to take it apart completely and reassemble it from scatch. Looking at how it has it been designed I wonder how well the mechanical engineers thought of the assembly line people who had to assemble it. On a somewhat related topic as a building / structural engineer I often get feedback / questions from the builders why I designed a specific details a certain way. From a design engineering point of view something may be sensible but the people that that build it / put it together have a more practical look at things. Looking at how much you have to disassemble to replace the belts make me realize that. I have tried to service a Dual 1224 my self at some point by studying the mechanism but I never succeed at fixing the tonearm lift as I felt that I could not disassemble the tonearm and put it back together properly so that project is half done.
Assembling the mechanism in the factory would have been a lot easier than it was for me, because they have precise instructions what part in which order needs to go in, and they have jigs to hold parts in place during assembly, so they wouldn't have to worry as much as I did.
Really clear, descriptive and instructional video. If only all repair videos on youtube were like this. Bravo.
Thank you :)
the resonant frequency is very odd. perhaps in time either a) any remaining hardened grease will flake away and work itself out, b) your new grease will work its way into new nooks and crannies or c) in absence of lubricant metal/plastic will wear themselves down and the sound will disappear. your dental tools besides being very useful for working are priceless for using as a pointer in the videos - very helpful for the viewer. this unit would be a nice match to my kenwood KR-V7050 receiver (even if they are from different eras). i laughed aloud more than once in this video at your difficulties, i have some guilt for that because i too have become frustrated with a never ending list of compounding problems. great great video - 30 minutes went by in a flash. thank you from chicago!
I was hoping that the noise would somehow fix itself over time, but in my final test there were speed instabilities in addition to the noise issue, so this cassette deck will need some more work at some point...
That mechanism is almost identical to the one in Sony XO-700 system, from 1985. I recognized that backplate with the spring tensioner for the headbridge cam. It always annoys me when routine maintenance such as belt change, inevitable in ANY belt drive cassette deck, is made so complicated due to poor access.
Amazing work! Wish I had the knowledge and patience that you have.
Thank you! :)
I have had the same unit for a while now and have struggled to fix it. I hope that, with this video, I can finally get it to work. I will keep you posted. Thank you!
Well. I tried but the mechanism is still stuck. Any additional information will be appreciated
What additional information are you expecting? This video already is quite detailed, your cassette deck may have a problem that is different from the problems I had. Obviously I can't show you how to fix problems that my deck doesn't have.
DrCassette i understand. I was thinking of a picture from a manual or any idea you may have to suggest. Again, I appreciate the information you have provided on the video. Please know that I didn’t mean to upset you.
Don't worry, I am not upset, it's just that any information I might have already is in the video.
Great job and well done !
Thank you :)
Great looking simple deck, nice find
I too like how this cassette deck looks, that's one of the reasons I tried to get it to work for so long.
Excellent tutorial. Had the same sticking operating buttons scenario and cleared this with miniscule applications of penetrating oil thus avoiding further detailed dismantling.. Major panic during repair as the capstan flat plastic washer went awol for a good few minutes but, thankfully, it reappeared.
I'm glad this video was useful :)
With my Marantz PMD 502 I too had an issue with intermittent resonating noise. With this deck the issue was the belt. The belt was not stretched, but did seem a little inflexible & appeared somewhat pale in colour. Whilst playing the slightest tap of the belt with a screwdriver (or other tool) & the noise stopped, but then slowly returned. Replacing the belt solved the issue.
Super Video, schön, dass auch die "Endzeit-Decks" (als alles nur noch billig sein musste), wieder instand gesetzt werden! Auch, wenn es nich zu 100 % erfolgreich war. Es wird noch!!!
Vor einigen Jahren wäre das Deck angesichts der billigen Mechanik wohl postwendend zurück zum Müll gewandert, aber mittlerweile finde ich so selten HiFi-Cassettendecks, da nehme ich so gut wie alles, was ich kriegen kann :D
The best solution is to continually run the tape deck.I know it should be one and fix.Through the years I have learned with tape deck like most electronics. It thrives under continually use.This is what I call fuzzy logic. Like breaking in a new pair of shoes. This obtuse method ironically works well for me.This continually use helps everything mess well.With engineers it either off or on no gray areas. This process helped when I had my Strokes in 2015 and 2019. To continually run tv and dvd player to starting my truck to keep it and the part lubricate for a couple of months during each Stroke.
It saved them from electronic dry rot of no use for those months. My Sony DVD player had lasted 20 years. My Truck about 20 years then I sold it someone who fixed it up my injuries from Strokes prevented me from doing it myself. It is still in use.
My long winded story is let it continually play for weeks to see how it improves. Do not let it sit and freeze up again Find a use for it,Great Video🙂
I don't have this cassette deck anymore. I finally found out the excessive wow and flutter was caused by the replacement motor I put in. It looked like a good Mabuchi brand motor, but upon closer inspection it turns out to be a cheap Chinese knockoff.
Wow, that's the same mechanism I have in my Hitachi TRK 9230 boombox.
Thanks to you I can now see that I have a missing spring in my mechanism so I can fix it. Wohooo! :)
My belts also turned into liquid. Interestingly, Hitachi put rubber dampeners on the motor. This model does not seem to have them.
I'm glad this video is useful :)
Kenwood apparently did a bit more cost cutting than Hitachi, so no rubber dampeners. Of course, I had to take advantage of the existing cutouts in the motor bracket and put some in when I replaced the motor.
Excellent video,
Not all missions 'turn-out ' like they said in da nang!*
I find that at 54 years old, I swear less and have more patience than when I was 21, so I have achieved more than when I was younger.
But still these mechanisms can be fiendishly complicated (especially auto reverse ones) and my success rate is just above 50%.
All I can think of is to watch as many CZcams videos as possible to see how others go about it, as well as occasionally reading the service manual.
I know that I'm not super-skilled but the quest to understand is what the 'game' is all about.
Keep up the good work and realise that the bits that don't go to plan is where you learn the most!
Thank you :)
How smoothly you did work. I am watching you with admiration. Good luck with. Greetings from Turkey...
Thank you! :)
I used to own one of these. My first proper hifi cassette deck, interesting video. Back in the day this was an entry level machine, and if I recall right about £100 or so. I might have the receipt for it somewhere. I can see how much work goes into servicing one of these. I upgraded to a Nak CR5e.
That is quite an upgrade indeed!
This is my reasoning for electronic soft touch > mechanical soft touch. i used to have a kx-54 before i switched to kenwood's second from top of the line kx-5530. i really enjoy using that tape deck and maintenance is nowhere near as difficult as even the sony tc-r302.
Excellent
congratulations for your patience.
Thank you! By now I think I have figured out why the cassette deck still wasn't running very well at the end of this video: The replacement motor I put in appears to be bad.
I found out that youtube is part of social media and one should avoid too much social media. With your channel and 4 other hifi repair channels, That is impossible. Trying to fix KX-7030, probably only the belts :-)
This deck has the exactly same tape transport mechanism as on my Saba RCP 65O boombox. I had to replace all belts and the play mechanism tyre on it as well , that was split .
nice looking model.
Well don't feel bad. I just sent a couple DAT machines back to my storage locker. I gave up on them, and instead of being frustrated, which I already was. Just decided to pack them away and maybe revisit them again some other time.
Hm, yes but then you have those decks sitting around in the back of your head until you’ve had enough.
This Kenwood cassette deck is now sitting in a corner of my workshop, waiting for me to have another burst of motivation to fix it. How likely this is to ever happen I don't know...
Thank you 🎵
A bit like my Toshiba Beta video that didn't want to be fixed. The set of locking levers on that also jammed up and had to be lubricated as best as they could be in-situ because access was not really on. My YT videos on that were pretty long but the off-screen work was even longer. These mechanical issues can take an age to sort out, most people don't have the skills or patience.
The big difference is, your Toshiba Beta machine is actually worth this much work being a collector's item. This entry level mid-80s cassette deck was a waste of time to be honest... I will give it another try in a few weeks, and if I can't get it to work then, it will become a parts machine...
"I'll put it to storage and maybe one day i'll fix it"
My tape deck has that spring as well, it's interesting to find that was a common way to engage the recording function on the board.
Traditionally all cassette decks had a linkage from the mechanism to the record/play switch that selects the mode of operation of the electronics. In the first full logic cassette decks the record/play switch was operated by a solenoid. Throughout the 1980s the record/play switch in most cassette decks was replaced with electronic circuitry, some cassette decks still had a little relay.
Another way I have fixed take-up reel clips is to fashion a new one from the very fine, flexible but string wire you find in cable tidies. The sort you find in most electrical devices, retail packaging these days. Just wire-strip, bend around the indent at the end of the spindle; twist and clip.
I have never seen a repair video of a basic cassette deck in such detail. Soft touch mechanisms are my favorite out of the 3 types. I find the mechanisms use so interesting as it was designed to be better than the mechanical setup and a little bit less than the full logic mechanisms. Of course companies like JVC still referred to the soft touch mechanism as “logic control mechanism.”
The early Full Logic mechanisms required big, expensive solenoids that had high power consumption, so in addition you also needed bigger transformers, stronger power supply electronics and so on. So the Soft Touch mechanisms made sense for portable devices and budget-oriented equipment. The later Full Logic mechanisms are actually more like the Soft Touch mechanisms. Instead of the mechanical function selector buttons there are tiny little solenoids, that only need to give a quick "kick" to the mechanism to engage a function. That could be done easily without upgraded power supply, so now even budget-oriented cassette decks could be made with a fancy looking Full Logic mechanisms. That's why the Soft Touch mechanism disappeared in the 90s.
I have a KX-32B that gave me absolute fits. I got the belts fixed, but now the audio output isn’t working.
That Kenwood deck mechanism looks virtually identical to the one used in a 1986/87 SABA RCP-650 (single cassette) boombox. It has a small rubber idler tyre in the front (mostly for playback - rewind/f-fwd is geared) - this tyre cracks quite often in these decks and can be a pain to replace (don't waste a bunch of time trying to repair or glue it). Those do fail as well as the belts.
The main board looks quite interesting.
hi I have a Yamaha kx w392 dual deck.lately i have noticed on playback or record when it auto reverses at the end of tape it will either be fast or slow .any ideas on what the cause might be? it does not do it all the time! good luck with the Kenwood!
Great video but I have a problem in that I can't remove the mechanism from the case - there doesn't appear to be enough wiggle room with case brackets and the pcb getting in the way. The video jumps this part of the process! Is there a trick I'm missing?
Where do u find parts for cassette decks?
oh man, i used to work for the kenwood (and yamaha , pioneer , HK , etc) service station in europe and i must have repaired 1000's of these kx-54's in the mid 1980-ies , there's a known problem with these where one of the spring holders breaks and the play bridge just drops again after pressing play (easily fixed if you know how, just bend the now loose spring 90 degrees down and insert in the opening the spring holder now shows)
these kx-54's were the cheapest entry level cassette players , speed was always a bit wonky but easily adjusted , just take a 3khz tape (recorded on a known good deck) and adjust speed on the motor (insert screw driver in the hole on the back of the motor) just make sure your pinch roller is clean and also the capstan axle is clean . if speed is still wonky check the main belt and make sure its not rotating . back tension is easily adjusted by pulling out the spring a little bit behind the take up reels
The KX-54 is indeed a very basic cassette deck, but I did like it. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to perform well. Later, after I had already disposed of the deck I found out the replacement motor I had used was a cheap Chinese fake of a Mabuchi motor, that's what was causing the excessive wow&flutter...
I have the KX-44 (the difference is that it does not have Dolby C). The engine starts automatically when the power is turned on. Is this normal or is it due to a wrong gear position and being stuck in a certain (play?) mode? I replaced all the belts with new ones, the tape recorder started rewinding but still the play mode does not work.
maybe the reason you still have noise after repair is that while you oiled the mechanism, lithium grease needs to be replaced on the moving parts, not oil
as the oil is too thin to remain constant on the surface of the moving parts. But thanks for the video, well done.
Thank you for clip., I like this too.
amazing video. I watched a lot of your videos, and they inspired me fixed several deck myself. Amazingly I had the same table as you have, from IKEA right? Man, it is so similar to mine. Last time I got a tiny screw ejected from a spring and disappeared in my room and I searched for it until midnight. Oh, my lord, I gave up this hobby as it is too much stress, not good for your health. Love your videos. Big fun of you. Thanks
What table do you mean?
the working bench. not important anyway. looking forward to a video on Nakamichi deck in the future. Thanks
The workbench seen in this video I built myself from scratch, to my own plans. I actually have a Nakamichi cassette deck in need of repairs, but that will be a future project.
I laughed a lot when you removed the melted belt. Very soft indeed!
Hello, very good video. I just got a KX-44 (same mechanic) and the belts are melt. What are the size of the belts? Can we buy some generic instead of the expensive ebay kits? Many Thanks and good video!
Interesting repair. What would you say is the advantage of the rubber grommets on the motor? I'm used to them being used to dampen vibration from PC hard drive platter whirring etc, but not too sure why they're needed for this motor. Any slight movements on the motor might add to wow and flutter?
With the motor, it's exactly the same situation as with the HDD: If you have no rubber dampeners, the motor vibration is transferred into the chassis and the noise of the vibration is thereby amplified. Having rubber dampeners does not mean the motor is loose, the dampeners come with special screws that make sure everything is securely mounted.
hi have seen this inside before in many models a to deck one yes the W1 deck 6 track recorder i had to change over motors i pimped to 3 3/4 on the 2 tape decks
the pulley was bad on the stereo decks so i made a new one
Although an entry level deck, the permalloy head and track search mechanism are quite nice touches.
Though the permalloy head either isn't that hard after all, or it saw really a lot of use - it is visibly worn.
@@DrCassette Yes, maybe not the best quality. We had one on a 1974 Sony deck (TC 131 SD), and after many years of use there was barely any sign of wear.
Of course it also depends on what cassettes are used. For example the early BASF chrome tapes were like sandpaper. Not good for the heads...
@@DrCassette True.
Did you connect the spring in the back back to the second hole in the side of the bracket?
Yes, I did.
Is there an electrical reason why the transformer is mounted at an angle, rather than squared with the board and sides (at about 1:25)?
Yes, it's at such an angle that there is minimal magnetic interference with the R/P head (to avoid hum in playback).
Dr cassette I want to share with you that I have the same issue with the noise on an auto reverse soft touch jvc mechanism. It’s in the reverse direction on the reverse supply reel. The mechanism that jvc used was in a almost a dozen jvc products from boomboxes to components. Anyway this resonance issue has also driven me crazy. I oiled the bearing and can’t figure out what is causing it!!! I’m starting to think as the plastic ages, it changes its molecular state??
Huge patient!
Looks like it was a bit of a nightmare getting that cassette deck repaired a few times,,,with the sticky mechanism after replacing 4 belts.
I have a 1982 teac v-66c stereo tape deck which I had worked on replacing the belts,,,then the motor,,,thank God I was able to get one on eBay the same type with a removable plastic motor pulley fitted to it from the old motor.
The mechanism is all solenoid driven for the play,stop,and pause,,,and another reversible motor does the fast forward and rewind.
Great video, I'm going to try to fix a Kenwood KX-31 on the weekend if the belts arrive in time.
Good luck! I had the black version, the KX-31B, many years ago. I had to replace the belts in it. The mechanism is much higher quality than the one of the cassette deck seen in this video. So you should have a lot less trouble getting it to work.
@@DrCassette Thanks, yes I've seen your KX-31b video... when I found the deck on ebay I googled the model number and then found your video. Been watching some of your videos to pick up some tips... even if the deck isn't the same model there are some good tips and tricks to pick up. Cheers!
@@DrCassette Sadly I'm not able to fix it... so far anyways. Replaced all the belts just fine, everything is spinning nice and quiet, but when the play mechanism rises it doesn't rise high enough and I can't figure out why. It's not jammed, I can raise it with a screwdriver.
Oh, that's too unfortunate! Have you made sure the Pause mode is not engaged?
@@DrCassette Yes, pause mode not engaged... but... I've found the real issue! There's a spring that has broken through it's housing and thus is not under tension... I'm going to attempt to fix the plastic piece with some JB Weld.
Hi. I have a question. I love vintage hifi from 80’s-90’s. I buy many old equipment and I noticed that they sound much less clearer (much less treble) than what they were sounding when they were new. What’s getting old in them? Is it the old capacitors acting as filter? What’s the reason they sound much less clearer? THX
@Plutotree Pretty much everything that needs to be said.
Unfortunately I have never found a good solution to the gooey belt situation. Would you (Dr. Cassette) have any good solution to getting the gooey belt off your hands easily. I have always had trouble with washing it off my hands.
This time I used isopropyl alcohol wich works very well, but of course really dries out the skin. That's why I then started wearing latex gloves for the cleaning of the mechanism.
This is a really good cassette deck for playback/Record with a correct azimuth. Also kenwood did it really nice and simple in kx series.
Also playing a cassette in this deck has much better sounding to it with a slight help of an equalizer.
I have an earlier version of this cassette deck called Kx-31 and has very similar electronics inside it. I did use mine for (cd to cassette) recordings and sounded really great even on type 01 cassettes such as TDK D , Sony HF and Maxwell UR with higher levels.
This cassette deck series can produce amazing good sounds if you adjusted bias slightly negative (pots are inside the deck and easy to adjust) and use TDK D, Sony or Maxwell type 01 cassettes and can be recorded at very high levels too .. Don’t use Dolby on recording coz no need.
Also , I found that generally using slight negative bias is perfect for most type 01 cassettes and sounded great with higher levels on kenwood kx series.
If you apply more bias on type 01 cassettes you will lose lots of higher frequencies on the tape and sounds get very poorly reproduce with higher uneven bass.
I don’t know if you still got this deck , but maybe you can do some cd to cassette audio recording testings with ( bias pots adjusted to slightly negative )and see how good it is with good branded type 01 cassettes.
Many years ago I too had a Kenwood KX-31. The mechanism in that cassette deck was MUCH better than the one in this KX-54.
This KX-54 sounds very nice, but it is let down by its simple mechanism.
DrCassette yeah , very true. 👍🏻👍🏻😉 kx-31 mechanisms were somewhat good.
However, I also had to change main belt & take up reel belt time to time though coz I had been using the deck lot for tape recordings.
But I do think it was a sort of Kenwood design issue which put motor and gear system & belts under lots of stress when you used daily 😢😢
Kenwood was doing some cost cuttings on cassette decks back in 80s, but I am still happy to see this good old kx mechanism whereas we see even modern tape decks such as TASCAM 202 mkv2 uses cheapest cassette mechanisms can lead to lots of unfixable wow and flutter on playback/recordings over the time😉😉 .
I too had to replace the belts in my KX-31. The original belts had melted like they did on the KX-54.
DrCassette True, unfortunately 70s,80s original rubber materials had a tendency to melt like that over the years.
I think newer 90s belts made up with much better materials coz I still have the original belts on my Yamaha natural sound cassette deck ( KX series , two head / play trim / Dolby B/C /fine tune bias).
However to my ears, Yamaha deck was really good for tape playback rather recording 😉
Playback trim adjuster helped to boost some high end frequencies on tape playback so the tape sounds refreshing without the use of an equalizer 😍👍🏻
I like that feature on Yamaha decks coz many manufacturers surprisingly didn’t give any user pre amp tone control to their decks for playing tapes. But Don’t know why 🤔
Even in the 90s bad belts still existed. Take for example the 90s Sony cassette decks. It is hard to find one now that does not have bad belts...
hope it wasent too much to fix, there are 2 on a well known auction site in the uk for around 15 uk pounds, however both have issues
I probably already put more work into this deck than what it's worth, but I didn't care too much as it would have ended up in my personal collection anyway. These simple decks are not rare enough yet to be valuable.
Wieder mal ein klasse Video, ich bewundere dich um deine Geduld.
Frage: Spricht man das "A" in "mechanism" nicht aus?
Vielen Dank! :)
Just me thinking out aloud here - Probably worth making some notes on what we have done, and what problems still persist. As later when we come to look at the deck again, we can easily forget the finer points.
Thankfully I have this video to remind me :)
Hi, really liked this post, well done. I appreciate how patient you have to be to do this kind of work. I will watch some more, that's how we learn, as I am going to try and fix a few more items I have brought, like tape decks. Do you ever come across Alpine tape decks?
No, the high end cassette deck brands such a Alpine and Nakamichi are very rare around here. I have never had an Alpine cassette deck, I'd like to have one, but they are very expensive.
@@DrCassette I have an Alpine AL90 well sort of 2, thought I could keep them going or fix them. The amount of components inside is mind boggling, I can fix some stuff... I went for these and few other decks like an Alpage, because they are direct drive. I am surprised at what these are going for now. Do you or your audience have any advice how I should proceed, I'm just your average guy with a huge audio passion. If anyone wants to contact me directly, kjekyll@xtra.co.nz is me. I like you don't just do tape decks, amps and speakers are king, but as I say I am an addict...
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?
You may be able to use a computer fan, if the device provides the correct voltage.
Interestingly, when I was young we had a Technics dual-deck which after some years developed a very similar noise on the recording/auto-reverse deck. It was intermittent and only seemed to happen near the beginning of a tape, and apparently only when playing in the forward direction. It was quite loud and disconcerting, but the deck otherwise seemed to work fine. Makes me wonder if it was a similar issue.
Last year I repaired my friend's same model. Was change belts, head, and capacitor in the motor supply. I think this deck doesn't worth spent time at repairing. Very low-end pre-amplifier. A mechanical breaking is used to hide the noise of the sound path during the pause. To eliminate the annoying noise of the receiving axle, you need to disassemble the entire mechanism and clean the idler mechanism
I did clean the little idler wheel, I am pretty sure the noise comes from inside the take up reel clutch. No idea how to fix that, I could try replacing the felt pad inside the clutch, but that may very well make things even worse because of course I don't have an exact replacement for the felt. I actually think the cassette deck sounds very good, the Dolby B seems to be well implemented as also that does not degrade the sound quality. It's just the cheap mechanism that lets this cassette deck down...
HI NEED YOU break the solder tabs i did this as well it rolled of the work place i carry spare motors all the time
Thanks for the indepth tutorial on this, some steps helped me out! On missing belts, whats a rule of thumb for sizing? ~Jack, VEG
Use a length of string or very thin wire to wrap around the mechanism pulleys. You then half this amount when measured with a ruler. This will give you a rough idea of what to look for..
Thank you, I appreciate it! ~Jack, VEG
For me, I just want to make sure that there is enough tension on the belt. It’s gets easier over time once you’ve had more experience. Thickness is another thing but that can be trail and error
Does somebody can tell me the size of the belts? :)
After all that goo and mechanism problems it now works!.
Far better than it was :-D
i'm sure you will find all of it's annoying problems.
The goo reminds me of phillips tape recorders, black goo in every one :-(
Unfortunately there was no happy end for this cassette deck. I tried it once again a while after making this video, but the speed was still very unstable. So I decided to scrap the deck. It was not until recently that I finally figured out the problem: The replacement motor I put in was not a Mabuchi, it was a Chinese fake made to look like a Mabuchi motor. Not sure if this video contains a close-up of the label of the motor, but on there is an upside-down Mabuchi logo, so it's not an M, it's a W! I'm sure the unstable speed was caused just by this fake motor. I noticed this when I was about to install that motor into another cassette deck. Good thing I did, otherwise that repair would have been another disaster...
@@DrCassette It's not your fault the motor was a pile of poo.
it's easy to overlook something that looks fine at the first glance.
I've made that mistake quite a few times.
And when i check that part on every unit, it's perfect of cause.
Or it works while the device is in my hands, then it fails when the owner gets it back.
Rather annoying.:-(
"19850328"... You could have waited a few days to release this video on its birthday :-)
How to my father to open the motor's zone to fix the belt?
Was 27:49 was that a stab at vwestlife?
Absolutely not, when I made this video 2 years ago there were a lot of people demanding W&F measurements, some even suggesting my repair work was bad because I didn't measure W&F afterwards. I have since given in and invested in a Leader Cassette Checker which includes a W&F measurement function.
My 1990 cassette deck still operates good but there is a low squealing noise when during playback. What could be the matter?
It could be a similar problem to what is shown in this video. But when it comes to noises, you have to listen closely and track down the problem yourself, this is not a standard problem such as bad belts...
This looks like a re-badged TEAC. You put a lot more hours into that than I would have any unless it was a very high end deck.
Indeed it looks a bit like TEAC cassette decks looked at that time, but the TEAC decks actually contained more plastic. This Kenwood still has a face place made entirely from aluminium. I know I put way too much time into this, but at first I was taking it as a challenge, and when I got fed up with it I still continued just to finish the video.
@@DrCassette I understand. I almost don't want to give up on a project sometimes so it just goes back on the shelf until I can figure what it needs or waiting for parts for some time. Sometimes it's sits there for weeks or even months. I sometimes just give them away if it's not worth it. It makes for good education for tinkerers. I never get rid of anything that's high end. It's always good for parts if it's badly damaged or beyond repair.
Silikonspray tut dort meistens auch seinen Job. Muss man nicht zimperlich sein.
Blöde Frage, "white lithium grease" wo bekommt man denn sowas ??
Mit Silikonspray kann man auch viel Schaden anrichten, wenn es an Stellen kommt, wo es nicht hingehört - und mit einem Spray passiert das leider schnell mal. Weißes Lithiumfett ist nun wirklich nicht schwer zu bekommen, ich habe sogar mal eine Dose davon im Aldi bekommen
Hold the horses - I've got the mechanism out of the case! Don't know how I'm going to get it back in again!! The motor pulley is locked with melted drive belt - hope I can clean it up properly.
The residue of melted belts can be cleaned quite well with isopropyl alcohol.
@@DrCassette Thanks for your reply - have replaced the belts and all seems to work ok although I got a fright when the motor and associated pulleys turn all the time the unit is switched on! I checked on-line and for a soft touch keys deck this appears to be common - the advice is not to leave the deck switched on unless you're using it. I now have another problem with the RH side of the VU bar graph display not working although with headphones both channels are working ok which smacks of an issue with the meter display electronics. Maybe a bad connection or dry joint somewhere? I've checked the schematic for the driver IC (AN68888) and it's difficult to see how the chip could be to blame for one channel not displaying. I need to get a meter on the voltage inputs to the IC.
Hello, I have a Kenwood KX-55W that runs everything wors but I got no audio from it, Do you know what could be the exact cause of these type of priblems, PDÑ Im new with these things and Im starting to appreciate the old reliable technology, I really want to fix this
"Runs but no audio" is a very coarse description of a problem. I could not possibly tell you the "exact cause" of the problem from just that.
@@DrCassette I'm really sorry, English is not may native language, I will try to explain a little bit more detailed, thank you for your reply 👌
How to fix the auto stop? It doesn't stop at end of tape.
Is it full auto stop or just for playback?
What is the size of the belts
Do you know it yet? I need to know it, too :)
i trying to repair a Kenwood KX-47c cassette deck, (i think its the same as the kx-54) the belts are so bad that i can't measure them, do you have the size of the belts please, greetings from Holland.
Do you know the size yet? I need to know too :)
@@felixk1350 no i don't know the size. Hè didn't react to my question. Unfortionaly.
You can search for the belt-kit on eBay. There are some shops selling these
Mechanism dated 28 March 1985, so not lasted too badly I guess
👍👍👍
I think your take up force is possibly a bit too high (should be around 50 g/cm). This could put a load on the mechanism causing wow, and also explains the noise.
Not as impossible to find as toilet paper, but not easy either when it comes to some of these cassette deck tools.
Unfortunately I can't find a full service manual for this cassette deck (just schematics), so I don't know how the take up force should be adjusted. Probably some very simple setting, like changing the tension of a spring somewhere? I don't have a test cassette to measure take up force, but some tiny random change in force may very well be already enough to make the noise go away...
It's often caused by the felt in the take up reel that becomes hard so it doesn't slip well. You could put a bit of baby powder on it to make it slip a little easier. Don't use oil or grease.
The felt in the clutch indeed looks very worn out, in fact the plastic piece that rides on the felt has a pattern of multiple rings on it wich is also clearly showing in the felt. Replacing the felt would likely make things even worse as I certainly wouldn't be able to find just the right material, but I'll have to try to restore the felt :)
@@DrCassette Try the baby powder. Good luck and stay safe!
This is why I don't like DIY'ing. It's such a disillusion...
I don't think it's the speed change of the reel that stops the resonance though, I think it's the weight of the reel.
I'd be tempted to try and blu-tac that area and see if I could stop the resonating that way.
It could be both, the speed or the weight, though as I showed in the video, just touching the take up reel, without applying any force (so without changing the weight), makes the noise go away... There must be something wrong with that clutch I believe.
The belts from your parts bin, are they all new or just spares, I’d be curious to know. I get my spare belts by taking apart cheap electronics. Not only is it fun for me, but finding useful parts and examining the construction is interesting. By the way, if you have a curious animal such as a cat, don’t let them into your spare belts as they love to play with them :)
Same here, the belts I have in my stock of replacement parts were all salvaged, either from old electronics that were unrepairable, or from modern cheap electronics. This means I have to keep an eye on these belts because from time to time one randomly goes soft and starts melting...
I have often wondered how these manufacturers actually assembled these decks successfully - there must been many failures at certain stages of manufacture? Some parts are so flimsy and easily breakable.
The first time it goes together it's fine, it's once you start pulling it to bits is when it really becomes a problem, especially when its 35 years old.
If you have an assembly line and you know the exact order in which pieces go together, there shouldn't be any problems. It gets difficult when you want to take the mechanism apart again, and then put it back together, because even if you have a service manual, you never know the exact steps the manufacturer took for assembly.
@@DrCassette "because even if you have a service manual, you never know the exact steps the manufacturer took for assembly." .... that's true!
Also, in the factories they often have special jigs to assist with assembly...
Baby oil is quite effective at getting that belt goo off your hands. And alot more healthier for the skin than isopropyl;)
Interesting, I'll give it a try.
Good luck getting hold of any Isopropyl at a reasonable price. The Coronavirus has sent prices sky high.
My Kenwood KX-54 comed to new, in a plastic, and i press play he no moved anything.
The belts in the mechanism can go bad even when the device is never used or even unpacked. It just happens with time.
Outtakes please
My outtakes are really not worth watching...
The motor you are using looks like a Mabuchi knock-off from China. I've tried using those as replacements also, but they have never been completely satisfactory. Good replacement motors are difficult to find these days.
Yes, it was indeed a crappy Mabuchi knock-off motor. It was the reason for the unstable speed. Later, after I had already scrapped the KX-54, I tried it in another deck, with the same results. Then I knew that motor was no good, and threw it away. I usually use motors salvaged from other old cassette decks, but that one must have come from some modern device...
Shielded transformer
Is Trio another brand name ad in Europe?
I think Kenwood briefly used the Trio brand in Europe when they first entered the market.
It's probably the shittiest peak level meter I've ever seen on a cassette deck (and the competition is fierce there)...
I have seen even worse, but yes, there is not much you can do with only 5 LEDs per channel...
Well if you are like all the rest of the world at this time...not able to go out and do things normally....especially where I am in NY.....you should have time to work on things..and even take an extra WEEK to do it...
Even in this current situation I have more than enough things to do, I am not yet desperate enough to spend a week on this deck...
With all those problems it really turned out to be a piece of junk after all, worthy of being in the trash heap.
I still have this cassette deck, I'll probably give it another try in a few weeks, if I can make it work better I will keep it, if until then it develops more problems or the mechanism starts sticking again, I will part it out and get rid of the rest.
Oh, those British Petroleum - Louisiana Division belts. Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew...
Brilliant video but I sometimes wonder.. It seems to me that a lot of devices like this one were never meant to be serviced at all , so they left a big ecological footprint . It's just garbage when the first problems occur , if it ever functioned properly at all
Please put it to sleep, it's suffering. Get a broken high end tapedeck and repair that. 😜
Are you going to pay for that?
Looks a reasonable deck to me.