Hitachi TRK-9100E Internal Noise - What Is This?

I've received a Hitachi TRK-9100E, it's a very smart looking BB with a nice sound and is a reassuring weight for it's size.





However.......................it makes a noise I'm not familiar with. The negative part of was I was told is 'tape deck needs some work' and that's all I knew - no more, no less.

Visually, I can see there is no movement from the head section when Play is pressed but I'll put that aside for now unless a forum member can link this problem to my main concern which is that the BB makes a noise. Here's the noise:

https://vimeo.com/139217645

The BB makes this noise all the time it is plugged into the mains.
Selecting 'Tape/Off' makes no difference, if a mains supply is connected the noise persists.
The intensity/loudness varies slightly/fluctuates a little.
The intensity/loudness remains the same regardless of Function selected.
The noise seems to originate from the lower part of the main body.
The sound does not emit from the speakers.
The intensity/loudness remains the same regardless of Volume level chosen.
It sounds louder in the vid than it actually is but is still a very noticeable distraction.
It sounds...'metallic'/'mechanical' as if something is turning and grating.
The radio can still be heard above this noise whilst the Volume is comfortable but I'll not be using the BB until this is fixed to prevent damage.

Can anyone shed some light on this for me, please?
Could this be something I can fix or am I facing doom and gloom?

Thanks.

i can tell you this , it sounds like the belts are broken/stretched . on these soft touch decks the belts control everything including the lift mech for the head assembly . i have seen tape deck motors run even though the tape deck was not in use . sounds like the motor is spinning freely causing the noise , when the belts are no longer tensioned the motor runs faster than its supposed to .

JVC Floyd said:

i can tell you this , it sounds like the belts are broken/stretched . on these soft touch decks the belts control everything including the lift mech for the head assembly . i have seen tape deck motors run even though the tape deck was not in use . sounds like the motor is spinning freely causing the noise , when the belts are no longer tensioned the motor runs faster than its supposed to .

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Thank you Oh Wise One! With luck, then, the belts have gone and to replace them *may* fix the problem? Given what you say it seems the best place to start.

I did find this thread which will be my guide:

Hitachi 9100 belt replacements

Thanks again, JVC Floyd.

Wow, this is a nice box! Hope you get this sound figured out! Sounds like the belts as JVC Floyd pointed out. Intersteing that the motor runs consistently.

The 9100 is the later, less powerful 12v model that followed the mighty 15V TRK-9300.
They don't share any parts except for the deck:View attachment 21775

The more modern looking 9100 model does look nice and I'm glad your example is a good sounding unit!

James....

Ambience said:

Wow, this is a nice box! Hope you get this sound figured out! Sounds like the belts as JVC Floyd pointed out. Intersteing that the motor runs consistently.

Click to expand...

Thanks! I fell for the look of the box as soon as I saw it online but, once at home, it looked so much better with it's dark shades and well matched blue panel. In fact, I like this particular BB so much that I've now got my eye on another identical model which I hope to acquire very soon 'cos they don't seem to surface too often (and twins would be nice!)!

jimmyjimmy19702010 said:

The 9100 is the later, less powerful 12v model that followed the mighty 15V TRK-9300.
They don't share any parts except for the deck:

image.jpg

The more modern looking 9100 model does look nice and I'm glad your example is a good sounding unit!

James....

Click to expand...

Eee, thankee. It seems a little odd to me that the 9100 followed the 9300, it's all back-to-front!

MyOhMy said:

Thanks! I fell for the look of the box as soon as I saw it online but, once at home, it looked so much better with it's dark shades and well matched blue panel. In fact, I like this particular BB so much that I've now got my eye on another identical model which I hope to acquire very soon 'cos they don't seem to surface too often (and twins would be nice!)!



Eee, thankee. It seems a little odd to me that the 9100 followed the 9300, it's all back-to-front!

Click to expand...

The lower the model number, the lower the model ranking. Same with Sharp, Sanyo etc.

Nice score MyOhMy...I agree it looks very sharp and elegant. 👍

Well, Chaps/Chapesses I took all your advice and also went to the Hitachi 9100 belt replacements thread started by RockE and it's now all a-singing 'n' a-dancing like it oughta, folks! I'm very, very pleased with the result and so appreciative of the help on this site.

Cheers, everyone!!!

However, there's just one little thing amiss/omitted about a tiny part in the Hitachi 9100 belt replacements thread that's relevant and probably quite important so I'll be posting my findings on that thread in just a moment.