VZ-2000 quiet on right channel on Tape function

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sirkevinvonbboyin

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Apr 8, 2013
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Portland, OR USA
Was wondering if anyone has any ideas on points to clean or parts to replace. I've had a broken down dusty dead cockroach ridden VZ-2000 rotting away in the basement. Found one in awesome condition locally but determined the amp board was bad on it. Maybe one of the amp chips was bad or it had some bad caps I dunno. After a bunch of effort and soldering I swapped out the amp board from my old broken one and it sounds great.

Everything is now working on this but the tape function. Initially I got almost no sound from tapes. I took apart the REC/PB switch and gave it a thorough clean and when I put it back on I got the left channel back! The right channel is still quiet but seems to be getting slightly louder but it doesn't even register on the VU meter.

I measured the voltage at the test points and read 380 mV on both channels which is lower than what the service manual says they should be at (580mV) but means that I should be getting sound. I know the voltage is off because of the board swap but I can fix that at least.

I'm wondering if there's any other part I should clean on this? I gave the function switches a really good spray and I don't hear any popping or anything when I push them so I don't think it's those. I sprayed fader deoxit into all the sliders and they all work fine so I don't think it's those. I sprayed deoxit in the dolby switch but it didn't improve either. I'm tempted to just shotgun the tape/amp board with new caps and try to swap parts with the spare board at this point but it's a lot of work. Hoping for a lead here.

Here's a vid of the tape function in action where you can see the right channel doesn't register on the VU and the REC function recording radio perfectly on both channels:
https://goo.gl/photos/hp5Z6b1WwDfjR9Gr6

I also recorded a tape and played it back on another box and it sounds great so I think the alignment is good enough.
 

BoomboxLover48

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Dec 3, 2010
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Clean the long record bar switch on the back of the cassette section PC board. On VZ there is a steel rod connecting it to the record button through levers. Spray Deoxit from both sides of that white tips and through holes on the top of it and move it back and forth a minimum of 30 times. Most cases that switch contacts could be the problem.
 

baddboybill

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Jul 14, 2009
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Clean the long record bar switch on the back of the cassette section PC board. On VZ there is a steel rod connecting it to the record button through levers. Spray Deoxit from both sides of that white tips and through holes on the top of it and move it back and forth a minimum of 30 times. Most cases that switch contacts could be the problem.


I believe he posted actually taking it apart and cleaning it 🤔 the VZ is well known for dirty function switches because they are on top it may be even worse than just dirty function switches. I would suggest checking the tape function switch inside for corrosion. Also you may want to check tape head. Could be dirty or magnetized. Also may need azimuth to be adjusted 🤔. Good luck 👍


Bad Boy Bill
 

sirkevinvonbboyin

New Member
Apr 8, 2013
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Portland, OR USA
Thanks guys. I might swap back the old amp board and see if it persists on that. I just don't remember if it did or not because I didn't get a good chance to test tapes out. I'll test the function switch better too!
 

sirkevinvonbboyin

New Member
Apr 8, 2013
17
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Portland, OR USA
Well I figured it out.

I did so much unnecessary work lol! I noticed what was wrong with my OG amp board that I swapped when I was looking through my disassembly pics. You can see one of the wires for the right channel lifted kind of right from center! This pic is from my first disassemble so I didn't cause this and I notice that wire really had to strain itself. My guess is there was a lot of pressure on it and over time it just came up :/

So I had to return to the OG amp board and it was such a simple thing to fix. I also swapped the amp chips with the parts board so now I'm 100% good to go. I spent hours working on this only to have it be a simple job but I was watching the Olympics as I worked so it wasn't that bad!
 
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