Ciaran's Aprenticeship Thread: Philips D8458+Sharp QT37

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Ciaran

Member (SA)
Feb 13, 2011
18
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Essex, England
Hey all,
I was hoping some of you could whip me up to shape on how to fix a boombox? I am not going to lie I have little/no knowledge on how boomboxes work or how to fix them, as they pre date me ;) But I have a very keen interest in them!
I have a 1985 Philips D8458 Tandem Soundmachine and a 1983-1985 (unsure how to tell exact date on this one) Sharp QT37.


I know they are not grails but they are two very good looking boxes I would love to restore!
I do not have much knowledge but I do have a thirst to learn (=
Having never taken a box apart in fear of ruining it, it would be handy if you could break it down simply for me.

First question- Apart from the obvious faults, both seem in good condition, are there any checks I should be doing to find faults a novice may not notice?
Both need a clean, and I have read things about how to do this, I was wondering in regards to removing scratches if there was a good way to do this? Would dry sanding be effective and safe? I saw this tutorial (for a ipod, but it works well) http://hacknmod.com/hack/how-to-restore ... ny-gadget/

The Philips D8458 Tandem Soundmachine





Ok this box has the most problems.
1. Stop button will not stop the tapes from playing
2. Both tape doors jam closed, Deck A will not open now there is a tape in there and Deck B jams when there has been a tape in there but will open if I power off.
3. Lots and lots of rust in the battery compartment and I suspect in a few other places around the box.

Here is an internal shot of Tape deck B


Any obvious problems? I would not know if I am honest.
Is it here or elsewhere why the tapes will not stop playing? And how do I go about the tape doors not jamming?




As you can see the rust damage was quite extensive in the battery compartment, so much so that one of the coils had come off. Is there any fix to this? and how hard would it be to put a whole new coil system in?

Lastly a pretty silly question :-P

It has line in, which function would I need to set the radio to in order to use my ipod or similar with? I have had a fiddle and unsure, modern devices have aux as a setting for the line in, I know this is a stupid question and the answer might be you can't use your ipod with it but hey I am only 17 :p I read the sticky in this section and was left a little confused! I understand they were not made for an external device like a ipod but it can still be done? Or what are the other ways I can try to connect my ipod to my boombox?

The Sharp QT37



This box is pretty much a minty, I only have one fault with this one and that is the tape wraps its self around a rubber roller thus the tape unravelling into a mess. Again this is probably a simple fix but I have no experience with boomboxes.

A shot inside the tape deck


Pictures were taken in a bit of a hurry, so if you need me to take more or better pictures than please ask! Also I may not of described the problems very well, its 3:30am and I am novice to the terminology (my excuses anyway :-P )
A big thank you in advance, I hope I can learn alot from you guys and together we can save 2 more boxes =)
 

Ciaran

Member (SA)
Feb 13, 2011
18
0
0
Essex, England
Just a small update, I managed to open up deck A. It seems that the catch to the left of it is not in line with where it is meant to hook on to. I raised it up and it was closer to closing, but I think it needs to move over to the left. :hmmm: I may be wrong. Also the motor on tape deck A is still continuously playing :thumbsdown:
Can anyone give me some pointers in the right direction? Kind of don't want to open up my boxes and make a big mess of them :'-(

Thanks alot,

Ciaran
 
Hi Ciaran and welcome to Boomboxery.

I can't help you with the Philips, but with the Sharp, the radio button doubles as line in, plug the RCA lead into the line in while the radio is on and the radio automatically cuts out. I use mine with my mp3 player. Mine has also started to wrap the tape up (the take up isn't working). I'll look at mine over the next few weeks and see if I can find a solution.

Also can I ask that you add your location to your profile, someone who may be local to you may be able to offer assistance with the Philips.

Hope this helps.
 

Ciaran

Member (SA)
Feb 13, 2011
18
0
0
Essex, England
Thank you very much for the reply Terry, Useful information indeed but this qt has no line in, but I am eyeing up another sharp which has a line in :D So thanks for that info! Hope you also get your box fixed. I shall update my profile now :)

Thanks again.
 

saxonman

Member (SA)
Jul 7, 2010
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Iceni tribe the UK
the sharp is belts the springs are easy enough to replace on the philips !! as for the tape decks strip the whole thing down and clean everything up replace belts clean everything on tape deck ie good service then see what happens!! i know it's not alot of advice but thats what i would do first before doing anything else can ya do that sort of repair ???? remeber not to go in with it plugged in or even with batteries!!! The philips is the easy one to work on of the two!!
 

Ciaran

Member (SA)
Feb 13, 2011
18
0
0
Essex, England
Sorry i am late in replying, had a few technical difficulties the past week.
Thanks for your reply, I shall research into replacing belts :p
I will reply to your pm now by the way.
I probably can't do that repair without some guidance, maybe I will open it up and take some pics? Only now just old enough to apreciate the boomer ;)

Thanks alot mate!
 
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