Clairtone 7980 lower deck won't eject

[decks&cassettes]

The lower deck on my Clairtone 7980 won't eject is this a complicated fix I know it needs a belt I hit play ff or rw I hear the motor but no motion
For starters tho I got to be able to get the deck door to eject ...... please help cosmetically this radio is Purdy nice

 

[Hisrudeness]

I had this same with a big Goldstar TSR-800
The door was stuck because the deck heads were up. However you can't access the box without the tape door open.

What I did was loosen all the screws to allow a gap at the bottom of the cabinet. I got a skinny kebab/ satay bamboo stick and felt and prodded around for the flywheel. Rotated it and the heads went down.

 

[PostEnder]

By "lower deck," you mean the full-function cassette deck of that big beauty AKA the Conion C-100F AKA the Helix HX-4635.

I'm no repairer, but I'm sure that the electromechanical layout -- gears, flywheel, wires and all -- of this fetching find will be much more elaborate than that of an Aiwa CS-600U (with which I had lead-balloon success in my 2016 repair attempts). I don't suppose the problem with your "purdy nice" stereo is a broken input arm attached by design to the EJECT key? (Shrug)

Ah, well, the real experts here on Boomboxery will hopefully weigh in with their know-how. Just hope no-one thinks there's anything, well, sudden about your message. (Or anything impudent about my reply.)

 

[decks&cassettes]

I can open the back of the box up it's just overwhelming with wires for me to try and figure it out I'm going to pay for the service to get it fixed I was just hoping someone had the same issue and could tell me wether it was something super serious or not I'm worried some repair guy will tell me 200$ later it can't be fixed

 

[PostEnder]

Aha, see? Succinct, experienced Rudey to the rescue!

 

[caution]

Have a tech fix it up for you if you're intimidated by the C100F. It is a fair amount of work to restore the main deck.

 

[decks&cassettes]

Here is my Clairtone 7980

Have a tech fix it up for you if you're intimidated by the C100F. It is a fair amount of work to restore the main deck.

Yeah I opened the back up and was blown away by what's inside nothing like the ease of the Chinese big boxes
To get rebelted and lower deck functioning do you think I'm going to pay an arm and leg ??
I payed enough for it the body is mint no cracks breaks no messed up feet upper deck I use it's just lower deck needs a belt or belts and to be able to eject

 

[caution]

Haha yes brother the inside is impressive, in its own special way

The outside is in fantastic shape so the decks are probably fine, and just need new belts and maybe a little bit of grease. Maybe clean and demagnetize the heads, and refinish the pinch roller. The forward/reverse switch inside the upper deck will probably need a spritz of Deoxit.

I'll assume they can figure out the sizes on their own, but we have known good sizes. In fact one member here recently found a better size for the lower deck that gives stronger rewind power.

If they want more than $200 I'd probably pass on that. I know others here have found local techs to service their boxes, perhaps one of them might be able to say whether or not that's too much for a full rebelt.


Woops I forgot you're in Canada, so that's about $160 in the US. That may not be too terrible if they get it all working!

 

[decks&cassettes]

Haha yes brother the inside is impressive, in its own special way

The outside is in fantastic shape so the decks are probably fine, and just need new belts and maybe a little bit of grease. Maybe clean and demagnetize the heads, and refinish the pinch roller. The forward/reverse switch inside the upper deck will probably need a spritz of Deoxit.

I'll assume they can figure out the sizes on their own, but we have known good sizes. In fact one member here recently found a better size for the lower deck that gives stronger rewind power.

If they want more than $200 I'd probably pass on that. I know others here have found local techs to service their boxes, perhaps one of them might be able to say whether or not that's too much for a full rebelt.
Woops I forgot you're in Canada, so that's about $160 in the US. That may not be too terrible if they get it all working!

Thanks so much caution I actually just got a private message from someone telling me to talk to you
Ya 160$/200$ to get everything going how it should I'd be happy with that the guy I bought it off mentioned to open the deck I had to take the back off ....that damn soft touch lol ohh well I wanted this box from day 1 and I'm glad I got a nice one I got to figure out the spring in the tray also I have the spring it's just not inside the box on that little black piece
I did remove the back but compared to my lasonic sim not confident enough yet to attempt it

 

[JVC Floyd]

You don't have to open the deck to remove the back, once the back is off you have to remove the inner chassis and you will have to shake it around a bit then the deck door will open, just don't get too rough on it as you only have to jiggle it enough to disengage the door latch.

 

[caution]

I got to figure out the spring in the tray also I have the spring it's just not inside the box on that little black piece

Here are some pictures another member took that should help. Thank you, whoever you are
This image shows how to insert the spring. First you put it into the end of the plastic piece that pivots.

The next picture shows how the other end feeds through the bottom of the case, and into the hole on the back of the tray.

Fishing the spring through the tray hole can be tricky with those 90-degree bends, so just go slow.

It might be easier to insert this end of the spring first, into the tray, then feed the other end onto the plastic piece.
You'll have to play a bit with it and see.

Once you do that, you can now put the plastic piece into its hole on the case. It has to go in like you see in this pic though, and then you rotate it into place, lifting up on it a bit so that the tray pin can get under the plastic piece and into its groove it travels on.

This is a bottom view so you can tell if the spring is inserted correctly.

 

[decks&cassettes]

Ahhhhh I'm missing a peg it seems I seen in s previous thread a screw was used I will try and mimick that repair in the meantime tho Velcro tape strips to the rescue

 

[Van Presence]

Here is my Clairtone 7980

Have a tech fix it up for you if you're intimidated by the C100F. It is a fair amount of work to restore the main deck.

Yeah I opened the back up and was blown away by what's inside nothing like the ease of the Chinese big boxes
To get rebelted and lower deck functioning do you think I'm going to pay an arm and leg ??
I payed enough for it the body is mint no cracks breaks no messed up feet upper deck I use it's just lower deck needs a belt or belts and to be able to eject[/quote

Sorry I can't help with the deck issue. Very nice looking though.
I noticed the Optimus Prime. Is that a G1? So want 1 of them. And a conion. Good luck fixing it

 

[decks&cassettes]

Here is my Clairtone 7980

Have a tech fix it up for you if you're intimidated by the C100F. It is a fair amount of work to restore the main deck.

Yeah I opened the back up and was blown away by what's inside nothing like the ease of the Chinese big boxes
To get rebelted and lower deck functioning do you think I'm going to pay an arm and leg ??
I payed enough for it the body is mint no cracks breaks no messed up feet upper deck I use it's just lower deck needs a belt or belts and to be able to eject[/quote

Sorry I can't help with the deck issue. Very nice looking though.
I noticed the Optimus Prime. Is that a G1? So want 1 of them. And a conion. Good luck fixing it

Yeah it's a g1 prime I've got a few more but started liking the masterpiece line the most they are more accurate to the g1 cartoon I'm an 80s kid to young for the boxes but right age for the toys I'm starting super late for boombox collecting but I feel I'm doing ok

 

[lewdawg]

I also have this problem. Took the back of the unit off and spun the flywheel and heard a click, but the tape heads are still stuck in 'play' position. Is there any way to take the tape door off without busting it up? Don't want that motor burning itself out every time I plug it in.

 

[caution]

Not with the heads up
If you still have the back off, why not take the back plate off the deck and try more than just the flywheel, perhaps the drive gear? There are a lot of plates that slide against each other, jostling them a bit may break the head assembly loose.

 

[lewdawg]

Thanks caution, I was able to disengage the head by holding eject AND spinning the flywheel. Gonna save taking it all apart for a day I’m feeling more up to it. This is the first time I’ve ever gazed upon the inner workings of this grail, and I must say it looks rather daunting! Just finished reading through your resto thread. Amazing work man, you and that box of yours are an inspiration!

 

[Atari]

Did this ever get fixed ?

 

[Atari]

I had this same problem.
It happened after I sold it to Volodymyr yelenets in Asheville NC.
He instantly did a NAD then removed the parts he wanted and I got a stripped unit back and the bottom tape wont eject.

 

[docs]

I had this same problem.
It happened after I sold it to Volodymyr yelenets in Asheville NC.
He instantly did a NAD then removed the parts he wanted and I got a stripped unit back and the bottom tape wont eject.

Wowsers, very low indeed.