Problems With My eBay-Purchased Aiwa CS-600U

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Fatdog

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Hisrudeness said:
Go for it Easthelp/postender, but be careful when changing them belts. I'd advise a fire extinguisher nearby.
LOL Don't scare the shite out of him! :lol: :lol:
 

PostEnder

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Nov 21, 2012
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Well, it's done: I've brought back the Aiwa CS-600U. Still unrepaired -- deservedly so, some would say.

I did shortly after returning home what I perhaps should have done in the electronics-repair shop. I plugged the Aiwa into a long-cord surge protector to see if it still worked at least as well as it did before my hapless attempt to have the repair shop fix it. Yes, it instantly came on. Typical of portable radio cassette-recorders with no dedicated POWER switch.

The tuner-dial indicator was in essentially the same position that I remember it being in: around the 99 MHz mark (for FM).

First station that I ever listened to on the Aiwa -- a recent-hits country/western broadcaster -- wasn't on the dial, though. This time, I heard a classic/contemporary R&B station.

At least, I think it was another radio station. Thing is, a check of radio stations broadcasting to or from Jacksonville, Florida minutes ago shows no R&B or "Urban Adult Contemporary" station broadcasting between 99 MHz and 100 MHz. You have WQIK beaming on 99.1 MHz: the country/western station I thought would still be tuned on the Aiwa's dial.

There's WGNE, comin' at you on 99.9 MHz. Again, it's country/western.

A long-shot check shows the numerically nearest sub-99 MHz station is WRPE-LP. It beams on 98.5 MHz. But it's a low-power, Spanish-language station. There is the partial translation of "Love And Mercy" from the station's slogan "Amor Y Misericordia La Estacion." Seems to be a Christian broadcaster. Not sure if I can see any of the above three-listed broadcasters -- WRPE-LP, WQIK or WGNE -- pumping out Nineties or post-Y2K Anglophonic R&B. I mean, I did hear part of the late Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right But It's Okay," which a quick Google check shows is from her 1998 album My Love Is Your Love.

Have never checked the auxiliary (rear-located) connectors. For now assuming -- and hoping -- that they work, per the eBay seller's claims.

Thanks for the encouragement and offers of support, folks. Lest I forget, markoneswift: your September 16 suggestion to "make a template out of paper or card which resembles the layout of the boombox" seemed to be a sound one. Maybe it's worth trying. (Shrug)

To crazygamer: seems pretty good that you're offering repair advice based on your owning two versions of the Aiwa CS-600. Just hope that I don't encounter any "stuck screws" if I get up the nerve to open the machine up. (Guts already muttering in apprehension ...)

To Fatdog: thanks for sharing the story of you coaching and encouraging your little girl to dive -- or jump -- off the deep end of the swimming pool. And it's interesting to know that you got up the nerve to open up and repair a stereo as celebrated and as coveted as the Sharp GF-777z. But I've got to say that the accompanying photograph has me wondering: who's the high-seated, sunshades-sporting lifeguard lookalike? You, sir? Is the scene at the town centre that your first sentence mentions? And is the lass walking on water or something?!

To T-Ster and HisRudeness: yep, you've gone and made me out to be a member of that other boomboxing website. (Grin 'n' shrug) And it's a shame what happened to that Toshiba portable. What model is it? Can't be an RT-200S; different tweeter grilles, for one. Can't be an RT-120S either. Again, different tweeter grilles and something tells me that the torched Toshiba comes -- came -- with a tape counter, unlike the entry-level RT-120S.

To jimmyjimmy19702010: How could you?

And, baddboybill: I don't know of any "trusted member" -- on BoomBoxery.com or some other 'site -- that I can ship the machine to. Do you? (Hopeful blinking)
 

PostEnder

Member (SA)
Nov 21, 2012
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It may be a pang of self-importance on my part that led me to think so, but I half-thought -- or half-hoped -- that at least one of the Boomboxery members would have responded to my then-latest message posting that I sent yesterday night. (Shrug)

Anyway, I'm stating that I'm giving increasingly serious thought to the undertaking, to the mission of opening the Aiwa CS-600U. With experienced guidance from Boomboxery.com members, of course.

I again say that I'm still apprehensive about doing any such thing. That I'm not "technically inclined," as some would state it.

That I'm responsible for whether or not the portable stereo gets resealed if I ever open it. That I'm responsible for the condition of the machine if I ever take out even one rear-cabinet screw, whether or not I fix anything in the unit.

As is inherent with any worthwhile repair job, I have to take valuable property into my hands and care for it. Haven't done that too often. It's kind of scary.

Minutes ago, I printed two photographs of what should be the interiors of an Aiwa CS-600. One's a close-up image posted in March 2008 on the other boomboxing website by a member who's probably now a member of this website. It's got part of the left-side cassette-deck components traced around it with a green line. Probably stuff done with the Microsoft Paint app' or whatever.

The other photo' that I printed is a non-close-up image of the interior of an Aiwa CS-600E. It's from the website AudioVintage.su. The view is of the inner back, with the rear cabinet on its back. The cassette-deck mechanism is exposed, along with all those wires, some of the circuit boards and along with all those long, obviously plastic screw posts. (Ah, I shake my head ...)

Maybe these photographs will help me with at least re-closing the darn machine if I lose my nerve after taking out screws. Maybe they won't. (Grin and sigh)

But more concretely than these pictures, I need to find out where I can get parts for any repair job on the '600U.

Crazygamer posted a message about the CS-600 having two belts to actually control the cassette deck's functions and a tape-counter belt to control the indexing feature. I might also need an Aiwa CS-600 tape-deck motor in very good condition. (Ah, the nervousness ...)

Do I simply try eBay? A check minutes ago doesn't seem to yield any Aiwa CS-600 parts for sale -- if any CS-series parts. (Bummer ...)


What I do find instead is what seems to be a very expensive original copy -- or, technically, collection of copies -- of Aiwa CS-880U documents like the Distributor's List, the green-coloured "Guarantee - Garantie" card and, of course, the crux of the matter: the owner's manual.

All in excellent condition, of course. But not what I need for the unit-entering endeavour that I'm considering.

And the soldering issue is still a head-shaker. Our man Fatdog suggests -- if not urges -- that I practice soldering with supplies from an obviously still-open RadioShack location.

Quite a head-shaker, I tell you ...
 

Fatdog

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Me thinks that you are spending too much time worrying about it. Would you go out and purchase a jigsaw puzzle only to leave it in the sealed box worrying about your ability to piece it together? Worrying about losing a piece? Worrying about bending a tab on one of the pieces? Worrying about being able to fit all the pieces back in the box when deconstructed?

You cannot approach anything with that mentality. We will help you the best we can, but you will have to be our eyes and ears - meaning you will have to get in there and get it done.

The place I go to for 99.9% of my belts is http://studiosoundelectronics.com/ Obviously, you will need to have the correct belt information before ordering. I'm sure you can find that here, or someone surely knows.

I wouldn't worry about anything else right off. Baby steps. Fix the deck.
 

baddboybill

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Jul 14, 2009
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PostEnder said:
And, baddboybill: I don't know of any "trusted member" -- on Boomboxery.com or some other 'site -- that I can ship the machine to. Do you? (Hopeful blinking)
Well I might be moving to Florida in a month so after I get settled I would probably be able to help you restore her
 

jimmyjimmy19702010

Member (SA)
May 5, 2012
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I would suggest you take up Bills' offer - after reading your last post, I've come to the conclusion you should definately steer clear of the internal workings of your Aiwa. :-)

Bill is a true pro - if he can't fix it, no one can.
 

PostEnder

Member (SA)
Nov 21, 2012
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Well, baddboybill and our man Fatdog are still checking in, so that's not bad.

To Fatdog: you have a point there: less dreaming and more real planning. And then, more action and less speculating. A check minutes ago amid my, er, stuff reveals that I still have what appear to be all ten of the items of a tape-deck flat-belt kit. I also have the two other kits that I remember ordering along with the ten-piece unit. The two others are a three-piece rounded-belt kit and a kit of five much smaller, apparently squared rubber belts. I ordered them together from a California-based eBay seller in early January 2016, according to my records. They were a relatively desperate purchase of mine in an attempt to assist the well-regarded electronics-repair shop in fixing my strangely, frustratingly repair-resistant JVC RC-M50JW. I remember also ordering another rubber-belt kit. eBay records show that it was exactly one month after my order of the first belt kits that I ordered the second kit. This one was shipped from China. The second kit was a much larger one: a 50-piece package. But it was a problematic order because the kit had only thin, almost string-like rubber belts. Not the much wider, thin flat belts -- similar to the kit from California -- that the eBay seller enticingly showed against that yellow background on the webpage.

Anyway, the point is that I seem to have enough rubber belts – of many different circumferences – to attempt to replace any missing or gooed-up tape-deck belts in the Aiwa. What's probably also needed is a good- or mint-condition Aiwa CS-600 cassette-deck motor -- or a compatible equivalent. Don't know how much soldering will be needed to fasten the new motor to the right parts of the cavity of the Aiwa -- or if the mounting and fastening is all about screwing things in here and there. (Shrug) But an indication from BoomBoxery members about where to buy a CS-600 motor would be appreciated.

To baddboybill: Sounds like a generous offer. But I suspect that you wouldn't be able to drive probably hundreds of miles to my area to lend a hand. And I can't say that I'm a great host. Don't know where I can meet you for any fixing of boomboxes. The family here will need some convincing, you understand.
 

baddboybill

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Jul 14, 2009
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Most likely motor is 12v cw 1200-2400 rpm because front deck keys location. Both the 12v cw and ccw are usually found online new if your motor is actually shot. 😉


Bad Boy Bill
 

PostEnder

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Nov 21, 2012
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baddboybill said:
Most likely motor is 12v cw 1200-2400 rpm because front deck keys location. Both the 12v cw and ccw are usually found online new if your motor is actually shot.


Bad Boy Bill
Did you mean something like this? I found it minutes ago on eBay (obviously) after a Google search for "12V Cassette Motor":


http://www.ebay.com/itm/25-130-Governor-Cassette-DC-12V-CW-Type-Motor-1600-3200-RPM-/400567436388


Or perhaps you had a gadget like this in mind:


http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SDC2L-12V-DC-Motor-for-CD-ROM-DVD-or-Cassette-Belt-Drive-/252369024286


Funny thing is, the links that I copy/pasted won't turn into click-on hyperlinks here on this Boomboxery sub-forum ...

Moments-Later Edit: Funny thing is, I thought the links that I copy/pasted won't turn into click-on hyperlinks. (Blush and shrug)
 

T-STER

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Jul 14, 2014
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All this talk of new motors but its not even clear if one is required. The motor does not even start on the 600 if there is no belt and the heads need resetting.

Without the flat belt installed it will appear dead. Get a belt on it and turn the flywheel till the head drops.
 

baddboybill

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Jul 14, 2009
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All this talk of new motors but its not even clear if one is required. The motor does not even start on the 600 if there is no belt and the heads need resetting.

Without the flat belt installed it will appear dead. Get a belt on it and turn the flywheel till the head drops.


I agree 👍


Bad Boy Bill
 

PostEnder

Member (SA)
Nov 21, 2012
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This past Wednesday, September 21, 2016 I took the liberty of taking some photographs of this daunting Aiwa CS-600U. I used a Nokia smartphone to take the pictures. All the photographs are of the Aiwa on my bedroom desk -- obviously cleared for the event. The photos should be considerably clearer than those that I've taken of other boomboxes with the older, lower-resolution Samsung cellphone. But, of course, these images are still decidedly lower-res' and the photo' objects are still lesser-posed than the better ones that you Boomboxery bunch have come up with.

Anyway, here we go:

FIRST SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 PHOTO' OF THE AIWA CS-600U.JPG

This appears to be the first of five or so of this past Wednesday's photos of the Aiwa CS-600U that I ordered from an Indiana-based eBay seller. The full-spanning, non-insert-ended carry handle is obviously down. The power cord -- a new, kind of hefty item that replaces the missing, mangled or stinky original one -- is not in the frame, attached to the AC jack or otherwise. (Disappointingly, that absence is repeated in all the images.)

SECOND SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 PHOTO' OF THE AIWA CS-600U.JPG

The second September 21, 2016 photograph. (Check out that telescopic antenna's "old school" length.) It was perhaps rash of me to place that August 21, 2016 order for it -- and, to begin with, to enter the auction for the item on -- on eBay. The Aiwa was shipped from the Indiana-based eBay seller quite promptly, but my hopes of a relatively easy fix of the non-working cassette deck were dashed when I soon discovered that the tape-heads mechanism was jammed -- to the point of not even fitting an intact, relatively new-condition Fuji DR-I 90-minute normal-bias audiocassette in the tape-deck bay. Boombox-website members have urged me to open the stereo and adjust things like flywheels to "lower" or "reset" the tape-heads mechanism. But with no electronics-repair experience, I have been kind of ...

THIRD SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 PHOTO' OF THE AIWA CS-600U.JPG

Here's the third September 21, 2016 photograph of the outwardly good-looking Aiwa -- this time of its back. One is assured of the unit's versatility with the crop of black-background rear connectors located between the slightly truncated control-panel top and the power-output lower base. And -- if one is like me -- one is also daunted by the eleven or so rear-cabinet screw positions that are quite visible. A reminder of what must be done to stand a chance of fixing the stereo. One also notes the contrast between the colour of the rear cabinet and that of the battery-bay lid. (A good deal bigger, for instance, that that of a JVC RC-M50.)

FOURTH SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 PHOTO' OF THE AIWA CS-600U.JPG

The first of two September 21, 2016 photographs that shows the "frontal intake," so to speak, of the Aiwa CS-600U: the cassette deck in EJECT mode. This admittedly unspectacular image tries to show the jammed tape-heads mechanism. At least the white thread-like spool --whatever it is -- near the EJECT latch and the orange-coloured tape-remainder backsplash --whatever it's called -- are quite noticeable.

FIFTH SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 PHOTO' OF THE AIWA CS-600U.JPG

And here is the second "frontal intake" photo', taken this past Wednesday, of the Aiwa CS-600U. With the cassette deck still in EJECT mode, the image appears to show greater detail; it probably isn't as much of a close-up as this series' fourth picture was. It was from a New Castle, Indiana-based eBay seller -- screen name: wattek58 -- that I ordered the portable stereo late in August 2016. The brand logo is clearly visible in this photo'; less so is the "Timer Standby System" statement on the "brow" beneath the indicator-lights display and above the relatively interesting-sounding but clearly malfunctioning cassette deck that wouldn't even admit (fit) a 90-minute Fuji DR-I normal-bias audiocassette that, until some four months ago, was in new, unwrapped condition. (Fume) The Fuji audiocassette had been used to record 90 minutes of soul/R&B from late-night FM radio months ago on another eBay-purchased portable stereo; that fact would hardly render the audiocassette unusable after that.

To Confess (Again): I shamefully failed to pay the well-regarded electronics-repair shop for the hours the experts spent working on two other portables of mine: a JVC RC-M50JW and a Helix HX-4633N. My excuse was my persistently suspecting that strange -- indeed, supernatural -- glitches would befall those other stereos' tape decks even after they were repaired. My shirking my customer obligations was likely part of what moved the repair-shop personnel to disavow any more repairing of boomboxes.

So ...: I either get the Aiwa repaired somehow or I live with the snafu or I give the machine away.

Better to look before you leap, yes?
 

Helmar

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Dec 21, 2015
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T-STER said:
All this talk of new motors but its not even clear if one is required. The motor does not even start on the 600 if there is no belt and the heads need resetting.

Without the flat belt installed it will appear dead. Get a belt on it and turn the flywheel till the head drops.
In my opinion you have to turn the flywheel manually until the heads are in the stop position.
If you then press "fast forward" the motor should switch on.

If you are sure to repair it, you need new belts anyway.
I am currently reconstructing an Aiwa 880 which had a unpleasant life until I got it. I will report later about this 70+ working hours project.
I have two spare motors from other Aiwa "organ donors" which all use the same tape deck unit.
Good luck.
Helmar
 

PostEnder

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This is the rear cabinet of the Aiwa CS-600U. As one can see, the unit is face-down on my necessarily cleared bedroom desk while being cushioned with some of the larger-blister bubble-wrap it was shipped with. The sizeable battery-bay lid has been removed and the seller-supplied replacement power cord is to the right of the portable. I was thinking of plugging the Aiwa in and powering it up one more time before attempting to remove any screws from the stereo. Just might be the last time the unit works at all, or at least as well as it seemed to have been working when it was shipped to me. (Shrug) And, yes, I have to be mindful of that small screw located in the bottom centre of the battery bay ...

FIRST SEPTEMBER 22, 2016 PHOTO' OF THE AIWA CS-600U.JPG
 
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