First of all, big thanks to Floyd on this restoration. He is truly the man. He refoamed the speakers and passive reflector months ago and then came to the rescue when I couldn't get the deck working. I've sent a few things his way in exchange but there's no way to repay him for being such a cool, helpful guy. Thanks again, Floyd.
I got this Aiwa way back in the spring and it was pretty messy but it had a lot of potential as it was mostly complete and powered up.
Previous owner had attached a few random stickers.
Lots of dirt had accumulated over the years.
Underneath the stickers... virgin aluminum!
Inside, lots of dirt and speakers that needed some love.
The speakers and reflector were sent to Floyd to be refoamed. I started cleaning, including a full bath. The CS-880 (and CS-J88) are really well built. The top panel is made of a thick piece aluminum that's scratch resistant and very durable. You can see how well it cleaned up.
Unfortunately the cassette decks are a lot less sturdy. Over time the belts turn to a soft, gooey tar that drops into the mechanism and gums everything up. It gets everywhere. I tried my best to get the deck going again but there must have been some grime that I missed because when I reassembled it the motor would keep running and wouldn't shut off. I got a little frustrated and put the project aside.
A few months later Floyd got in touch about some parts from another box and we worked out a trade: parts in exchange for working on the deck. Floyd worked his magic and got the deck fully working, including record! I know it wasn't easy, he had to reassemble that thing several times before he was done.
But one major problem remained--the volume pot was farked. Turning the volume knob resulted in either no volume at all or COMPLETE DEAFENING NOISE. Contact spray didn't help, even after repeated applications there was no improvement. Floyd offered to see what he could do, but I figured that box had tortured him enough so I asked him to send it back.
After playing with the volume pot for awhile it became clear that it had to come off, either to be replaced or cleaned. But getting at it was no easy task.
First I had to detach the tuner board.
The dial plate had to come off.
This tuner panel had to be detached and moved out of the way.
The VU meters had to be removed.
This switch for the dial light had to be pulled out.
This white plastic chassis piece had to be removed, after unscrewing the nuts that held the various pots to it.
Finally the volume pot (on the far right of the board) can be reached.
The culprit!
When I finally had the pot off, I took it apart and gave the resistor board a soak in alcohol (Sorry, I didn't get pics of this). It was pretty filthy, but I think the real problem was the contacts had been bent out of alignment. I straightened them out and cleaned them up. After the alcohol bath I took a pencil eraser to the resistor board to get it fully clean. Then I reassembled the pieces with a little grease on the shaft for damping. Powered it up... and it sounded great!
I don't have a real workshop or bench to do my repairs, so all this was done on the living room carpet. Here's what my mess looked like. (The wife was NOT happy!)
Putting things back together:
And the FINAL RESULTS:
I got this Aiwa way back in the spring and it was pretty messy but it had a lot of potential as it was mostly complete and powered up.
Previous owner had attached a few random stickers.
Lots of dirt had accumulated over the years.
Underneath the stickers... virgin aluminum!
Inside, lots of dirt and speakers that needed some love.
The speakers and reflector were sent to Floyd to be refoamed. I started cleaning, including a full bath. The CS-880 (and CS-J88) are really well built. The top panel is made of a thick piece aluminum that's scratch resistant and very durable. You can see how well it cleaned up.
Unfortunately the cassette decks are a lot less sturdy. Over time the belts turn to a soft, gooey tar that drops into the mechanism and gums everything up. It gets everywhere. I tried my best to get the deck going again but there must have been some grime that I missed because when I reassembled it the motor would keep running and wouldn't shut off. I got a little frustrated and put the project aside.
A few months later Floyd got in touch about some parts from another box and we worked out a trade: parts in exchange for working on the deck. Floyd worked his magic and got the deck fully working, including record! I know it wasn't easy, he had to reassemble that thing several times before he was done.
But one major problem remained--the volume pot was farked. Turning the volume knob resulted in either no volume at all or COMPLETE DEAFENING NOISE. Contact spray didn't help, even after repeated applications there was no improvement. Floyd offered to see what he could do, but I figured that box had tortured him enough so I asked him to send it back.
After playing with the volume pot for awhile it became clear that it had to come off, either to be replaced or cleaned. But getting at it was no easy task.
First I had to detach the tuner board.
The dial plate had to come off.
This tuner panel had to be detached and moved out of the way.
The VU meters had to be removed.
This switch for the dial light had to be pulled out.
This white plastic chassis piece had to be removed, after unscrewing the nuts that held the various pots to it.
Finally the volume pot (on the far right of the board) can be reached.
The culprit!
When I finally had the pot off, I took it apart and gave the resistor board a soak in alcohol (Sorry, I didn't get pics of this). It was pretty filthy, but I think the real problem was the contacts had been bent out of alignment. I straightened them out and cleaned them up. After the alcohol bath I took a pencil eraser to the resistor board to get it fully clean. Then I reassembled the pieces with a little grease on the shaft for damping. Powered it up... and it sounded great!
I don't have a real workshop or bench to do my repairs, so all this was done on the living room carpet. Here's what my mess looked like. (The wife was NOT happy!)
Putting things back together:
And the FINAL RESULTS:
There's nothing like a 'fully working' bbox! I bet you'll appreciate that Aiwa more than ever due to all that hard work you put into her!
