Send Back or Repair?

[TheTowerXVI]

Hey guys, just got my first boombox! But there is one problem... the tapes won't play. The box is a Pioneer Sk-550, and is in okay condition. The audio is better than I thought it would be, and everything else works, except the scale lights and the tape mechanism. FF and rewind work, and so does stop button, auto stop feature, and the eject mechanism. The only thing that won't work is playing the tapes, and it makes a strange grinding noise when attempting to play, FF and rewinding. What I want to know is if this is a potentially a simple fix like swapping belts, or if I should just sending it back and cut my losses?

 

[restocat]

Did the seller say the play button worked? If they were dishonest, ask for a discount.
Most of these boomboxes were designed to need belt replacement after a few years, so it is just part of the collecting to fix them, once they come in from the wild. A return is like buying old collectible coke bottles, and returning them because they taste bad . /imho.
Personally, I don't care if the cassette deck works of not. I use the line in.

It will affect your resale though, so get what you were promised.

Oh, to answer your question more directly, open up the boombox and post pictures of the cassette mech. Helps the techs on here to figure out if the gear is stripped, or if its a belt issue, etc.

 

[Northerner]

I’d just rebelt it. Always needs doing anyway

 

[TheTowerXVI]

The guy got it from said it was tested and fully functioning, and that there are no partial refunds. Now that I have it and I know that it is in fact not fully functioning, I do feel like he was being dishonest. The biggest concern I have right now is that the issue the box has is VERY similar to another problem that was posted here on the forum that I believe was never resolved.

On the topic of collecting, I am completely fine with fixer uppers. I have had to recap a TV and mess around with the yoke to get it working the way I want. What I am not fine with is someone straight up lying and giving me something that I would have never paid for if I knew what condition it was really in. I was searching the forum for info on this model and actually steered clear of another listing based on the problem it was exhibiting, which seemed to be above my abilities.

 

[Reli]

The problem is that belts can fail at any time. It might have worked for him in a brief test, but when you received it it didn't anymore. There's no way to know for sure whether he was being honest or not.

 

[TheTowerXVI]

Guess so, I will have it open and photographed soon you guys can have a look. I do hope its just a belt.

 

[Hisrudeness]

The thing is that you can’t open it, tinker around in it then decide to send it back so you’ll have to decide if you like the box and want to keep it. Do you like it?

 

[Donnie]

The guy got it from said ....... that there are no partial refunds.

I was under the impression ebay gives refunds if the buyer not satisfied and the sellers restrictions do not matter. I might be wrong. Is that not the case?

 

[Hisrudeness]

I was under the impression ebay gives refunds if the buyer not satisfied and the sellers restrictions do not matter. I might be wrong. Is that not the case?

Depends if the seller listed it as ‘parts not working or spares or repairs’ or something.

 

[Donnie]

Depends if the seller listed it as ‘parts not working or spares or repairs’ or something.

ah, I see a lot of sellers stating NO RETURNS but in reality, I think paypal will force them to refund. Ive only started selling on ebay recently and been selling a lot of motherboards - if a buyer wants to return a used item cause they say its not working, there is basically nothing a seller can do but suck it up. Which is fair, as long as they send item back....which I have to pay for.

I probably wouldnt buy on ebay if the return process was not somewhat secure.

 

[Reli]

Saying "no returns" is pointless, unless the item is clothing and you don't want the buyer returning just because it didn't fit.

 

[TheTowerXVI]

The condition was listed as "used", not parts and repairs. I actually tried to get in contact with the guy on the day I made this thread and they still haven't responded. I do like it, and I will keep it. I will attempt to repair it and worst comes to worst and I can't get it to play tapes, I can either sell it at a loss or keep it as a cool looking portable speaker. Either way I have learned a lesson or two.

When I do get around to posting pics and asking for advice, should I move on to a thread in Restoration/Customization?

 

[Hisrudeness]

The condition was listed as "used", not parts and repairs. I actually tried to get in contact with the guy on the day I made this thread and they still haven't responded. I do like it, and I will keep it. I will attempt to repair it and worst comes to worst and I can't get it to play tapes, I can either sell it at a loss or keep it as a cool looking portable speaker. Either way I have learned a lesson or two.

When I do get around to posting pics and asking for advice, should I move on to a thread in Restoration/Customization?

Tech talk section

 

[hemiguy2006]

Congrats on your first purchase, would say if it is rewinding and fast forward works it is likely not a belt problem.
You say it makes a grinding noise while trying to playback? Maybe damaged getting bounced around during shipping.This box has soft touch deck so likely it is a full logic deck.
Bottom line is these old boxes even if fully functional when tested will need repair or maintenance at some point, especially if not recently
serviced. I Had a SK-750 and it was a great sounding box, problematic soft touch deck in mine as well.
Never did get it sorted out...

 

[stynger007]

Hi, it seems unusual that you mentioned the auto stop works, and play doesn`t For the auto stop to work, it needs to be playing a cassette to the end. Did I miss something?