TRK-8600E cassette deck repair - lost cause?

[Touchstone64]

It doesn't appear to be quite that clear cut @Wes125 I've disassembled the boards and there's no obvious damage. I reassembled without the tape deck or VU meters and tested that — the sound is fine from TUNER and PHONO. Reattach the VU meter assembly and the amplified sound has that 'limited' quality. The VU meters appear to be working as expected but the sound is below par when they're connected.

And 'Dolby NR' still cuts the sound out. So I have a functional unit with a PHONO input, but some weird characteristics!

 

[Touchstone64]

@Hisrudeness, @BoomboxLover48 and @Bloodhound can I be cheeky and ask if you've had any negative experiences with the VU meters on the '8600?

 

[Touchstone64]

I hope this helps....

OK, I've tried to recreate your image as closely as possible with my deck, and there are enough differences for me to think we have different models, annotated on the image attached as follows:

(1) and (2) we have different numbers of connections to these two switches
(3) my pinch roller assembly is about 30 degrees more horizontal
(4) and (5) the transport actually looks very much like it's in the same resting position as yours
(6) and (7) we have different cable connections

But the main thing is (3), I wonder if there's been some significant damage to this unit. I can't see how my pinch roller assembly could be 'held' 30 degrees lower, which would be enough to actually get a cassette in the deck

Any comments @BoomboxLover48 ? Thanks for your help!

 

[BoomboxLover48]

@Hisrudeness, @BoomboxLover48 and @Bloodhound can I be cheeky and ask if you've had any negative experiences with the VU meters on the '8600?

Oh yes!
Mine was working intermittently and a good cleaning of the long record switch helped to solve the problem!

 

[Touchstone64]

Hey folks, just in case you're watching this thread, I've posted a conclusion in TRK-8600E restoration: in conclusion...

Thanks for all your help!