VZ-2000 Restoration

[sedohrb123]

Hi everybody I'm a new member to the community but have managed to get myself two Sharp VZ 2000 units that I am looking to fully restore. One to keep and one to give as a gift to my dad who has helped make me interested in vintage audio equipment throughout my life.

I got the two units on ebay as not working. The turntable unit doesn't work on either unit and I suspect is the drive belts but the cassette deck is working on both. But one unit has no sound from either channel and one only receives sound from the left channel.

I'll post pictures of the units in the next coming days as I start to test whether the listing was fully accurate.

Thanks

 

[im_alan_partridge]

Hey mate welcome to the forum.
good luck with the VZ's, I think what your doing for your Dad sounds like a great gesture.

 

[Beosystem10]

Welcome! Good luck with the project sets.

 

[Northerner]

Welcome and good luck with the VZ's...it's an awesome box that I'm lucky enough to own

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

EXCELLENT MAN!

Your dad sounds like one cool dude!

BTW, you're gonna need this... VZ-2000 strip down instructions
https://boomboxery.com/forum/index.php/topic/8850-sharp-vz-2000-strip-down-instructions/

 

[sedohrb123]

Thanks for the replies everyone. These are the pictures of the first unit. I've just used the pictures from the ebay description for now. Both units are actually the Sharp VZ 2000E units.

This one looks to have suffered some damage or hacking from somebody previous as the tape button is missing and the case has been cut into to allow access to the button on the pcb i presume. The fm radio and record player do not work on this unit and the tape deck partially works due to the missing button.

Both channels seem to work fine with sound coming from all four speakers. This unit has some sliders missing but majority of them are with the unit.

 

[sedohrb123]

These are the pictures from the listing of the second unit. Both were bought together from the same seller. This unit has no sliders with it as they are all broken off at some point in the past.

The tape deck works a treat along with the fm radio. Currently though when playing the radio it intermittently plays the audio at low volumes yet can suddenly boost volume to full levels as you would expect in the first place (with volume at full rotation).

The record player doesn't work on this unit either but with both you can hear the motor but nothing spins. The main issue with this unit apart from the missing sliders is that currently the left channel is the only one that produces sound. When balance is transferred over to the right channel the tiniest amount of volume can be heard if you put your ear to the speakers. Although when listening through the headphone jack on the front both channels can be heard.

 

[sedohrb123]

Had the first unit in bits today thanks for the heads up on the disasemmbley instructions they workeda treat!

As I had guessed already the belt for the turntable was shot at.



And much to my surprise the missing button and part of the broken switch were also on the inside of the unit.



I'm going to start cleaning all of the dust etc from the parts tomorrow, and spray all of the switches with contact cleaner and check the pcb components. Also need to work out why the radio doesn't work.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

As rough as these both seem, they are fixable and many of us here have done body work to fix worse than that. You can send a message to member Bredgeo, he makes new sliders.

I'm confident you can get these cleaned up and working.

Best of luck

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

You guys do really well getting these VZs running right - my local tech is an old fella who was a authorised Sharp serviceman back in the day. He said these VZs came in during the 12 months warranty period for warranty work all the time (and that was when they were new)! He and his tech mates always hated that model!

Good luck with the repairs - I'm sure you'll get them up and running.

James...

 

[floyd]

i have spare switches and switch tips for the 2000e , also have a tuner board ,not sure if it still works but you are welcome to any of what i got. these are super fincky when it comes to the switches , if they get dirty it can wreak havoc on the box fm goes wonky , no reception ,no sound , you name it , also check the external speaker switch because that can also interfere with the output.

 

[floyd]

also make sure the belt on the tonearm drive motor has the correct tension , if not it will bind up and the arm won't move with the record , or if its too loose the same thing will happen.took me 17 tries to get mine right.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

You guys do really well getting these VZs running right - my local tech is an old fella who was a authorised Sharp serviceman back in the day. He said these VZs came in during the 12 months warranty period for warranty work all the time (and that was when they were new)! He and his tech mates always hated that model!

Good luck with the repairs - I'm sure you'll get them up and running.

James...

These things are complicated analogue machines with allot of moving parts doing a precise job. Oh and they are 30 years old and were meant to be moved around a lot! Great combination when your trying to keep something up and running.

But having a VX is just so damn cool!

 

[blu_fuz]

Good luck, looks like a blast!

 

[sedohrb123]

Got the drive belts delivered on Tuesday. Got them fitted to both units yesterday. Unit one that I had in bits doesn't play sound through either of the speakers on any of the inputs, I'm still thinking this might have something to do with the broken switch on the tape input. The tone arm and platter are working correctly though and the sound from vibration on the needle can be heard so everything is connecting as it should just somewhere in the unit I'm guessing there is a problem with the output.

The second unit has had the belts replaced but I still haven't had the unit apart to investigate why only one channel works but having said that at least I can get sound from the record deck confirming that the replacement belts are working wonders. I actually found it quite fascinating at the sound quality from the record deck.

Thanks JVC Floyd that'd be a great help. I might actually need a new switch and tip cause so far I haven't had much luck with trying to glue it back together, its all just too fiddly.

I'll post some more pictures soon of the progress. Both units need to be dismantled and cleaned fully when I have found the root cause of problems for the two.

My Dad jumped straight on board with the projects and has actually started to help me in the spare time he has. He even mentioned making one of the two units more customised and spraying it up differently so we have one that is original and one that is one of a kind. But we will see about that one as soon as we get the problems sorted.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

Got the drive belts delivered on Tuesday. Got them fitted to both units yesterday. Unit one that I had in bits doesn't play sound through either of the speakers on any of the inputs, I'm still thinking this might have something to do with the broken switch on the tape input. The tone arm and platter are working correctly though and the sound from vibration on the needle can be heard so everything is connecting as it should just somewhere in the unit I'm guessing there is a problem with the output.

The second unit has had the belts replaced but I still haven't had the unit apart to investigate why only one channel works but having said that at least I can get sound from the record deck confirming that the replacement belts are working wonders. I actually found it quite fascinating at the sound quality from the record deck.

Thanks JVC Floyd that'd be a great help. I might actually need a new switch and tip cause so far I haven't had much luck with trying to glue it back together, its all just too fiddly.

I'll post some more pictures soon of the progress. Both units need to be dismantled and cleaned fully when I have found the root cause of problems for the two.

My Dad jumped straight on board with the projects and has actually started to help me in the spare time he has. He even mentioned making one of the two units more customised and spraying it up differently so we have one that is original and one that is one of a kind. But we will see about that one as soon as we get the problems sorted.

That's all great news! Glad your dad is on board too. That's really cool

 

[im_alan_partridge]

My pos VZ is still in the shed, untouched since I got it. It feels like such a massive undertaking.

I will try and make it a winter project

 

[check tha bass]

the vz2000 is a total bitch to repair,they a nightmare.

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

These aren't bad to work on when you follow the tear down list. They actually come apart very easily and the decks are easy to work on as well.

But the two I have had both had the same issue where the turntable speed won't stay constant. I ended up selling one and hope to get the other turntable repaired by a pro. But everything else works great and the sounds is amazing!

 

[SLO]

These aren't bad to work on when you follow the tear down list. They actually come apart very easily and the decks are easy to work on as well.

But the two I have had both had the same issue where the turntable speed won't stay constant. I ended up selling one and hope to get the other turntable repaired by a pro. But everything else works great and the sounds is amazing!

Hey Chris in regards to getting your turntable serviced, heres the link for the guy who serviced my VZ before I bought it, he's in San Diego but he repairs all kinds of vintage stereos and electronics. From what I hear he does awesome work. Mine was rebelted and so far so good. Its workin GREAT
http://www.repairaudio.com/