What next? Wrapped it up today 1/28. It's done.

[Transistorized]

My newest addition (RC-M70) has been like a demanding beautiful woman ever since it showed up. I fell in love with it but soon after I got it, it started demanding attention time and time again at my expense. It's been give and take. I work on it. It plays for a few days then something comes up. Fix that issue. Plays another 2 days then something else. So far this box has been the most demanding box I've owned. I take it under my wing and clean her up and show some love. It plays well and then 2 days later throws a tantrum. I seriously don't think I've made it more than 2 days at a time without having to open it up for something or another. I keep hearing how bullet proof these are and I am waiting to get that result..lol. Its never the same thing. What I fix, stays fixed but then it's something else.

What prompted this post? Well get this.

I had just finished commenting to my wife this evening how this would be two days since my last repair. I commented that I bet it's about to do something stupid and crap out....and wouldn't you know, I'm playing a tape and a good song finished playing. So I use the music search to rewind and replay...which it did. But when the song started playing it sounded like they were playing at the bottom of the ocean using a waterproof mic to capture the audio. Fearing that it was shredding my tape I stopped and ejected.

So anyway, the stinking brass bushing popped out of the capstan housing and was causing the whole flywheel and capstan spindle to flop around like a dead Turkey in a clothes dryer. WTF? Seriously?

I pushed it back into the housing and the little plastic washer on the end seems to have clicked and locked it back in. It doesn't appear to be spinning in the housing so who knows. If it pops put again I'll apply a light glue on the outer diameter when I press it back in so it won't pop out anymore. It's not worn on the spindle end. But its stuff like this.

Also the leaf switch for the pause button broke before this causing the stop circuit to engage when paused making the mechanism go into a metal on metal clinking frenzy...repaired. Then the strap clip breaks....repaired, then before that the left volume slider wants to be all grabby....fixed, then the tape player started to play too slow after adjustments.....fixed again, then the stereo indicator didn't want to work...adjusted VR31....fixed, then the main power leaf switch didn't want to make connection when turned on.....fixed, then while playing a tape left channel drops..dirty function switch....fixed, then it would keep stopping while playing a tape...narrowed that down to a sticking tape counter that would trip the stop circuit solenoid.

It's all getting fixed but damn.....she's a demanding little b***h. But when it's working I'm on cloud nine

Anyone else with a box like this? Does it ever get better or worse?

 

[Radio raheem]

My victor m90 was like this, so much so it was for sale on here, it was constant work for days and it drove me up the wall, i nearly smashed it up with temper i was so pissed off lol, and this was after a years work by my ex engineer....never again it will die as i have no patience anymore but all well now

i feel you're frustrations bro

the whole thing took 3 years work with a total rebuild

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

HA HA HA, man, that's funny. Not what your going through, but the way you told the story. I've got a wall of radios like that These things are just old. And the longer they sit without use, the more of these gremlins grow into them. Who knows how long that radio sat idle before you got it and now it's getting warm and cold, warm and cold, plastic has shrunk, parts are flexing and moving and as the miles click by, most of these "almost broken" parts are gonna pop.

BUT, you sound diligent and that will help you reach the end of the repair highway! (we hope) Sounds like it will be a brand new box soon enough

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

Yep; we’ve all got radios like that. My once fully working Hitachi TRK-9150W was a massive labor of love. It took the parts from 3 radios to make one good one - tonnes of work and not an easy no to work on.

Result: The LCD screen isn’t working again, the deck spindle recently started slipping chewing tapes, the replacement light globes behind the VU meters are blown again!!

Or my once fully working 3D7 that now has a dead deck...... again!

I prefer not to think about these problems!

In the last couple of years, I’ve been collecting and restoring vintage desk fans from the 1940s, 1950s and early 60s. After a service and re-wire, those things don’t give me any trouble what so ever!

 

[Northerner]

Yeh I think we’ve all got radios like this. Some get repaired over and over again, some just get left on the shelf lol

 

[docs]

Sometimes they like it rough though bro. or so i'm told... funny stuff tho thanks

 

[MyOhMy]

I sympathise and empathise with you and share your frustrations. I too seem to get one thing fixed only for something else goes wrong and, as has been said, it's an age thing. I'm also getting old - so I'll not be gyrating or flopping around like a dead Turkey in a clothes dryer these days for any reason!

Great story, though and I feel the frustrations when it's one thing after another that goes wrong or develops a fault but when it's things outside of the normal range of 'usual suspects' then jinx comes to mind. Good luck with getting this BB into good working order, I'm sure you'll get there soon.

 

[floyd]

I never give my boxes too much praises because if I do the motherfukers will melt down like an alka seltzer tablet.

 

[Styleking]

Your radios work? Mine are all just paperweights! Bahahahaha!

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

I never give my boxes too much praises because if I do the motherfookers will melt down like an alka seltzer tablet.

 

[Transistorized]

I never give my boxes too much praises because if I do the motherfookers will melt down like an alka seltzer tablet.

I hear ya. My alka selzer tablet jingle goes....plop / plop - fizz / fizz - what a PITA it is

Glad to know I'm not alone on this. That bearing doohickey really caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting to see that at all.

 

[floyd]

Your radios work? Mine are all just paperweights! Bahahahaha!

I I know all about that I threw a vz2000 out the upstairs window about 30 years ago because everything stopped working . Plus I was mad because at the same time I had my M90 tore down sitting in the closet with junk piled on top of it.

 

[Transistorized]

Floyd when he is mad





psst.....I have to be very quiet....the M70 is working great right now.. Can it make it one more day to beat its record? Only time will tell.

 

[Transistorized]

Here's the next stage. My M70 played it's last tape day before yesterday. Thanks to Geoff I had received my aerials. After I listened to my tape, I pressed stop, sighed and then and tore it down again. Even though it was playing decent I could tell the belt was tired and I decided it was time to get this thing reliable. I ordered new belts and all. I tore the deck down and cleaned it up as well as removed the capstan bushings, cleaned and reassembled all but the flywheel at the moment. Everything is getting oiled and greased and adjusted. Here is the latest on the project as of now.



Thank God for JB-Weld! Antenna mounts are probably more durable now than they were before:


Thanks Geoff for the antennas. They look and work amazing


My cluttered work bench at the moment:


And the cassette deck which has been cleaned and is sitting and waiting for the new belts to arrive:


I can get this thing back together once I get belts. Probably have this thing singing in about 30 minutes from opening the belt kit..

 

[Superduper]

These ARE pretty reliable, but the deck is far more complicated than it needs to be. Tons of mechanical arms, linkages, springs, bushings, bearings, washers, etc. etc. Meaning, lots of things that can go wrong, especially if any grease is old and gummy, lubrication dried up, any rust or oxidation forming and linkages that need free movement. Furthermore, because of the deck buttons on top, virtually every specimen I've sen have tons of dust on the mechanism. As you know, dust and lubricants don't mix well. The only real way to make them reliable again is to really clean and lube (or not if not required in that location) everything. I lament that some decks (like the party center) was advanced far before it's time and makes for a really simple and robust deck, but the gummy gears turns Humpty Dumpty over the years. For what it's worth, those gears fall apart well after their designed life but that's no consolation for folks wanting to restore these 40 year old sets. Anyhow, it's always something isn't it?

Or maybe you just got a well used/worn deck or one that's been worked on before, and not put together properly since bushings shouldn't fall out. But being good mechanically, I'm sure you will have no trouble sorting it out. Luckily, this is a common model and I'm sure that even complete decks are available from time to time. Lord knows folks are asking for the rarest of rare parts here all the time, surely someone can come up with an M70 deck if patient enough right? The only other thing that might be problematic is the slider board. As long as it works properly and sounds great, then fantastic. But when it gets rebuilt, you should notice a pronounced improvement, at least in feel if not sound also.

 

[Transistorized]

These ARE pretty reliable, but the deck is far more complicated than it needs to be. Tons of mechanical arms, linkages, springs, bushings, bearings, washers, etc. etc. Meaning, lots of things that can go wrong, especially if any grease is old and gummy, lubrication dried up, any rust or oxidation forming and linkages that need free movement. Furthermore, because of the deck buttons on top, virtually every specimen I've sen have tons of dust on the mechanism. As you know, dust and lubricants don't mix well. The only real way to make them reliable again is to really clean and lube (or not if not required in that location) everything. I lament that some decks (like the party center) was advanced far before it's time and makes for a really simple and robust deck, but the gummy gears turns Humpty Dumpty over the years. For what it's worth, those gears fall apart well after their designed life but that's no consolation for folks wanting to restore these 40 year old sets. Anyhow, it's always something isn't it?

Or maybe you just got a well used/worn deck or one that's been worked on before, and not put together properly since bushings shouldn't fall out. But being good mechanically, I'm sure you will have no trouble sorting it out. Luckily, this is a common model and I'm sure that even complete decks are available from time to time. Lord knows folks are asking for the rarest of rare parts here all the time, surely someone can come up with an M70 deck if patient enough right? The only other thing that might be problematic is the slider board. As long as it works properly and sounds great, then fantastic. But when it gets rebuilt, you should notice a pronounced improvement, at least in feel if not sound also.

Thanks for that input superduper. The volume sliders are my next concern. They are flawless in their operation as far as being static free and equal in performance pertaining to balance etc. The only thing is, they have all been sprayed with cleaner at some point and none of them have that nice smooth feel. In other words, forget about using the top of the sliders to move them. Especially the Left volume slider. On this one, you have to "tilt" the slide head backwards when you increase the volume and 'tilt' the slider the opposite way to turn it down so it will slide. Otherwise it bites and grabs. The record level sliders are less worn and I have wondered at some point if they would work for the volume if either one were to go out...may trade spots? IDK

I have given some thought as to whether I should go ahead and have them rebuilt while the carbon traces are still in fantastic shape...but then again my next thought is...they're working. Probably should leave them alone. The other thought is, are the feelers scraping the usable carbon traces off the board from being dry. IDK. They work great as far as varying the resistance but are no longer smooth. So I'm in between in my thoughts on this. I can say this...I wouldn't feel comfortable doing this. Wonder if it's doing them more harm operating them this way or should they be rebuilt?

 

[Superduper]

Obviously, if they are grabbing, the grease in the slide area are gone. You can't restore them without opening them individually and manually greasing them while disassembled. The concern is in your description where the slides need to be "tilted" in order to slide. Another word for tilted is "cocked"... get the idea? And the feelers have some spring tension on them. That's why you can press down on the sliders or tilt them but when you do, you are putting much more pressure on the feelers than you should. Over time, this can put excessive wear on the carbon traces or flatten and stress the feelers which already, have a tendency to fall off anyhow. You can extend the life by simply putting the volume controls where you feel comfortable to your ears and leaving them there most of the time. But I suggest you get them rebuilt. Not only will mechanically cleaning the slide feelers so they are completely shiny again restore them to the most reliable state, rather than merely the tip where it rubs against the traces when you use deoxit, but the feel will improve dramatically. Furthermore, in most instances, you may notice improved performance due to less electrical resistance in the connections and from the recapping which I personally always do while the tone board is out.

 

[Transistorized]

Obviously, if they are grabbing, the grease in the slide area are gone. You can't restore them without opening them individually and manually greasing them while disassembled. The concern is in your description where the slides need to be "tilted" in order to slide. Another word for tilted is "cocked"... get the idea? And the feelers have some spring tension on them. That's why you can press down on the sliders or tilt them but when you do, you are putting much more pressure on the feelers than you should. Over time, this can put excessive wear on the carbon traces or flatten and stress the feelers which already, have a tendency to fall off anyhow. You can extend the life by simply putting the volume controls where you feel comfortable to your ears and leaving them there most of the time. But I suggest you get them rebuilt. Not only will mechanically cleaning the slide feelers so they are completely shiny again restore them to the most reliable state, rather than merely the tip where it rubs against the traces when you use deoxit, but the feel will improve dramatically. Furthermore, in most instances, you may notice improved performance due to less electrical resistance in the connections and from the recapping which I personally always do while the tone board is out.

Thanks Norm. If the belly of the beast proves to be reliable once I get her back together and she gives me good vibes for further restoration, I may just go ahead and remove the tone board for restoration. I've gotten pretty good at taking this thing apart I have watched plenty of videos on proper cleaning and what types of slide grease to use and where to apply inside the slider once apart. However, no one has really touched on whether the carbon traces should have a light coating of mineral oil or special lubricant or should be left smooth and dry for the slide fingers. The plastic slider attached to the arm I know gets grease and I have been paying attention to the M70's issues on here where cracks on the carbon traces develop close to the rivet inside. I can see the rivets through the slide opening. Too bad you can't reapply grease through the slot opening to the inside metal slide housing to restore smooth operation.

If they had only used rotary volume knobs on this model. IMO I much prefer knobs to sliders. Fader pots are great when they are sliding smoothly but they are wide open and more prone to getting dirty. I guess I can't knock them too bad. They have lasted 40 years.

 

[Transistorized]

Well after walking past my silent M70 torn apart I checked the mail coming home from work today...and my belts came. Hallelujah! Back together it goes and It's so nice to see this thing with antennas FINALLY



It's about time...hence the first song I played on the deck once I got it dialed back in....and sounds darn good I might add. I chose this song because W/F levels can be detected if there is any. The deck was very solid on the test calibration tone so I was feeling very good about the W/F result

Intro No sleep for me. I'm getting drunk and jamming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nymfK4kB8CY&t=1s

 

[jimmyjimmy19702010]

My JVC 727 has the same issue with the sliders - the plastic sliding bits have worn down on the underside from rubbing against dirt and rusty metal and have allowed the mechanism to tilt back and forth slightly when in use. There is no real cure for this situation apart from fully dismantling the sliders, polishing the metal surfaces removing all trace of corrosion and replacing the white plastic parts with new ones after fully greasing the non-electrical contact surfaces.

Finding a parts unit and maybe using the record level slider plastic parts may be an option.