When you take junk to the dump and end up with another project !

[markoneswift]

Hey all,

It's been a while since I've posted on here as I've been building myself up a pretty nice vintage stereo system. As a result of disposing of some no longer needed components down at the dump today though, I find myself back here !

I had a walk round the recycle shop after dropping off the other stuff I didn't need and as I wandered into the electronics area I spied a few old Technics speakers, some midi systems and then sat all on its lonesome - a pretty tidy Sharp GF-8585X

It was stickered as '$10, radio only works' so I grabbed it. Cosmetically it's good but needs a really good clean. The V aerial is bent one side, missing on the other so that needs attention. Radio works, all buttons seem to work, tuning / balance all work. There are no lamps lighting through which concerns me slightly and worst of all the cassette deck is totally inoperable. The eject is stuck fast although all other buttons work and the counter reset is missing and may have fallen inside. The deck seems to be constantly running as when power is applied there's the sound of a motor even though there's no tape in. This needs investigation I think ! Line in works but I haven't tested phono in (!!!!) or line out yet. Here's a pic....

 

[T-STER]

Nice dump score, are ypou in the UK? I only ask as all our recycling places stopped allowing us to buy items from them, gutted.

The 8585 is a nice simple box to work on as the tape deck is very accessible, you won't have much trouble fixing it up. Good score man.

 

[markoneswift]

Nice dump score, are ypou in the UK? I only ask as all our recycling places stopped allowing us to buy items from them, gutted.

The 8585 is a nice simple box to work on as the tape deck is very accessible, you won't have much trouble fixing it up. Good score man.

Cheers ! I am from the UK and I do remember recycle places stopping the purchase of such items. I used to work for the local Council so I had an 'in' with the guys who ran our local one but little ever turned up. I'm in New Zealand now and the local dump is privately run by a contractor who also runs the recycle side of things. I'm sure most of the good stuff they get ends up getting 'skimmed' by employees or put on an auction site but occasionally nice items do pop up. I recently scored a banana box full of classic rock LPs there - Deep Purple, Van Halen, Cars, Joe Walsh etc - great day that was.

Thanks fir the info on the deck - hopefully a bit easier than my VZ-3000 I'm working on !

 

[Van Presence]

nice recycle shop score. $10 is sweet. iv got 2 exactly same. $40, $80. cheaper 1 had sort of same issue, cassette door wouldnt open and no buttons would stay down. got apart (was slightly jammed due to whatever stopped door opening) took deck out and found something that looked a bit jammed. moved it. now works perfectly.
i like mine a lot. sound way better than i imagined they would have when saw first. planning on painting my cheaper 1 eventually due to it looking a bit worn out.

where did you manage to find a VZ3000?

 

[markoneswift]

Picked up the vz-3000 off Trademe but I think I regret dropping 200 on it. Its in a bad way with as-yet unknown electrical damage due to being plugged in while set for 110v by the previous owner ! Its complete though and cosmetically good so I will see if its salvageable....

 

[markoneswift]

Don't suppose anyone can help with replacement aerials for the GF by any chance ??

 

[markoneswift]

I got into the GF last night to have a look see inside. It's actually quite clean and all the wiring was neat and tidy. I thought, due to the lack of some casing screws, that someone had been in there already and maybe screwed some stuff up but it looks pretty good. I freed up the jammed tape mechanism more by luck then skill - I moved a few levers and rotated the flywheel manually, at which point there was a movement and I was able to fully press down the Stop / Eject button. Play now engages fully and I've lubricated as many sliding parts as I can find with white lithium grease on a Q Tip.

I see from other posts that the rubber sleeve on the capstan can be troublesome but it seems to be intact on mine. More of a concern is the pinch roller tire which is rock hard and also the idler wheel tire seems very flat and hard - at least they haven't turned to goo !! I'd like to find a source for replacement rubber components like these, if anyone knows of one ?

Here's a few pics of the disassembly so far :-

 

[markoneswift]

Just made my first repair (other than freeing up the mechanism) - purchased a pack of nitrile O-rings and found one that fitted perfectly onto the idler wheel. Once play is engaged and the capstan rotated by hand, I can feel the additional grip of the new rubber now.

Next task is to remove and then attempt to rejuvenate the pinch roller - it's turned to stone !!

 

[blu_fuz]

You go to the dump to get rid of junk and you come back with a beauty like that?!?!?!? Nice find for $10

 

[Lasonic TRC-920]

I love it! and your straight into it! Go man Go!

 

[markoneswift]

Been having a look at this today, the tape play kept jamming. I fixed it up, some pics to follow....

 

[T-STER]

Its funny i just found one of these at the boot sale last week, i tried not to buy it but for a fiver i just had to. It has a power cord hard wired in unfortunately and the 2 pins and housing where you would plug in the AC lead is missing. The lead just disappears inside. Works brilliant tho after overhauling the deck.

 

[T-STER]

Sorry i didnt mean to hijack your thread either, i just noticed it was identical to mine!!

I had to change the pinch roller in mine btw as no amount of rejuvination was bringing it back from the dead

 

[markoneswift]

That's a coincidence mate, the mains connector is bust on mine too although the lead is not yet hard wired. I'm thinking of leaving the chord attached and maybe glue it in lol.

 

[markoneswift]

I'm changing the pinch on mine when it arrives from Geoff, along with the idler wheel / tyre and fitting a working counter.

I found an issue with the deck where the stop eject wouldn't function properly but after a liberal application of lithium grease it seems to go great now. I'm thinking about changing the ff rew idler tyre too but not sure yet.

 

[markoneswift]

OK so my replacements parts arrived from my saviour in a far way land (aka Geoff 'Nikonfoo') so I'll be getting those fitted soon. I've got a pinch roller, idler wheel / tyre and tape counter to install and then a new counter belt to fit. The only thing I'm really in need of then is a right hand antenna stalk - anyone ???

 

[markoneswift]

Fitted the new pinch roller, take up idler and counter tonight. Interestingly, the pinch roller made little difference to the playback quality. The takeup reel idler, however, made a big improvement to play stability.

 

[baddboybill]

Fitted the new pinch roller, take up idler and counter tonight. Interestingly, the pinch roller made little difference to the playback quality. The takeup reel idler, however, made a big improvement to play stability.


Actually the pinch roller is what improves play stability 😉. Did you get new or are they used? New is always best


Bad Boy Bill

 

[markoneswift]

Actually the pinch roller is what improves play stability . Did you get new or are they used? New is always best


Bad Boy Bill

Got it from Nikonfoo (Geoff) - it seems to have very little wear or shine to it and the rubber is nice. The stability is fine, as in no audible wow / flutter, but only after replacing the takeup idler.