Receiver and Tape Deck repair

[myriad1973]

I was wondering how easy it would to make some minor repairs to my old Pioneer receiver (SX-2600) and tape deck (CT-S607R) from 1990 before I have to send them in.

On the receiver, the headphone jack is a little loose and the contact only works properly when you wiggle the headphone plug. Also, the EQ LEDs are very dim.

On the tape deck, the record level pot needs to be replaced. When you turn it, it only goes from zero to maximum. Also, the record/playback head needs to be replaced.

Any input would be appreciated.

 

[hemiram]

Some of this stuff is really easy, sometimes though, in tape decks especially, it can be a real trick to get them back together without a service manual or someone else who knows "The trick" to get something back in right. The headphone jack may be a 5 minute deal, first thing, is it mounted directly to the front panel PC board, as is common lately, or does it have wires going from it to the main amp board. If it's on the front panel, you have to probably take the whole front panel apart, and then find a new headphone jack to put in that lines up with the front hole, AND has the terminals in the right place so you can put it in the PC board without a major hassle. I think the LEDS won't be worth doing, unless they are right out in the open.

The tape deck is something else entirely, some of them are such a hassle to get apart, that it might not be worth doing at all. Finding a new head might be a problem, but actually changing it out is pretty simple, unless you have to take the whole thing apart to do it. Setting the azimuth is the hard/tedius part of that job if the head is accessible without taking the whole thing apart.

You have to face one fact, a lot of this stuff isn't made to be worked on, at all, ever.

 

[myriad1973]

You have to face one fact, a lot of this stuff isn't made to be worked on, at all, ever.

You're in Toledo also, eh? I guess there's a place on Central called Household Centralized that's a licensed Pioneer service center. Have you heard of them?

I looked on the Pioneer parts website, and apparently the heads are available, as well as the whole fluorescent indicator panel. The record level control is not however.

 

[hemiram]

Actually no, I haven't heard of them. The place I took something to last time here is gone, and the last warranty work I had done was in Ann Arbor, a long time ago.

If you can get the deck apart, and the head isn't hugely expensive, it might be worth doing it. The pot can probably be found someplace, but it WILL be a hassle to get the right one, unless you really luck out.

Here is a great place, they have an amazing amount of parts:

http://www.digikey.com/

I'm sure you can find one that will work there..

I had an old high end shortwave radio that I traded and then was sold a couple of times to other people I knew, and the keypad switches were failing due to the present owner pressing insanely hard on them when punching in a frequency. He asked me to fix it if I could, and I finally got the individual switches for a very high price from the manufacturer in Japan. DigiKey had the same switches for about 1/10 the price. There were so many switches listed, I wasn't sure what to order, so I played it safe and bought the ones from Japan Radio Company instead. After I got them, I ordered three diferent ones from DigiKey to see if they would have worked. Turned out all three would have been fine. Some were just better quality (estimated lifespan) than others.

The job of fixing it was a horror story. He punched the buttons so hard, he broke about 20 traces on the PC board (Not something that can be replaced easily, finding one would be a miracle), and I had to glue those back down, jump them, after getting the old switches out, and they were meant to be put in, and left there, I had to destroy all the switches to remove them, and it was an all day job. Replacing them took about 10 minutes, they just popped in and each had 4 leads to solder. I guess I did a good job, about 5 years later, it's still working fine. He doesn't punch the buttons anymore.

 

[hemiram]

Is 1973 your birth year, or when you graduated HS, etc?

I got out of Bowsher in 74.

 

[myriad1973]

I'm was born in 1973. Just a youngin'.

I did some cleaning to the receiver and discovered the contacts for the EQ were dirty, after cleaning them with a cotton swab and some light solution, the EQ LEDs light up again. I also demagnetized the tape heads realizing I hadn't done that in a very long time, and it seemed to help for now.

That leaves the record level pot on the tape deck, and I'm not sure how to go about that. Apparently the part is not available anymore. Is there any kind of spray I could use to clean it out? It might be just very dusty inside.

The headphone jack I might be able to resoldier the connection.

 

[hemiram]

You're just a kid..The year you were born, I was learning to drive..and suffering at Bowsher..I really, really, really hated HS. Gives me the chills just thinking about it.


Radio Shack has "switch and control" (It's called something like that) in a can, and it might work, but if turning the knob back and forth a few times doesn't do any good, odds are it won't either. You can probably find a part that will work and fit if you look long enough. the hard part is cosmetic, and putting the thing back together. Take pics, you'd be surprised how fast you forget how this goes into that, etc. Decks are the worst to work on, IMO.