The belts went bad in my Aiwa cassette deck. I replaced them, and while I had the unit apart, I also did some other service work... Video demonstration: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-maEBUKQnwdA.html
The reason why this video is so popular is that many people own this deck and need repair/maintenance now as it is 26 yrs old...and it is hard to find a good tutorial on how to replace belts. Thanks for the excellent work.
Nice presentation. I replaced belts many years ago and till now they are in good condition. But when last days I tried to start my old F910 I discovered rewind does not work. I repalced idler tire and now mechanism works OK. I did not video but I found something what can help persons having tape rewind problem, look here: AIWA AD-F770 IDLER TIRE REPAIR (part 2) - mechanism looks the same like F910. Be patient and precise. Very important is take care about very small ball and 3 springs - remember location and position. Removing head assembly is tricky - it is necessary to push it to the top "read/write" position by moving (use left hand) the bottom sheet metal base on which head assy it is located and with the right hand remove the head assy. Good luck!
Nice touch at 11:43, very sensible! I get the impression that Aiwa (and others?) were sometimes more concerned in "thrashing out" a new model, keeping costs down, and consequently paying less attention to some basics in electronics. I found this to be the case with the now obsolete Sansui DR201V DAB+ tuner where I had to fix and modify a power supply failure. Great videos DrCassette, you're English is superb!
DrCassette I know what you mean. I have to urge people to comment on mine so RU-vid will recommend them to people. Even a simple "Nice" would do it. I have also noticed other RU-vidrs taking the tack of telling people to like and comment on their videos. Perhaps you should try it next time and see if anything changes! Looking forward to your next workshop repair!
+DrCassette I remember reading somewhere that RU-vid started tracking how many times videos were watched in their entirety. Or maybe it was in a dream...
Właśnie otrzymałem przesyłkę i magnetofon wygląda świetnie i dołączy do mojej kolekcji magnetofonów.Nie jest zbudowany tak solidnie jak Akai czy Pioneer ale gra dobrze i wygląda b.dobrze do tego pilot to rzadkość. Pozdrawiam fanów!👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😷
I know in the UK it is mandatory to have a fuse in the plug (which is part of why their plugs are so huge!). But if this is a Euro model I'm surprised they didn't put a fuse inside it, especially since there's a space on the board for one.
+vwestlife Actually the space in the board was for a voltage selector. But since the transformer used in this unit only has the 230 V winding, I could re-purpose the existing traces and fit in a fuse holder.
I just picked up the older 660 model which has the identical mechanism, the two capstan belts have gone to goo, but the idler must be ok as it ff & rr no problem. Glad I've seen your video reassured me its not too bad of a job.
From my long distance past memory, I recall a number of cassette decks had the same problem in that the Dolby did not track correctly. They often sounded better without Dolby but of course at the expense of a 10dB increase in noise. Most people then and now often do not understand that the use of Dolby noise reduction IS a two way process and must be used in both record AND playback. I always liked the sound of Dolby C. A few decks used DBX, great at reducing noise but you could always hear it processing. Try listening to piano or speech with DBX. Really sounds bad!!
When I ran a company called Teletape I was invited to Singapore to see the new Aiwa factory. I didn't know that Sony at hat time owned the majority of Aiwa. A lot of the parts used were Sony parts. I remember a model of Aiwa that had a fuses and every one of the decks suffered fuse failure when you turned it on, which meant you had to replace the fuses before you sold the deck. Vey annoying.
I myself would not use lighter fluid clean up the captions because it's petroleum Bass I would use isopropyl alcohol which would clean up the oil and then evaporate leaving no residue which is much better
Hello Doctor! Thank you for your video. What an extremely thorough job! I have an Aiwa CX-NHMT75 that I bought from the Goodwill for $45. It had the manuals, the remote, all of the speakers, and it looked to be in good condition. Radio works, CD is finicky but works, AUX works, but today I bought a cassette (just to test the players) and neither 1 nor 2 decks work. I suspect the belts are bad. I downloaded a service manual for this unit but all it seemed to have was electronic gibberish. How do I find the proper belts and the proper manuals to repair this? Thank you DrCassette MD.
Very nice! And just in right moment. I just acquired 910 and I see there is going to be need for opening and adding a Fuse in it! Dam****, I can't say for the love of life, why didn't they put that security detail inside from the get go?! And regarding the rest, or should I say regarding the complete video, I just can say thank you for having this video done and put out there! It's really a detailed and well explained what's inside and where to look closely if one is going to open this baby for any given reason! I am so going to get back to you if I'll have some issue with mine or if anything is going to be in need of addressing to. Thanks for doing this!
Very nice video , but I always thought that playback gain had to do with output volume in referrance to the peak indicators adjustments .. and that it had nothing to with Dolby . In some Technics decks from the early eighties you have playback equalizers , left /right Might this be the same ?? , because you said after adjusting the sound was less muffled ..
Great video, wish I had the courage to make videos of my restorations, I don't believe I have the voice over quality you do when you describe whats going on. The AD-F810 and AD-F910 display what had become of Aiwa cassette deck quality. These are then models just their peak of engineering and build quality. The peak IMO was the 7000 and 9000 series around 1990/91. I just serviced the AD-F810 for a client a month ago, the idler mechanism uses that same crappy plastic that is now weakened from heat and age, often and beginning to crumble. I am considering trying to use the idler arrangement (J-Arm) from the Sankyo transports that seem to work better and last. Aiwa should have used the J-Arm style idler arrangement. IMO, this is the weak point in the transport. Sound quality isn't bad at all for what it is. I managed to get wow and flutter down to 0.06% NAB weighted, measured on a Leader LFM39A. The transport is obnoxiously loud in fast wind positions, due to poor engineering of the idler mechanism. Dolby/playback levels must be set using the 400hz Dolby cal. tape for proper encoding/decoding. This is important because tapes made on a machine not calibrated using it won't play back properly on other machines. An all in one test tape from ANT costs 70$, well worth it to have use of a proper calibration tape to set/check speed, meter cal, playback cal/response, Dolby levels, meter calibration, azimuth, distortion, and frequency response, all on one tape. Another thing good to have is a cassette torque test tape, for checking and setting the reel table tension take up, and back tension. Proper tensions are needed for the transport to operate properly. Having an expensive but crucial M-300 gauge handy makes life much easier whenever stripping the transport is necessary, such as replacing the pinch rollers, removing the bearing plate for cleaning and lubrication. A mirror tape for setting the supply pinch roller guide isn't essential, you can make one from an old tape. Using it to make sure the supply pinch roller guide ramp set properly is essential. This prevents tape skew that causes tape damage, while maintaining optimal tape travel across the transport at all points. It does take time to save the $$ to buy the test tapes and alignment tools, but they do make cassette deck work so much easier, not to mention allow the technician adjusting the deck to coax every last bit or performance it is capable of. Buying most of the stuff second hand now is much less expensive than it was 20 years ago and more. Setting up a lab can be done for under 1000$, not the 10-20K$ or more it cost back in cassettes heyday. Thanks for the great videos, keep on making them, as they help people to get their cassette decks out of the closets and working again.
Making good videos takes a bit of practice, but after a while most people get pretty good at it, you just have to start somewhere ;) Just don't upload unedited videos, because those are terrible unless you are REALLY good at it.
Aiwa deck especially the ADF 800 880 810 and the 910 need quality belts believe me. If you can get them the are exceptionally great recorders up there with Naks, yes the Naks are better built but for the money ill take those Aiwas anyday. Nice video btw.
Lustigerweise habe ich heute genau dieses Tape-Deck aus dem Elektroschrott gerettet. Die Schrauben für den Deckel fehlten leider, der Vorbesitzer hat wohl mal reingeschaut und das Teil dann entsorgt. Nach einem kurzen Test stand fest, dass die Riemen auch völlig ausgeleiert waren und das Deck nicht mal mehr starten wollte. Bevor ich für 17,00€ Ersatzriemen bestelle und dann womöglich weitere Fehler auftauchen, habe ich die alten Riemen einfach einige Minuten in kochendes Wasser gelegt und konnte danach das Deck zumindest wieder in Betrieb nehmen. Ich bin auch etwas hin- und her gerissen, was die Qualität des angeht. Es ist definitv ein größeres Modell und hat eine gute Ausstattung, allerdings überzeugte mich das wackelige Gehäuse und der insgesamt etwas billige Aufbau nicht wirklich. Das stammt halt vermutlich schon aus den 90er Jahren, da ging es mit der Qualität im Hifi-Sektor rapide bergab. Interessanterweise erzielt das AD-F910 bei eBay durchaus Preise von 50€ aufwärts (mit neuen Riemen natürlich mehr), insofern werde ich es vermutlich wieder verkaufen. Abgesehen von meinen zahllosen Tapedeck-Leichen im Keller habe ich zum Digitalisieren alter Bänder ein Yamaha KX-670 (welches ich seinerzeit neu gekauft habe), ein Technics RS-AZ6, sowie ein RS-BX646...alle 3 Decks machen auf mich irgendwie einen besseren Eindruck als das AIWA, auch wenn das AD-F910 durchaus einiges an Einstellmöglichkeiten bietet. Kennst du die von mir genannten Decks zufällig, wo würdest du das AIWA qualitativ einordnen? Viele Grüße - Roland
The cassette tape transport assembly looks very much like mine: Aiwa AD-F770. But here your 910 deck is much easier to access, the F770 is a nightmare! (Edited)
Hi there. Ive got one of these decks which i had from new. I need to replace the sumitomo cable from the board to back of cassette mechanism.. 1 how many cores are in this cable 2 . Which way round is it.. normalnof let right.. 2 what length is this cable approximately. I have missplaced the old cable.. Also have you got the link to the belt kit you used.. Thanks . 👍👍
I once cracked a transparant TDK D C-120 on purpose .. just on one side in the area of the heads & pinchrollers , so 1: It played because a switch was engaged inside and 2 to get acess and space for cleaning , while playing after removing the tape 3: You can see very closely how the tape travels over the heads and tape guides :) The little copper spring with the vilt behind the tape of the cassette , I glued a bit so that it would"t come off .. Of course this only usefull if you can take away the cassettedoor ánd those damned stabilisers :) I still have my Nakamichi mirror cassette . Its also half open . Very usefull
Could you help me please ,when I play any it sound a bit scratchy. Sort of as if the sound is sharp..I replaced the belts the heads are sparkling. Any suggestion would be very helpful
Hello! I have the same model but there is a issue with play! Looked at meter board and found some issue with some resistor, I think they are burned! the replaced parts where soldered on the back side of the board, the thing you are holding at 14:30!by the way cassette lid comes out by lifting up with door opened! need advice with play mode on this one! Much obliged!
Execuse me,I have a problem with the play button when I press the tape moves very fast and give me a bad sound but when I press it powerfully with my hand it gives me a good sound but if i leave the button it returns to the problem also I have changed the rollers
My Aiwa AD - R470 has suddenly no sound but some noise coming out with the music from the tape in the background ... both channels (left/right) has the same issue. The output levels are showing the signals fine. Can someone help me here to solve this issue ?
Hi, love to watch your workshop videos, specially on cassette decks. In this video, you mention lubrication on the flywheels bearings. What kind of lubricating do you suggest? (there so many opinions like synthetic oil, lithium grease etc). I have a similar decks (Aiwa AD-F810). Thank you.
@@DrCassette Thank you. My problem is that flywheel can hardly spin on my Aiwa AD-F810. So a light synthetic oil injected with a syringe will do the job. I wish what oil they used in the factory so long time ago...
Aiwa did not put much effort or expense into the build quality of these machines. The thing is though, the 3 head decks sound fantastic! They seemed to pull off the same trick as Teac did in that respect. I have an AD-S950, it needed new belts 2 years ago and after replacing them and 'tinkering' a little it now sounds as good as it did when new. I also have a Teac V-1050 and cannot tell the difference in sound between the two. Even standard ferric tapes sound fine....to me anyway!
Three-head cassette decks have a significant advantage over regular two-head cassette decks. Three-head cassette decks have separate heads for erasing, recording and playback of a tape. Each head can be optimized to work best for its purpose. For example, the head gap is different for each different head. Two-head decks use an erase head and a combination record and playback head. To get one head to do both recording and playback certain compromises have to be made, for example the head gap has a size that is in between the ideal values for record and playback. So both functions do work, but not as good as possible.
Dolby sounded muffled .. Playback gain has nothing to do with dolby . It's just volume . If your recordings sounded muffled try re adjusting the heads and then adjust the recording sensitivity inside
Hello, I was thinking of getting one of these decks, I already have the 3 head aiwa ad-f810, in your opinion, is the 910 far better than the 810 or would I just be wasting my money.
I have a f 660...recently i changed the belts,i put the cassette inside,pushing the play button.....the reel motor that is spinning the flywheels is not spinning.I tested the motor separately,is working!The forward/review is working.And the head assembly is not engaging.Any advice ti fix this?What i should check first?Is a mechanical issue or electronic?Thank you!
Obviously I can't know what you did wrong when replacing the belts. It could be a problem with the electronics, though I don't think that's very likely. A problem with the mechanism is more likely. Maybe you got some gears misaligned, causing the timing of the mechanism to be wrong. Please also refer to the service manual that you should be able to find online.
@@DrCassette Problem fixed!Solenoid stuck! I did some recordings in normal,cro2,metal.On normal tape sound fantastic,no differences source-tape,but on metal and cro2 tape the sound is dull,with big differences source-tape.All cassettes they are brand new,i have a lot of cassette tapes,i tried different (tdk sa,tdk ma,sony metal,maxell,that's etc...all cro2 and metal tapes the same result!Normal tape sounds excellent!Any ideea ,to fix this?
Hey Drcassette. I've only ever had 2 head machines, but I am thinking in getting a 3 head cassette recorder. In your experience, do you think a Bias control/calibration feature makes a big, big difference in recording quality compared to the usual cassette decks? Fantastic videos Matthew UK
+Matthew Richards Oh yes, tape calibration makes a huge difference. Not so much on newer, good Japanese cassettes, but on older, cheaper cassettes. Good cassette decks will either automatically or manually (via display or level meter and adjustment knobs) calibrate Bias, Level and Equalizer. The more basic ones might only offer one or two of those options, this Aiwa deck for example can only manually adjust Bias and Level. The setups were you just have a "Bias Fine" or "Bias adjust" knob without any way of recording test tones and without any display in my opinion are pretty much useless. You can of course turn them until the cassettes sound better, but you'll never know if it's perfect.
Hi Doctor, I've just replaced my AD-F810 belts but found that the idler also have problems and should be changed. I looked at the service manual but not quite clear how to dismantle it. Could you help me with that?
@DrCassette, I purchased a Sony VCR model SLV-N81 and everything works fine but just wondering about one thing. When I first power up the VCR, the screen is grey for a couple seconds, it also happens when I hit stop, or change the channel on the vcr. Is this normal for this vcr or is there something going wrong with it? Thanks.
+iz Zzy I have a model 575, the one with the flip down front, which I think was in the series before yours. Great big heavy machine. I bought it in 1990 for $500 from Montgomery Ward. It's not working now, but I can't bring myself to get rid of it. I have hundreds of prerecorded tapes that I now watch frequently with a Hitachi VCR. I'm hoping the good fairy will come along and fix the Sony. Simply an outstanding machine. It ran flawlessly for 15 years before breaking and we used it to time shift hundreds and hundreds of hours of TV programming before it finally broke.
The mechanism looks quite similar to that of the F810, which I intend to fix because the belts have mutated into sticky lumps of black mass. The belt sets one can buy here in Germany are different: The F810 belt sets contain only 2 belts, not three. Is that correct?
I am located in Germany, too, and the belt kit was bought on the German Ebay. The F810 may be different from the F910 seen in this video. You can find all the info you need in the service manual.
Depending on what I want to lubricate, I use either oil or grease. For oiling, I use an all-purpose oil (sewing machine oil). Don't use silicon oil, it will cause a mess. For greasing, I have started using White Lithium Grease. That's what most electronics factories use as grease, so it has got to be good.
Thank you. I had asked a seller of AGS White Lithium and he told me it was only for metal components. But I know several people who use it on plastic, so i was confused.
Hi I have a Aiwa ad-f910 to which I replaced belts and ilder but I can not put the springs of the capstain.Ho saw his video I would like to see the correct placement of the springs.Thanks.
Maybe the service manual for this cassette deck can help you. I don't have this deck anymore, and even if it was still around, I certainly wouldn't tear it all apart again just to show the placement of some springs.
I just finished changing the belts on mine, works great! for some reason the eject button no longer works but i can use the pause button to open it up and a little nudge to close. Any idea why this could be?
Hello . It's very impressing what you do. Amazing. I have a problem with a mini sistem hi fi SONY CMT - SPZ50 . The rubber band of the tape deck is old and doesn't work Can you post a video about how to replace a rubber band of a mini hi fi system like SONY CMT - SPZ50 thas has the tape in front of the sistem, on top, very difficult to work on. I have no technical knowledge. Thank you ! .
In my experience the producers in Eastern Europe and the USSR were really good when it comes to electrical safety. Their equipment may not have the best specifications, but a lot of what I've seen was built quite well. As for the Sony, keep in mind that Sony had started using fusible resistors in the late 70s. Those are just regular resistors, so they are not as obviously visible as a fuse, but they are designed so that they fail open circuit in case of a fault.
That could be / should be a spark suppression capacitor. It prevents arcing inside the power switch and thereby increases its lifetime. Just make sure the capacitor is fine, no cracks in the case etc. Sometimes these capacitors go bad, and when they do it usually is quite a spectacular event.
Fuses are helpful... :-O Are there any more corners that Aiwa could possibly have cut!?!?!?! Thanks for posting this. You have just eliminated Aiwa from my future purchases....
I have an AIWA unit 3 head, model AD 3800 i managed to replace the melted belt and its back to operation now. I noticed in the repair manual that the two capstan flywheel should be synch when assembling coz i noticed markings in the flywheel face, the instruction further said to look on the other AIWA model AD 3600 with same mech where the instruction is given how to assemble . But the absence of it tempted me to proceed the assembly and luckily it worked now. But what worries me is there a clanking sound when we put tape into the tray. Is this normal as i noticed also when you put a tape inside the tray there's a clanking sound.
That is just a feature of the mechanism to set up tape tension and to take up any tape slack that may have occurred inside the cassette. So it is normal behaviour.
17 euros for 3 belts...... Yikessssss! I reckoned my long time hobby would be expensive with just belts alone. So I bought all common lengthz 4mm flat belts, and 3 and 2mm. And also other belt sets in 3mm, 2mm, 1.5mm etc. That cost me a couple of meals but now I rarely need to buy any more belts even though mine have lower quality in consistency, and yield worse performance in wow and flutter.
Hi. I have a F810. It plays a little faster and the previous owner has replaced the capstan belt. Can it be because of the belt or do I need to adjust from the capstan motor? TIA
Belt related problems (too tight / too loose) usually cause the speed to be too slow. If your cassette deck runs too fast, the capstan motor should be adjusted. But also try to check the tension of the capstan belt just to be on the safe side.
Oh yeah, I remember this tape deck Some time ago, you were arguing with it. It didn't want to play a cassette, but you insisted, and the cassette got stuck in it, and you ended up having to scrap it down to get your cassette back. I think I created a (sort of) dialogue between you and the deck, assuming it's this one.
Hey man, nice video, just one question, i have an aiwa 6550 and sometimes the tape speed goes slow and it's very annoyng. Is that a belt problem or what? Thanks a lot😁
If it slows down, but eventually speeds up again to normal speed all by itself, there probably is a problem with the motor. If it goes slow and stays slow until you stop it, it could be a problem with the belt.
I see that the audio factory specs are quite very good for this deck...normal and chrome upper freq. till 20 khz, and to metal tape till 22khz. ..I suppose that fisher you talking about is inferior in audio specs. .... Wich make me gave a serious toughts în buying this unit. I found one in good shape for about 50 € , and I going to buy it. I think it is worthing. ...By the way, that transistor on the control and display board should be on its place like it is?
On the back of the display board there are visible two resistors, one electrolitic capacitor and a transistor....Since time 12'.38" in this video, just for few seconds, you can see them near the support of the motor door. I was wondering...why they didn't do some more wholes to plant them properly and to solder them like all the other components?
Now I know what you mean. Those components were added at a later design stage of the cassette deck. They found out they needed those additional components when the pcb was already in production. A complete re-design of the pcb would have been more expensive than adding those components to the back of each pcb manually. I once briefly had a DVD recorder that was full of such corrections.
DrCassette , thx for your answer. By the way, Dolby in my deck is wonderfully implemented,especially dolby C... Playing those good quality recorded tapes, it amplifies the trebles very well, even the cassettes was not recorded with any dolby at all. ... I own few tape decks wich employs those dolby Sony 's cx20188 chips, an none of them had that good implementation. I suspect that good quality audio frequency range (starting from 20k on normal tapes , has its role.
@@DrCassette I have one more question, my f880 aiwa.. when recording chrome tape right channel is high, with normal tape left channel is high level. source position it is normal but tape monütör rec unbalance
The replacement heads must have a similar resistance to the original ones. If resistance is different, the heads and electronics will be mismatched. Screw in the new head, connect it and adjust the azimuth screw for maximum treble output while playing back a known good cassette.
You live over seas Germany. Right. Your English is very good. I am sorry, but I lost reply. It was about cleaning P.O.T. you said you made video about this subject. Could supply a link. My e-mail is stevrob4@gmail.com. I supply my e-mail, but you don't need to use it. This way will work. Thank you for your time. I am retired and I am looking a hobby.
+Stephen Epic Rubber bands are never a good solution. They don't give a steady speed, and don't last nearly as long as real belts. You'll have to keep replacing them every few years.
+Marks mediaTV It's not going to work. Either it doesn't work properly at all or it's only going to work for a few months. Rubber bands are not made to last like proper belts are.
It is a safety interlock. For example, you have the cassette deck in playback mode, with no cassette and with the compartment door open, this is ideal for cleaning the heads and the tape guides. But now imagine you put in a cassette and try to push the door into the closed position. You forgot to stop the deck from playing, and now what happens is you push the cassette against the heads, which could lead to misalignment of the heads or even further damage.
