Wow!! This took me 3 days of hard work to bring back to 100% working order!! The cassette deck is pretty complex & requires removing the cassette mechanism completely to access & replace the 2 belts that drive it Not for the faint hearted in fact when I opened it up, I saw the 2 motor multi layered pcb's over the reel motor & the many microswitches that all needed cleaning back to metal due to tarnishing............. Once the deck is out & in front of you, it's relatively easy to unscrew the lower level of mechanics & lift it away to reveal the huge flywheel driven by a large flat belt & a tiny second belt on the top of the flywheel that drives the full auto stop mech After cleaning & replacing the two egg shaped belts, it's time to reassemble the mechanism, check for any micro or leaf switches (There's a few!!) & clean them up......found one lurking under the decorative silver metal plate on the front of the deck which I removed to check for rubber tyres (None, all gear driven) This switch is for the music search solenoid & needed de-gunking!! At this stage, I decided to totally strip down the whole system & clean/service every last part of the tuner, amp & cassette deck as the pictures will show!! While the cassette mech was still out, I powered her up to clean the freshly oiled capstan shaft heads & pinch roller - much easier when all open & didn't take long at all!! No azimuth or speed tweaks, in my experience these JVC component decks are always spot on Reassembling the tape deck is no picnic, nor is it too difficult, hence the choice to do a complete strip down & knowing that the amplifier & tuner would be easy compared to the deck - Like my PC-11, the cassette deck is absolute quality & these deserve to be saved & used for many years to come!! Amplifier & tuner both completed on last day (Y/day) & nothing to report here just cleaning & Servisol & polish the cases of both Late last night was time to connect & test it out.......... & Viola!! Everything worked first time I expected at least a couple of issues as I haven't done one of these before............ Cassette deck is very very good, sound quality is superb with a wide dynamic range & slick performance! The logic controlled mech is perfection & a delight to use!! Recording quality even on ferric tape is very good - stability is as good as it gets & the tiny led's are a nice touch!! As expected, the speakers were fucked - foam all gone so, for now, a brand new pair of co-axial 4 inch car speakers sit in the cabinets until the refoam kit arrives!! The JBL's are superb......this system can really pump it out effortlessly...........bass is deep tight & treble is sweet along with excellent stereo separation Ah well, enough waffle - Here are the images......there are a few
I agree great job I have 2 of these, they are fantastic sounding boxes, yeah re-foam the original speakers you'll be surprised at their performance very wide frequency range and probably sound better than any replacements.
Thank you for the positive replies Today I added a rechargeable Bluetooth module in the battery compartment & made a few test recordings!! This thing is amazing, cassette playback is way above average & so is the recording mode - so stable & you know me, I am a hater of poor tape transports, I listen hard to find fault on all my boomers & this one is very high on the list now I love this compo!! I intend to re-foam the drivers in time, for now the JBL's are king of my 4 inch boomers speakers - they really pump out the power with an amazing dynamic range!! I noticed that the video for this is the first I have shot that carries the stereo sound & imaging to the Galaxy S7 Edge's microphones & reproduce the sound very nicely on Mp4 playback What a machine to complete before I have a rest from this hobby for a short time......will still be permanently signed in to both forums though - don't want to miss other restores & finds
Outstanding work, inspiring even. I need to do similar work and replace the cassette bias/balance door that has a broken hinge on mine. Great job!
Now that is a true tear down. I had one of these years ago, and sadly, I sold it. I've been trying for years to find another one. Job well done!!
Great work and documentation Nick. Your post is what I was looking for because I am in the process to clean up a compo like yours that I used to play my cassettes and LPs ~28 years ago at my grandparents' house. In December, I rescued it from an uncle's dusty shelf and after more than 8 years later I have turned it on again, surprisingly, almost everything worked. I started to clean-up the amp controls and the turner, the only issue I found there is that the balance control is not working as it supposed to, It only works at the middle and that's fine for now any suggestions to fix it are more than welcome. After that, I tried to fix the deck however is really complex and I had no idea where to start. It has two issues when you press play, review or cue the system stops after a few seconds. sounds when you press play but stops as I explained before. The second issue is that the counter is not working. According to the info from other blogs, I have to change the belts however I don't have detailed instructions on how to change them. Would you tell me where I can get the replacements and where to start with the deck disassemble? What products should I use to remove the moisture marks of the controls and what full-range drivers do you recommend to change them. Thanks for your help and again, great work. Cheers from Canada, Fernando
It sounds like you need two belts Fernando, the main belt and the counter belt, judging from nickeccles photos, you have to remove two circuit boards and then take the top two screws off the last board to get to the large belt. Service manuals usually don't go into much depth for belt replacement, it's pull some screws and hope for the best. Take photos and label the screws if possible because you will instantly forget where they go. fixyouraudio.com on the front page sells belts or you can find a few places over here that should have them like turntableneedles.com and a few others. I don't see a balance control on this unit are you sure? If it's rotory I'd use DeOxit, if it slides I'd use FaderLube, they're both from the same company and can be found at your local musicians shop or online. If that doesn't work it may be a larger problem and have to be taken apart. What are moisture marks? You can start with a good soap and water bath if you have the electrical parts out. I'd keep the speakers original if they still work otherwise a place like Partsexpress.com would have speakers in case the originals are toast. Once you get the dozens of screws out it looks like an easy belt change but just about everything in there needs to be taken apart.
Thanks for the recommendations MisterX. Labeling the screws and taking pics are great ideas, this system has a lot of screws and parts. The rotary balance is hidden in the receiver, you have to open a small door to see it, I will try Deoxit. The speakers I will check them first and decide, for the moment they sound good but I think there's something missing. Looks like I need to be extremely patient and book some quality time before start this adventure. Keep you posted and thanks again
Now I see it on one of the photos, I'd put some headphones on and see if you hear some cracklin when you turn it, or if there's a difference in volume. Sometimes the speaker connections get abused and they need to be resoldered so the speakers don't work correctly but headphones do. If it works fine with headphones then it's not the balance switch, if theres some static when you turn it, it might just need some cleaning.
Your speakers are connected out of phase, that's why it's doing that! Plus to plus minus to minus!! 1 speaker is connected in reverse! Counter must work for deck to run as it has a hall sensor mounted on it - if counter belt fails, deck will keep stopping.......these are easy to service just use the images to fix it, oh & never switch on without headphones or speakers connected or you risk blowing the amp output!
Great to see a PC5 working nicely, great job! I had one when I was an apprentice and loved the sound, until someone stole it from my bedsit. Luckily enough they left me the speakers and for many years I used them as car speakers. I am now the owner of a PC55, I remember lusting after one when I saw them but could only afford the PC5! It was a long time ago now but I remember the PC5 sounding very full and having a pretty decent bass, listening to my PC55 now I am a bit disappointed in the bass response, maybe the speakers have aged or I have just got used to a large hifi, I would love to be able to compare the two models against each other! Again, great restoration!
Fast Forward To 2020: & my PC-5 now has a pair of co-axial 2 way speakers bought from a junk shop some 7 years ago! Brand new & boxed I paid just £6 for them! What a perfect match they are for the PC-5 - The JBL's were simply too efficient & eager to go loud where as the Panny's are far more refined & civilised & definitely better than the original full range drivers due to having a real tweeter!! It's a keeper for sure & the listener is guaranteed a big smile when they hear this amazing close to HiFi quality system!!
love the pc5, better than the m90 but m90 has better highs and easy to work on..........you need to make those speakers look origional lad, looks better with origional speakers bro
