Hi Guys!! Today was time to get this big beast working properly!! You may remember I mentioned in the original post that the cassette deck motor servo was completely inaccessible without somehow taking it apart & removing the tape mechanism & running it while open so the servo pot could be reached Yeah, a daunting task indeed!! The psu is mounted in the rear casing along with power amp & lots of cables between the two, the tape deck had to be split from it's pcb to access the flywheel due to a somewhat slow & unstable playback I then removed the belt & flywheel & found that the flywheel bearing was bone dry & the flywheel didn't spin freely at all - drop of fine oil on the capstan shaft sorted that problem out All the rubber wheels & bits were cleaned while it was so apart & I then temporarily screwed the tape deck pcb back in place still pondering on how I was gonna run this thing all in pieces Around half an hour later it was time to power it up after I only connected the minimal amount of cables from the deck to the power amp which also had to connect to the tape pcb! All this balanced up using tea towels & towels to avoid boards touching chassis or other boards - this bloody thing has an entire pressed steel chassis, no wonder it's so heavy!! Headphones already plugged in - speaker outputs not connected & anyway, phones are easier - placed a tape in & hit play................f**k me it was playing with a buzz or 2 due to earth & screening wires not plugged in & of course, really bloody slow That was no longer a problem as I had access to the servo in the motor..........in no time the speed & azimuth were fine adjusted & the battle to reassemble was underway!! Took my time & did it slowly there was a lot to do putting it all back but after a small battle or 2 with reassembly it was time to press play........... & Viola!! All sorted & a very happy owner - I didn't want to just leave it & knew it was going to be a challenge but holy shit, this was a labour of love, wouldn't take this job on for anyone else, it's a pig to do & the risks of running it open like that is no picnic Quite a lot of bad language lol & a stressy job no question......... Long live the Maximal 3040
Yes Nick quality work, glad to see that back to rude health. Looking back it seems a bargain for such a quality box eh? Worth all the efffort mate
Ever has one of those jobs that fights back to the very last??? Well this Maximal is the latest machine to do that to me!!! I had a sneaky feeling that something was just 'Not quite right' when listening on speakers - It sounded like the speakers were out of phase, a 'hole in the middle' of the stereo image if you will............... I thought that as the speakers automatically connect when attached that they couldn't possibly be out of phase could they?? I also tried of course plugging the leads in as if the speakers were apart from the main unit - no difference at all I was pissed off & fed up especially as I had noticed the tape speed was still too slow after the last time I had adjusted it with great difficulty!! So, tonight with a renewed attitude & after testing the stereo on headphones & hearing perfectly in phase music with plenty of bass I first of all ran the whole bloody thing all opened up (really tricky but easier than last time) & spent a lot more time setting the speed pot until I was happy with it!! Main unit back together I thought how possible was it that it had been like this from new?? Surely not.................. A quick dive inside the left speaker & reversed the speaker polarity before putting a crazy amount of screws back in it, it was time: & VIOLA!! - that was the problem all along what a difference I can hardly adam & eve it it would seem that after 35 years at least, this machine not only plays tapes so well with a lovely frequency response & every function working 100% - The stereo speakers are now 'In phase' I was taught many many years ago about the effects of not being in phase but just didn't think that could be the case here, there is zero evidence that any changes have ever been made to any wiring or soldering What a result.......It may have been finally solved at nearly midnight on a Wednesday evening but so what Another 'Labour of love' & even more so a keeper now! It's not even worth anything really.........BUT: you all know my love for these oddities from the early 80's & I admit it is an obsession of mine to get them 100% working again This would have ended up on a tip in Italy had I not saved it - Even records from the radio really nicely, not bad considering the rec/play bar was initially seized in the record position when I got it & now everything is aligned correctly, the led's now display a nice even stereo output!! Gotta love the Maximal 3040
My new red rx c 52 was out of phase Nick, night and day differance lad, the seller must have thought i was nuts being so happy with the box haha you can actually hear the differance on you're video mate, nice one
Nice job and great blaster! How many Watts is it? What were you adjusting on the motor with the screw driver? Motor speed?
Don't know how many watts but the power amp module heatsink is HUGE & I can honestly report that it is loud especially when it's right in front of you!! Speaker magnets have 15W stamped on them so I would guess at least 10 watts per channel, it goes way above halfway volume without struggling at all unlike many machines!! Like I said, it's an oddity probably generic & saved from age that made a real radio recorder
