Hi specialists, I have bought an Aiwa HS-G09, it looks great. A few problems : - Crackling noise while turning volume dial, sometimes only left or right audio channel. - Autoreverse eats tape after a few seconds Possible culprits for autoreverse : 1) Right pinch roller touches metal turning pin when play button is pressed, left pinch roller does not and had a gap between pinch roller and metal turning pin 2) 1st darker colored gear on picture doesn't turn at all, tried without tape , play, ff and rw. 2nd and 3rd white gear turn. Offcourse it's possible that the first gear does turn, but only with cassette inside and when autoreverse kicks in. Impossible to see. 3) belt wrongly placed See pictures in the post below. 4) tape head not horizontally alligned If you look close at the picture you will see the tape head is not straight/horizontal Maybe this has entirely nothing to do with autoreverse problems, but what do I know, right ? So I really hope this is enough info for the specialists in here to maybe offer any suggestions in helping me. I don't have a service manual, but I'm not sure it will even have info about how the auto reverse is supposed to work. Some exploded views and such perhaps, but other necessarey info maybe not. So maybe the service manual is a waste of money ?? I hope that anyone assist me with these problems. Thanks in advance.
I've managed to open the back and this is how the belt is positioned when I opened it. In the middle there's a metal pin, the belt doesn't touch it. Is this right ? Or does it need to be like this ? In my opinion the autoreverse problem is either because of the pinch roller not touching the metal turning pin or the first gear not turning at all, or a combination of the 2. Maybe there's supposed to be a second belt underneath the black plate ? I hope someone can shed some light on this problem. Is it possible to adjust the pinch roller ? And can I remove the black plate on the inside without trouble, so that I maybe can see why the 1st gear isn't moving ? Thanks in advance for the help.
first picture is correct Pinch rollers. Only one pinch roller engages at a time, depending on the direction of play. Both Capstans will turn... but only one roller will engage with the capstan. If your tapes are getting chewed, first u need to ascertain the condition of the rollers? Are they matt black and rubbery, or hard and glazed, shiny or covered in tape crud? I use this stuff to clean and rejuvinate all my pinch rollers http://www.officenerd.co.uk/info/af...hTLSWJ8ODblb6SvTsivKuEAAmu6XNkmMaAr3aEALw_wcB It doesnt dry that quickly, and may require a few cleans, but really works great. Trust me, I have tried them all. Its also worth asking what tapes you are using that are getting chewed. Decent new old stock tapes, or old pre-recorded tapes? Do you get the same results? If you really want to see whats going on with the tape, I would suggest removing the lid. Then get an old blank tape and make some adjustments to the shell so you can see whats going on as you engage play. Is the tape nice and straight? Is it weaving? Are the tape edges catching any of the guides?
Thanks for the reply. I have cleaned the right pinch controller and capstan, didn't clean the left because it doesn't touch anything for the moment. The right roller was dirty with some brown-like color. The 2 tapes I've tried where old tapes, that I had laying around. I also have a new tape with music on it, but I'm afraid of trying that one in combination with the auto reverse. You say it's because the pinch roller not touching the capstan, but what about that first gear in the picture, why is it there ? it's doesn't do anything as far as I can tell. So maybe it's that gear that makes the auto reverse work ? I've seen a video, where a tape is being played on an Aiwa HS-G09 and when it's playing the user presses one of the FF or RW buttons, and the other side of the tape is being played. Also the red triangle marker changes in the other direction. I've tried that without a tape in it and what happens is that at first it rotates the other way for five seconds and then it stops and plays again in the other direction. Also the red triangle doesn't change direction on my Aiwa. So how do I adjust the pinch roller then ? One of the tapes I've tried is transparant, can I play the tape with the lid open ?
So today I've opened up the front of the walkman again (where play, stop, etc... buttons are ) to discover that I can't adjust anything from there I also tried the auto reverse modes again, and this time the tape didn't get eaten like before, but it had difficulty to follow and every 2 seconds or so almost got eaten, but not before I could here the sound from the song. So I've tried the 2 modes with "a bit of success" both modes played long enough for me to hear the sound of the song. Only thing is, the 2 modes play the audio in reverse !!! I'm guessing it must have something to do with that first gear not doing anything, and as for the tape being eaten, it's because the pinch roller not connecting with the capstan @doublecee is right about that obviously. So it's not only the pinch roller, but a new problems has risen, that of the audio being in reverse. What to do about it ? Adjusting the pinch roller is one thing, but how can that be done ? The reversed audio, what's the cause of that, the gear not turning, or the tape head that's not horizontally aligned ? If the tape head is the cause of the reversed audio, how can that be adjusted ? Thanks in advance.
Here's a video of the auto reverse in action, with the lid open. If you look at the first gear, it slightly moves when the auto reverse kicks in. https://www.flickr.com/photos/22664067@N02/23906175418/in/dateposted-public/ I also found a post here on the forum saying : "Only one pinch rolled engages the capstan depending on the side being played. Once you have a belt in it you should see one roller disengage and the other engage when you auto reverse." I have that gap between pinch roller and capstan on the left side, so when the autoreverse kick in, it should connect with the capstan on the left and disconnect on the right ? Nothing like that is happening at all !!! When I press play, both capstans are rotating in the same direction, so the above explanation is wrong perhaps ?
My initial thoughts on this are as follows And please don’t take offence..... My worry is that if your struggling to comprehend the basic mechanics and premise of the Pinch roller engagement for autoreverse, you should perhaps step away and get this machine to someone who can repair it. I only say that because it’s a lovely machine (I have three) andnit would be a shame to see its condition worsen. As I said earlier, only one pinch roller engages at a time depending on direction. The action that facilitates this is a small series of arms and sliders that can be accessed once the silver control plate (play button side) is removed. This slider that governs which roller is engaged gets dry after the tiny amount of factory grease dries out and gums up. Rectifying that should see that action come back into play. With regards to the playing back the audio in reverse... that’s a new one. Check your belt path is correct
I do agree with everything that doublecee just said, except that imho the belt path is not the culprit there. I didn't have to service my G09 yet so i'm not totally sure, but usually there is a lever in the auto-reverse mechanism, that acts on a switch on the electronic board and the position of this switch determines which side of the head is feeding the audio path. So I would think that this lever can't act correctly, or the switch would need a severe clean-up... As always, I hope I make sense, not English-native and all that.
@doublecee You are right about me not having the proper skills. But finding someone who has the skills here in Belgium is going to be hard. So the pinch roller position isn't the actual problem then, but the mechanism that's supposed to move the pinch roller forward ? I've tried to push it forward myself, but I couldn't get it to move, as far as I can tell it is in it's maximum forward position. But I trust you when you say that it's supposed to move forward when auto reversing. So it's probably that first gear that's responsible for the auto reverse not working. What about the tapehead's position ? Not horizontally aligned. Not responsible for the reversed audio then ? How much would it cost to fix the problems these days ? And you would probably have to wait several months or years even, if the waiting list is long. I guess I'll have to change the tape manually for now.
There is a lever, behind the reverse mode slider, but as I've read, There's continuous and one-cycle auto reverse operation and manual reverse requires a single touch. ( what they mean about the single touch I don't know, maybe they just mean press the stop button ? ) So I don't know if that has something to do with the audio path like you described..
Also I forgot to mention that when first opening the backside, I found a tiny black screw inside ( I thought it was some black dirt at first ) I think I found where the screw is from : There are 3 screws (I think) holding the black inner plate : I found one hole, without a screw in it. So my first guess is that's where the screw is from. Is the black inner plate easily lifted out off the walkman ? Because that would enable me to see that first gear and maybe see why it doesn't do anything ? Maybe it needs another tiny belt that is missing/broken for it to work.
No the lever I'm talking about is meant to be moved by the auto-reverse mechanism, inside the walkman. The information I wanted to provide is that there is a switch that is automatically and mechanically moved, that selects the correct side of the head relatively to the side of the cassette being read. And I think that this switch isn't moved on your walkman, hence the wrong sound that you hear on reverse. I've just attempted to look at your video more carefully but I can't see clearly if the pinch rollers are pressing the capstans correctly. Here is how they should behave: the right pinch roller should be pressed on its capstan and the left pinch roller should be released when the reels are rotating counter-clockwise (ie in forward playback). And the left pinch roller should be pressed and the right pinch roller should be released when the reels are rotating clockwise (ie on reverse playback). No pinch roller should be pressed when in fast-forward, or in fast-rewind, or in stop modes.
when I press play without a cassette in it, both capstans rotate in the same direction. The left pinch roller never touches the capstan, there lies one of the problems. @Ball000 Here's the new video https://www.flickr.com/photos/22664067@N02/37728703076/in/dateposted-public/
Also the walkman, when in play mode, is supposed to play the other side when you press the rewind button. So when I press it, it does start to rotate the other way, but after 5 seconds it switches back. So that's not normal either I guess. By the way with or without a tape present, it doesn't matter. If you want a video of that, let me know.
I've just learned that a tape head has a mounting screw on one side and a spring and adjusting screw on the other side. Now I've looked at my tapehead and BINGO - mounting screw - CHECK - spring - CHECK - Adjusting screw - NOT PRESENT What sort of screw can be used for that, how can I be sure which screw to use ?
Tape head - mounting screw Tape head - Adjustment screw missing So maybe at least I can fix this myself ? Don't have a clue, which screw I can use...
So your new video shows that the pinch rollers are OK in forward mode: the left one is released, and the right one is pressed. I've attempted to take photos from mine so you can see the screw but that was not easy at all!
Hey SoxBrother, I have the same exact issue with my Aiwa HS-G600 which I believe is exactly the same as the HS-G09. Here's a link to my thread on TapeHeads: http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=60395 I posted a video in my thread of the problem in action, which could be helpful to anyone who want to assist in diagnosing the problem. I actually just made the thread post yesterday and was thinking of posting it hear as well and then I ran across your topic. Hopefully we can resolve this issue! Good luck man!
I am still trying to figure out the issue myself and will let you know if I hear anything. Also in my thread there is a link to the mechanism service manual which you can download for free. It shows hoy all the gears work and has a lot of exploded view diagrams. Here is a direct link to my video: Again here is the link to my thread on TapeHeads: http://www.tapeheads.net/showthread.php?t=60395
