I am about ready to start restoring an old Skiltronics Discolite that is in fairly good cosmetic condition. It is (mostly) functional but definitely needs a good cleaning. There is some serious hum and the tape decks (mostly) work. Both decks are quite noisy and tape plays like the high speed dubbing is stuck. I am hoping they are easy fixes. Does anyone have a parts box out there that still has the rear doors (battery and speaker wires)? Any advice from someone that has experience with this model (Vela, Dynasty, Cougar)? Thank you in advance.
They tend to be somewhat rare and go for silly money when for sale, I think Northener posted the first one in years, last year. I've never seen one in person but from the photos the quality looks like typical 80's Taiwan, which means things start sticking, little pins break off, belts melt onto the pulleys, etc. I'd give it a good cleaning, use a microscope to make sure there's not tiny pieces of belt or tape stuck in the transport and DeOxit all the control knobs. If your not familar with DeOxit read our old member Arkay's Thread on Audio Karma. Also let us know if the hum is with speakers or headphones or both (if the box has headphone out). After you do the easy maintenace work and if your still having issues then you might need to post more information. http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/the-idiots-guide-to-using-deoxit-revisited.207005/
Yeh the build quality isn’t great but they’re a lot of fun and sound a lot better than I expected. Sounds like yours just needs a normal service. Did a service and rebelt on mine and it all works. Had to get the deck 2 cover reproduced as spare parts are very hard to find.
Thanks for the advice guys. I ordered some DeOxit and will give it a good cleaning. There are some chassis screws missing, so I am not the first person who will attempt to take this thing apart. With a quick internet search, I can see that parts are nearly impossible to find, but I will add the screws to the shortlist of parts to track down (along with the missing bulb door). Beautiful box Northerner! I hope you don’t mind me asking some questions if I get stuck on anything along the way since you are one of the rare individuals who have had some experience taking one apart? First question would be the tuner knob... I found a forum reference to open the cassette doors and remove the tuner know before attempting to take the box apart. Is there some trick to taking the tuner knob off? Mine seems stuck and I don’t want to force it.
Yeh ask away! From what I recall it just pulls off. I’m at work right now but can check when I get home
