Hello people! This is my first post here. I have some challenges when it comes restoring one of my favorite piece of hardware. As you can see from the photos below, its Sanyo JJ-P6 model, now in working but not perfect condition. I will try to explain what I did and later ask for your advice. So, of course, putting the battery actually gave some life signs but no spins . Opened it and of course, found the belt in the almost-liquid state. I was struggling a bit finding the exact model as the back cover is totally scratched and the marks were on the back side of the circuit board. After some time, the model name was there and luckily, I was able to find the belt at fixyouraudio.com and it arrived in less than a week. Cleaning the motor and pulleys was really hard. The sticky rubber was so stubborn and didn't want to go but with the time and good amount of isopropyl alcohol, I managed to clean everything. While replacing the belt, I tried to clean the mechanical parts, those I could reach without disassembling anything as I don't want to spend the day assembling it again or potentially break it totally. Put all of the stuff back together and charged the battery. And... IT WORKS! I mean, it pulls the tape, rewinds, both directions, switches and volume all working as it should. So, first part is done. I managed to adjust the head but from time to time, it happens when switching to "rev" direction sound gets dull, like the head is not adjusted. Usually, pressing the Stop and then Play again buttons resolves the issue but not always. Now the questions: 1. Is there any guide what should I check or adjust to make sure head is always adjusted properly when changing the direction? I have tried to see if there is any obvious issue with the mechanism but I couldn't find any. 2. My idea was to try to disassembly the pulleys / capstans and anything that could be easy / safe to disassembly and try to clean and lubricate where necessary. The question is, what type of lubricant should I use for this purpose? 3. Potentially, I wanted to replace the pinch rollers because they both look a bit worn out. They are not rough, but just too "flat" and glossy. Would you recommend doing this, any tutorial you would recommend for such operation on this (or any similar model). 4. From time to time, the button for changing the direction wont work as it should. Sometimes it just briefly stops the sound and continue playing, almost instantly without changing the direction. And in most cases, it tries to change the direction, spin for a second and just stops (like you pressed the Stop button). Is there anything I could try to lubricate or check as I couldnt see any gears broken or anything like that. 5. Finally, a question regarding the cosmetics in case everything above just gets sorted out. As you could see in the second image, the back cover is completely scratched. The look was even worse because there are some remaining of this "soft touch coating". It wasn't sticky, just ugly. So I used isopropyl alcohol and removed everything from the backside. Of course, I left the side where all of the functions for the button were printed (as you could see on 1st image) Then I heard about Plastidip and that this might actually work. However, there are prints of the controls on one of the sides of the back cover which I dont want to paint over. I know this is nitpicking but I would be really curious to know if any of you tried any solution to this. Like removing the soft touch coating completely from all sides, paint it with PlastiDip and then print using one of those services for printing on any object (like cups and stuff)... Any suggestion that could restore the original touch. In case this works on the back side, I would consider repainting and reprinting the tape cover (front side) too Sorry for the long first post and looking forward to see your answers!
Simply Auto reverse decks are hard to get right for adjusting the azimuth for both directions. Normally you just get One direction. Working great but the other side sometimes doesn't sound exactly correct. I don't like Auto reverse models for this reason. Changing directions on the cassette using the push buttons. Well that's just hard on the mechanism. I mean it's made to do so but to make it work like it was new again, you probably need to tear it all the way down and lubricate everything clean everything and hope you can get it all back together again with a fresh belt. Even though you put a new one in once again, auto reverse are more difficult than One direction. Players to get right. Cosmetically it's got scratches well that just gives it character. I leave that alone. Changing the pinch rollers will improve your sound a little bit, but trying to find them for that model because it's not a well-known model. That's going to be fun. I'll let you have your fun.
Thanks for the answer. I know I could easily go with another walkman but its just not the same compared to the one you have been using while younger. Nostalgia or something, I dont know I will give it a try cleaning everything I could reach to under the circuit board without disassembling. Ill try to measure rollers and check if I can find them. If you know what should be used for lubricating the mechanical parts, please post here
Stuff I use Needle tip precision lubricator radio shack part number 64-2301a and then I use the other stuff you may see in the background. And yes I do use carburetor cleaner for the Tarry stuff Edit. Here's a overview of my work area as I prefer to work on boomboxes. I've been trying to make this video for over a week now. Maybe I can get it done now. Sanyo m7790 and AKA Sanyo Mr. U4gp
When you get a chance, check out this link below of all my videos ever published and also ongoing. I've made a lot of videos over the years, mostly about cassettes and repair of boomboxes and walkman's http://stereo2go.com/forums/threads...istory-2678-video-links-5-779-715-views.9608/
Yes, usually autoreverse decks/walkmans don't obtain absolutely perfect frequency response on both sides. However, if the rollers alignment is good and capstans surface doesn't have non-uniform wear one should get reasonable results, meaning the imperfections in FR shouldn't really be (that) audible. More than that, this Sanyo mechanism has dual azimuth adjustment, so the result should be perfect on both sides. Judging by the description in original post, I think the problem is related to the pinch roller, which is pulling the tape up/down, messing up the azimuth. The problem could be caused by a number of factors (including pinch roller itself, uneven wear on the capstan), but the most likely one is pinch roller sits at an angle relative to the capstan, like here: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/wm-dd-azimuth-instability.7590/ It's possible the aluminium head bridge is also bent causing the head to also stay at an angle relative to the tape, which will worsen the situation even more. This is what should be checked and adressed first, before considering replacing the rollers (which may not be available anyway and don't look that bad).
I was just playing around and tried to clean hear and there. Maybe when I disassembled the doors when I tried to clean the pinch rollers additionally, and assembled them back things just got better. So now I have (almost) perfect sound in both directions. Still, I want to try more cleaning under the main board if I manage so switching directions is more reliable. Also need some contact spray as I noticed the volume up/down can sound ugly sometimes, or EBSS setting goes on even I didnt touch it (i dont like EBSS and feel totally useless option on todays headphones so I want to keep it off all the times) I am soooo tempted to try the plastidip on the back case. I even bought the spray, just need a bit spare time to try it on something else to see how it looks and feels in the heads. I will definitely keep you updated here guys!
