Yet another rescue. This time it is the second top of the line from 1989 - the AIWA HS-PL30 (Japanese version of the PL303)

This example had a generous drenching of electrolyte. Just to be different, I've shot a video for this one

VIDEO0315.mp4 - 7.49MB 

The player screams terribly especially with Dolby when operated.

Removing the cover and there are the usual crusty deposits on various components and pools of electrolyte.

The PC board is removed from the rest of the unit and the capacitors removed from the board. I tested all the capacitors off board and interestingly the 10uF 16V still gave a semi-decent reading. All others were dead. One of the traces were badly corroded and simply peeled off the PC board when the capacitor above was removed.

I've removed the switch board from the PC board, the volume potentiometer, and the headphone jack to facilitate easier thorough cleaning. As can be seen the silk screen print has also been caused to lift off due to the acid corrosion.

The board was cleaned and dried. The damaged trace was repaired and then the new capacitors soldered into place.

The PC board was then reattached to the rest of the unit.

Now the PL30 has been reassembled it is able to play normally once again.

VIDEO0321.mp4 - 13.45MB

There are 3 levels of DSL on this model. Stage 1 and 2 is similar to most models with 2 stage DSL. Stage 3 takes level 2 and lowers the low frequency midpoint.

More happy Aiwas! How does this machine compare to the rest of the Aiwas you have?

This is another fine example of what AIWA used to do well in the late 80s early 90s which underlined their huge popularity. The unit is based on their bi-azimuth tape transport as used on all the top of the line units at the time. It sports a permalloy HX head, since the amorphous HX head was reserved for the next model up - the PX303. However play back is solid and the audio quality is balanced across the various DSL settings. The stereo sound stage is wide and the sound reproduction detailed. It is another bass monster like the PX303, but it does bass somewhat slightly differently to the PX303 since it only has 3 linear settings unlike the 4 settings across 2 selectable low frequencies of the PX303.

This model (along with the PL50) features 330uF DC blocking capacitors to further enhance the lower bass sound especially on high impedance headphones.

Good job! Many common points with my JX-303 ,thanks for the photos !

wilvanwil,

can you provide a link for the manual of the pl30/pl303?  i have many manuals and could trade with you if you prefer; would really like to have this manual!

Cheers!!