Since the assembled CDM4 is not working I repaired one of my spare CDM2. The issue I had was related to the little peace of plastic on the focus. It adds some weight and stiffness to the metal film of the focus. I figured out my “fix” with a double sided tape to place the plastic plate back on the film was too heavy. As a result the CDM2 was not able to jump to the highest tracks – or at least – not stable.
All the time I used a duck tape as a stand for testing but never get the idea to use it. Now I used a little piece of the duck tape as replacement and it works absolutely perfect. What an easy and cheap solution. The decoder panel of Sander’s device does not show any issues and the CD-Player is back alive.
The cassette mechanism on the other hand has some huge troubles. I replaced the belt with one of the correct size and checked all the gears. Unfortunately the original gear lost all its teeth during the first minutes of the test. I had to replace it with one of my solutions. I am not quite happy with them since the mechanism is getting quite loud – the gear is not flexible. But for the moment I do not have any other solution.
The pinch rollers got replaced by someone but they are not working correct and “eat” the tape. The autoreverse mechanism was reassembled the wrong way – the gears where in the wrong position which lead to a scratchy noise when switching the direction.
After fixing those little issues a first view revealed the following issues:
- The pinch rollers need to get replaced or maybe I can “refresh” them
- The LED is too weak and got already replaced
- The mechanism is full of grease but it is too sticky and needs to get removed
- The servo head was reassembled incomplete and pinch rollers have not touched the capstan
- During play mode the reel motor is way too weak. It seems there is an issue with the provided voltage/current. Motor driver is getting unusual hot.
- When changing the direction there should be an impulse to accelerate the gears into an idle position and it seems this impulse is missing
Before I continue with the tape deck I replaced all capacitors. Sander is lucky, I had a complete set of capacitors at home since I wanted to finish my last unit. At the moment it is quite hard to get them – there are still delivery issues due to Covid19.
CDM2 in action. Everything is working now
A little piece of duck tape solves the issue with the lost plastic for the focus and adds the required weight and stiffness.
Does not look bad at all.
Someone soldered the contacts to the PCB – but the problem of open contacts is always related to the cable. It needs to be recrimped.
The used belt was too long and too small thus is was not working probably
It seems a lever got fixed?
Capstan wheels are fine but too much grease on them
The original gear lost some teeth