To finish unit#3 I have to wait for the new CPU rev.F PCB and for some silicone oil. Everything else is working and already assembled. Thus I thought let’s go with Unit #4, you know, the Sound machine that was sold to me as “working” and mint conditions.
Well it is neither in a mint condition (some white painting on it and a lot of scratches) nor is it working. In a first step I have seen that the tape deck hangs – as all CD555 I have ever seen. However, this is not a big deal anymore as I explained in other posts.
The amplifier of the left channel is not working. There’s only a buzzing sound. I cannot check the CD-Player until the tape deck CPU is working.
On the tape mechanism itself the white lever for Play/Fastwind is broken. Thank god I found the broken part deep in the mechanism, a was “glued” to a piece of grease. Without that little piece I would be lost. I was able to use a hot glue to keep it in place. I used a tape to fix it and afterwards used the hot glue. There is enough space in the mechanism to allow a good application of hot glue. At the end the white lever is working.
But that has not been everything. The left capstan fly wheel was not turning. First thought was the belt which is of sure gone. Hence I disassembled the mechanism and removed the fly wheels to check the rest of the mechanism. But what I have seen then was frustrating. Not only that the wheels where scratched and uneven one of the fly wheels lost its teeth. How can this even happen? The must be a brutal noise when this happened because the wheel is hard as steel (and also heavy as steel).
I flattened the scratches with sand paper 1000 to get back a smooth surface.
Now it is going to be a big challenge to create a new fly wheel but I will try to rebuild it anyway. To increase the weight I might can use a metal ring. Let’s see how we can get this “fully working device in mint conditions” back to work…
