Akai x-360d

[R-2-R]

I happen to see an Akai X-360D reel to reel and was surprised to see that this particular unit had a 'light indicator' below the head section that says: "CLEAN HEADS WHEN LIGHT SHOWS" Now I, myself, had once thought that maybe there should have been some sort of indicator for this exact reason or that the manufactors should had made some sort of standard to have this sort of indicator on their reel to reel tape decks! Here, Akai had already done so, back in the day! Is there anyone out there in AK world that knows about this and has 'actually' experinced this? Does (or did) it actually work? Does anyone know if there were other Akai reel to reel models with this same type of indicator, or maybe other manufacture brands with something similar? Comments, reviews or opinions?

 

[fissellska]

I can tell you that it at least turns on when the heads get super filthy. It's not so great(at least mine isn't) for minor dust and grime but it has given me the heads-up(no pun intended) for when something bigger has gotten on them like cat fuzz or I had a piece of tape stuck to one once.

Beyond that, I didn't see the thing light up for the first few months I've had this thing. I thought about wiring an interesting strobe to bounce with the meters through that amber plastic but I've never actually done it.

 

[Wadester999]

I realized this is a rather old thread but I just bought a working X-360D from a kid down the street for $40. I cleaned the heads and everything in the tape path but I still get the light coming on occasionally. Actually it's on more than half the time. The owner's manual doesn't say what specifically it is looking at. Does anyone know how it actually functions? I ran it about 5 hours yesterday playing some old tapes of records, complete with needle drops, skips and pops, but I'm in love with this deck.

Thanks!

 

[audiojones]

It detects 9khz signals on the tape as it rolls past the playback head. When the circuit can’t detect 9khz anymore then it assumes the heads are dirty and it triggers the light. There is a sensitivity adjustment procedure for it in the service manual and there’s also supposed to be a time delay to prevent false triggering which may not be working on yours. It’s supposed to be disabled at the slowest speed which can’t reach 9khz but AFAIK it should still operate at 3 3/4 ips. It’s really just a gimmick, you can usually tell if the heads are dirty and the sound is muffled without an indicator light telling you so. At any rate the the heads should be cleaned often and kept spotless, especially when recording.

 

[Gopakumar]

Hi Every one,
I am a new member in this group. Even though I have certain amount of experience in servicing reel tape recorders, cassette decks etc, I am rather stuck on an Akai X360 reel to reel machine. It has reached me after it has passed through a few hands and after taking severe damage and on the Syscon board RD 144. This board has had a few cracks and multiple patch work, which makes me think that spending more time on this would be futile. It also has remnants of burnt out resistors and transistors on it, to make matters worse. I would like to replace this System Control board completely as the rest of the repairs on this machine are possible only after waking up the sleeping machine. Can some one help with a salvaged Syscon board or leads on how to buy one ?
Thanks
Gopakumar