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Kenwood KX-1030 Worth Keeping?

Homebrook said:
Success!
Yesterday I spent about seven hours on a second Kenwood KX-1030 I purchased. I replaced the pinch roller, the belts, the motor with Pacific Stereo Universal Capstan Motor, and the four problem capacitors, C27, C28, C89 and C90. Apparently someone had replaced one of them with a .022 MF ceramic capacitor, which isn't quite correct. I also noticed that someone had replaced the original motor with a cheap Mabuchi.

I discovered that when I connected it up to my regular system in my living room there was a regular popping sound. I was quite disappointed. At first I thought the problem was somewhere in the belts or motors, but when I noticed that the popping persisted even when the motor was stopped I knew the problem was elsewhere. Then I also realized that when I had first tested it back in my office it sounded perfect. I wondered whether the location was the difference. Indeed it was, because in my living room where I had placed the cassette deck was immediately in front of my wifi router. If I disconnected the router the popping sound disappeared. Have any of you encountered that problem? I just had to move it a couple feet to eliminate the problem.

I have to say I don't know when I have enjoyed myself as much as I have fixing and improving my KX-1030. In the process of doing my replacements I had the whole deck disassembled and articulating as a mass of parts loosely connected by wires. Though I had carefully placed parts in labeled zip-lock bags, I wondered if I would ever get it back together again! But I just proceeded one step at a time each time considering what part could I reassemble next and after a time I had it back together again.

Thanks to all of you at AudioKarma for the willing counsel and information. I guarantee I could never have done it without your help. You guys have opened up a whole new world of rewarding enjoyment for me. I love the fact that all my stereo components have a story behind them - how I purchased them, how I repaired them, the problems I solved, and the things I learned in the process. Great stuff!! Every time I look at or listen to my KA-9100, KT-8300, and now my KX-1030, I smile.

I am still working on the first KX-1030 where I have the wow problems. Now that I feel that I know a lot more of what I am doing I am more optimistic. I will change out the capacitors on that one as well and take a closer look at the motor. When I get it all working I'll sell it and recoup most of the money I spent on both of them.
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Good work! The deck is picking up RF interference from the router. It can be fixed to improve it's RF immunity but that involves figuring out where the RF is coming in. Could be through the cables, could be through the head or head wires, could be through the power cord, or through the air into the circuit board.
 
Working on replacing the belts on a 1030, have replaced the 2 counter belts, but I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to get the plate that holds the fly-wheel off. Removed some screws and have the plate loose, but something on the bottom half need to be detached and it has me stumped.

Anyone with any tips care to share?
 
JJCalvillo said:
Working on replacing the belts on a 1030, have replaced the 2 counter belts, but I'm having a heck of a time figuring out how to get the plate that holds the fly-wheel off. Removed some screws and have the plate loose, but something on the bottom half need to be detached and it has me stumped.

Anyone with any tips care to share?
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I haven't worked on one in 40 years. Post a couple of pictures, in focus, please.
 
Arrows show where screws came out of the plate.
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The vertical bar to the right of the motor slide up/down and is secured by C clips.
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Found the clips I needed at a hardware store! Bought extras!!

KX-1030 is back together and I had it all right... except for the belt that goes around two wheels. I had that wrong and "figured it out" when I noticed the take up spool was winding the tape on clockwise instead of counter-clockwise. The belts had disintegrated so I never saw them on the way they were meant to be. Schematic is a little sketchy (Ha!). Got it right now, so no harm done.

Meters seem like they're a little sleepy, but I listened on phones and the deck sounded fine. Going to test it with speakers now.
 
Mine has an overall slowdown after it's played for awhile. It starts sounding good, but as it gets to the middle of a tape, it gradually slows down. Then FF is anemic, and it won't rewind at all.

Recapped the power board and there were 3 caps that were close to 30% out. Apparently not the cause of the problem though.
 
JJCalvillo said:
After listening a bit, it has slowed down during play and the rewind and FF seem weak. Gut says check the power board.
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I think that most of the time slow playing is due to issues in the cassette drive path, belts, motor lubrication, pulleys, etc. I would look there first.
 
dr*audio said:
You need to measure the motor voltage. If it drops, look at the motor switch, D502, and C504.
Click to expand...

Would I measure across pins 2 & 4 on the power board to get the motor V? C504 is brand new and the problem preceded it, so D502 seems like it would be a better suspect. Should I test it regardless of motor V?

Homebrook said:
I think that most of the time slow playing is due to issues in the cassette drive path, belts, motor lubrication, pulleys, etc. I would look there first.
Click to expand...

Belts are new. Would lubrication or pulleys cause it to slow as it got farther into a tape?
 
JJCalvillo said:
Would I measure across pins 2 & 4 on the power board to get the motor V? C504 is brand new and the problem preceded it, so D502 seems like it would be a better suspect. Should I test it regardless of motor V?
I have also found that slow playing is not necessarily caused by the tape deck, but by the tape itself. Old tapes can cause all kinds of wow problems. I have one tape that plays terribly, but then I put another in and it plays all the way through perfectly!


Belts are new. Would lubrication or pulleys cause it to slow as it got farther into a tape?
Click to expand...
 
JJCalvillo said:
Would I measure across pins 2 & 4 on the power board to get the motor V? C504 is brand new and the problem preceded it, so D502 seems like it would be a better suspect. Should I test it regardless of motor V?



Belts are new. Would lubrication or pulleys cause it to slow as it got farther into a tape?
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I don't have the schematic in front of me right now. Follow the wires from the motor and measure there.
 
I also just observed that if I put it in rewind with no tape, it will run for a couple of seconds, then either pop out of rewind or start ticking every 1.25 seconds, and when it ticks, the VU light dim and it slows a little. Don't know if that tells us anything.

dr*audio said:
I don't have the schematic in front of me right now. Follow the wires from the motor and measure there.
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Those the the pins on the power board where the wires to the motor are attached. I'll measure.
 
It starts playing at right around 12V (w/tape). As it played it would drop .1V and then rebound .03 or .05V, then drop another .1V. Sometimes it would drop more, .2 - .4V. By the time it was at 11.5V you could hear it, until you were pretty sure the vocalist was having a stroke when it got down to 11.2 or 11.3V. It would rebound all the way to 11.7 or 11.8V, but never back to 12V. So voltage was not consistent.

Measured in rewind, and found that it rewound at 11.6V and when the ticking would start, it would drop to as low as 6V+ during the tick. Each tick indicated a voltage drop.

Fast forwards at 11.3V and was consistent no ticking or voltage drops.

What causes the voltage to drop, it would not be a problem with the mechanism, correct? It would have to be a problem on the power board? Do we suspect D502?
 
You have a problem with the motion sensor. I think it's driven by the tape counter belt. The ticking you hear is the relay energizing, trying to stop the deck. the motor voltage is not regulated so it can vary. I think the motor may be bad, and that is what is causing the voltage to drop. But before we jump to conclusions, put the deck in play with no tape and turn the supply reel by hand. It should turn freely. If it does, then do the same thing, while monitoring the motor voltage, still no tape. You don't have to keep turning the supply reel. Watch the voltage and see if it drops. If so, the motor is probably bad.
 
dr*audio said:
You have a problem with the motion sensor. I think it's driven by the tape counter belt. The ticking you hear is the relay energizing, trying to stop the deck. the motor voltage is not regulated so it can vary. I think the motor may be bad, and that is what is causing the voltage to drop. But before we jump to conclusions, put the deck in play with no tape and turn the supply reel by hand. It should turn freely. If it does, then do the same thing, while monitoring the motor voltage, still no tape. You don't have to keep turning the supply reel. Watch the voltage and see if it drops. If so, the motor is probably bad.
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Ran the deck on play for over a half hour:
• Supply reel turns ok. Can't flick it and have it spin for a length of time, but it doesn't seem to be hung up.
• When I hit play, it started at 11.7V and steadily climbed to 12.4V, in 30 seconds.
• Slowly dropped to about 12.15V over 20 or 25 minutes.
• Had one big drop to 11.7V, then climbed pretty quickly back to 12.15V

Is a cleaning and lubrication the motor a possible solution? I guess it can't hurt based on where we are?
 
JJCalvillo said:
Ran the deck on play for over a half hour:
• Supply reel turns ok. Can't flick it and have it spin for a length of time, but it doesn't seem to be hung up.
• When I hit play, it started at 11.7V and steadily climbed to 12.4V, in 30 seconds.
• Slowly dropped to about 12.15V over 20 or 25 minutes.
• Had one big drop to 11.7V, then climbed pretty quickly back to 12.15V

Is a cleaning and lubrication the motor a possible solution? I guess it can't hurt based on where we are?
Click to expand...
You can try putting a couple drops of light machine oil on the bearing where the shaft comes out.
Make sure the pinchroller turns freely. Also, oil the capstan bearing, underneath the washer, then put the washer back in place and clean the capstan shaft with alcohol.
 
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