Kenwood KX-1030 Worth Keeping?

[Alexander W]

I finally got around to replacing the motor in my KX-1030. It was a far easier job than I had anticipated. It consisted of removing the case and faceplate; Removing the three screws that hold the VU meters and sliding them to the left to allow access to the motor mounting screws; Attaching the wires and pulley to the new motor (from Pacific Stereo) and installing it; Replacing the belts with new ones and calibrating the speed. The whole process took about half an hour.

The deck plays and record well and sounds as good as new. Dolby and bias settings work. I had no leaking caps or any other visible issues. I count myself lucky as this is my second go-round with one of these decks the first was a wreck.

The only issue that persists is with the rewind mechanism. It will only function at all with a few tapes and typically shuts off before the tapes are fully rewound. This isn't a big deal for me as I typically play tapes through from beginning to end.

But, if any of you service gurus out there have any ideas on what is causing the issue I may take a swipe at fixing it.

Thanks again to everyone who so generously shared their expertise and experience with the KX-1030.

 

[dr*audio]

I finally got around to replacing the motor in my KX-1030. It was a far easier job than I had anticipated. It consisted of removing the case and faceplate; Removing the three screws that hold the VU meters and sliding them to the left to allow access to the motor mounting screws; Attaching the wires and pulley to the new motor (from Pacific Stereo) and installing it; Replacing the belts with new ones and calibrating the speed. The whole process took about half an hour.

The deck plays and record well and sounds as good as new. Dolby and bias settings work. I had no leaking caps or any other visible issues. I count myself lucky as this is my second go-round with one of these decks the first was a wreck.

The only issue that persists is with the rewind mechanism. It will only function at all with a few tapes and typically shuts off before the tapes are fully rewound. This isn't a big deal for me as I typically play tapes through from beginning to end.

But, if any of you service gurus out there have any ideas on what is causing the issue I may take a swipe at fixing it.

Thanks again to everyone who so generously shared their expertise and experience with the KX-1030.

Here's the bad news; you have to replace the belts and idler tires. It's a bitch to do.
Now the good news, the belts are available from www.vintage-electronics.net and the tires are available from https://fixyouraudio.com/. I did not find a source for the rubber tires on the reel tables, but I didn't really look for them. I roughened the surface with 220 grit sandpaper and applied Caig Rubber Renew to them.
If you go to replace the rubber,
1. Order the parts before you start the job so you won't forget where stuff goes.
2. Put screws and hardware in separate bins to help you remember where things go.
3. Take LOTS of pictures as you disassemble.

 

[Alexander W]

Here's the bad news; you have to replace the belts and idler tires. It's a bitch to do.
Now the good news, the belts are available from www.vintage-electronics.net and the tires are available from https://fixyouraudio.com/. I did not find a source for the rubber tires on the reel tables, but I didn't really look for them. I roughened the surface with 220 grit sandpaper and applied Caig Rubber Renew to them.
If you go to replace the rubber,
1. Order the parts before you start the job so you won't forget where stuff goes.
2. Put screws and hardware in separate bins to help you remember where things go.
3. Take LOTS of pictures as you disassemble.

I've already replaced all of the belts. I think I'll order the tires and replace them as well (when the mood strikes me). Do you know the size of the idler tires by any chance?

 

[dr*audio]

I've already replaced all of the belts. I think I'll order the tires and replace them as well (when the mood strikes me). Thanks for the info.

The tires are much easier than the belts. You only have to remove the cover plate in the cassette well to get to everything. Put your finger over the C clip when removing it so it doesn't go flying.

 

[Alexander W]

Good tips. The belts were the first thing I replaced and they were challenging. As I recall the ones that drive the counter were quite interesting. I think this may be why the deck gets a bit of a bad rap on some vintage forums. If I had known how easy it was to remove and reinstall the motor I'd have just pulled it when I was doing the belts. Live and learn. I see what you mean about the tires. They seem fairly straight-forward. I do watch repair so I'm used to dealing with small parts. I may use a dab of wax to keep them from flying away.

I also cleaned and applied rubber restorer when I was changing the belts, but the light sanding is a great idea.

I listened to the deck all day today (I bought some jazz tapes from Tapehead City in anticipation of getting the old girl running). It really is remarkable how good these decks can sound after all these years. It's definitely worth the effort bring them back. I guess the key is finding low-mileage deck with good heads. Mine shows no head wear, but the one I had bought before was a goner (I did save the cosmetic pieces). Still, I've got less than $300 in a great sounding KX-1030 so I'm pretty happy about that.

Will the folks at fixyouraudio know the size of the tires that I need or should I try to get in there with calipers?

Thanks again for all your help.

 

[dr*audio]

Good tips. The belts were the first thing I replaced and they were challenging. As I recall the ones that drive the counter were quite interesting. I think this may be why the deck gets a bit of a bad rap on some vintage forums. If I had known how easy it was to remove and reinstall the motor I'd have just pulled it when I was doing the belts. Live and learn. I see what you mean about the tires. They seem fairly straight-forward. I do watch repair so I'm used to dealing with small parts. I may use a dab of wax to keep them from flying away.

I also cleaned and applied rubber restorer when I was changing the belts, but the light sanding is a great idea.

I listened to the deck all day today (I bought some jazz tapes from Tapehead City in anticipation of getting the old girl running). It really is remarkable how good these decks can sound after all these years. It's definitely worth the effort bring them back. I guess the key is finding low-mileage deck with good heads. Mine shows no head wear, but the one I had bought before was a goner (I did save the cosmetic pieces). Still, I've got less than $300 in a great sounding KX-1030 so I'm pretty happy about that.

Will the folks at fixyouraudio know the size of the tires that I need or should I try to get in there with calipers?

Thanks again for all your help.

No need to measure, I have the invoice for what I ordered. You need
Idler tire 10.7x15.6x2.0 mm
They may have the larger ones for the reel tables. Those you should measure. Let me know if they have them and what size.

 

[Alexander W]

Perfect! Thanks again.

I just noticed that the VU meter light are out. When I pull the unit to do the tires I may try to replace them.

I've replaced several old NAD grain of wheat bulbs with LED's. I'm wondering if this may be possible on the KX-1030 as well. Any thoughts?

BTW, If you're ever in Central PA I'll treat you to a Bunny Burger, Milkshake, and fries with Bunny Dust at the Red Rabbit.

You're a class act.

 

[dr*audio]

Perfect! Thanks again.

I just noticed that the VU meter light are out. When I pull the unit to do the tires I may try to replace them.

I've replaced several old NAD grain of wheat bulbs with LED's. I'm wondering if this may be possible on the KX-1030 as well. Any thoughts?

BTW, If you're ever in Central PA I'll treat you to a Bunny Burger, Milkshake, and fries with Bunny Dust at the Red Rabbit.

You're a class act.

Thanks!
I have been using LED strips to replace meter lamps, but it only works if they have a 12V supply. If the supply is lower than 12V you would have to hack the traces in the strip to make them in parallel rather than in series, and change the SMT resistor. I believe Joe Mirabella has LED replacements for meter lamps. Haven't tried them yet, but his other stuff is great.
Found them, you want the Axial Lamps, just look for the voltage you need. https://www.ebay.com/str/projectblk86?rt=nc&_sop=10&_bkw=socket

 

[Alexander W]

Thanks!
I have been using LED strips to replace meter lamps, but it only works if they have a 12V supply. If the supply is lower than 12V you would have to hack the traces in the strip to make them in parallel rather than in series, and change the SMT resistor. I believe Joe Mirabella has LED replacements for meter lamps. Haven't tried them yet, but his other stuff is great.
Found them, you want the Axial Lamps, just look for the voltage you need. https://www.ebay.com/str/projectblk86?rt=nc&_sop=10&_bkw=socket

I've got a bunch of LED's in the parts bin so I'll check there first. I ordered the tires so I play around with the LED's when I change those.

Do you have any insights on the cassette door?. Mine won't stay shut the whole way and it puts outward pressure on the tape so I just don't use the door. I might take a swipe at fixing it if it is doable.

Thanks again. I'll let you know what I learn as the process moves forward. It may take a while because now that the deck is playing well I don't feel any urgency to do more repairs or mods. I've got it running through a DBX-3BX and it sounds great.

 

[dr*audio]

I've got a bunch of LED's in the parts bin so I'll check there first. I ordered the tires so I play around with the LED's when I change those.

Do you have any insights on the cassette door?. Mine won't stay shut the whole way and it puts outward pressure on the tape so I just don't use the door. I might take a swipe at fixing it if it is doable.

Thanks again. I'll let you know what I learn as the process moves forward. It may take a while because now that the deck is playing well I don't feel any urgency to do more repairs or mods. I've got it running through a DBX-3BX and it sounds great.

Cassette door: something wasn't put back together correctly. There is a pin that locates in a linkage on the right side. I know that was tricky, maybe that's where your problem is.

 

[Alexander W]

Cassette door: something wasn't put back together correctly. There is a pin that locates in a linkage on the right side. I know that was tricky, maybe that's where your problem is.

Thanks for the info. The pin is in place. The door shuts and stays shut, just not quite the whole way. Fortunately the door is removable and the deck plays fine without it. At this point I play it without the door and keep the door on as a dust cover when the deck is not in use. I may get ambitious and dig deeper one day.

 

[Shotbadly]

My solution to a static problem (from another Kenwood KX-1030 thread):

The channels will develop more static over time...I fixed one channel and then had to do the 2nd channel after static appeared there. I don't recall if it was in that link, but a fellow orger stated that Kenwood used inferior caps for C27, C28, C89 and C90, and that they'd all need to be replaced at some point. Changing these absolutely worked for me.

I don't have an easy link but I did save the original bag the caps came in. I may have gotten these from Mouser or Parts Express...I don't recall.
It lists:
MLR273K50
CAP-MYLAR .027MF 50V
QTY 6
S/O 87341

My deck is very distorted but everything is working fine. I tried adjusting the head back and forth up and down or whatever and that did nothing so I just put it back to where it was. I'm going to try the parts you suggested and hopefully that will take care of it. It doesn't sound mechanical to me at all it sounds like it's electronic.

 

[dr*audio]

My deck is very distorted but everything is working fine. I tried adjusting the head back and forth up and down or whatever and that did nothing so I just put it back to where it was. I'm going to try the parts you suggested and hopefully that will take care of it. It doesn't sound mechanical to me at all it sounds like it's electronic.

What do you mean by distorted? A lot of people misuse the term. Are the highs reduced? is there static present if you play it with no tape in it? Is the sound distorted like it's clipping? (You can put it in Source and turn the volume up to see what I mean) Is it one channel or both?

 

[Shotbadly]

What do you mean by distorted? A lot of people misuse the term. Are the highs reduced? is there static present if you play it with no tape in it? Is the sound distorted like it's clipping? (You can put it in Source and turn the volume up to see what I mean) Is it one channel or both?

Great questions. When I pmay a tape, I can hear the music but over it is a lot of static-sounding distortion. Like the head is effed up. The head looks great. I tried to adjust head, no change in the issue. It's not the overdrive style of distortion but more like the sound on both sides is equally nasty, and full of static. I read on another post that there are a few caps that the other person replaced and that took care of the issue. To me it sounds like an electrical problem like whatever the sound is running through on the circuit boards is not a clear pathway to the speakers.

 

[dr*audio]

Great questions. When I pmay a tape, I can hear the music but over it is a lot of static-sounding distortion. Like the head is effed up. The head looks great. I tried to adjust head, no change in the issue. It's not the overdrive style of distortion but more like the sound on both sides is equally nasty, and full of static. I read on another post that there are a few caps that the other person replaced and that took care of the issue. To me it sounds like an electrical problem like whatever the sound is running through on the circuit boards is not a clear pathway to the speakers.

That's not caps.
If you put it in Source does it sound ok?

 

[Shotbadly]

The distortion is similar to static. Like the head is shot. I bought a demag tape. Gonna try that. It's gotta be a cap or the output level switch is bad?

 

[dr*audio]

The distortion is similar to static. Like the head is shot. I bought a demag tape. Gonna try that. It's gotta be a cap or the output level switch is bad?

If you put it in Source, does it sound ok?

 

[Shotbadly]

I'm not sure I understand. Source or in source. Do you mean playing a tape or the switch? Sorry, not great at this.

 

[dr*audio]

I'm not sure I understand. Source or in source. Do you mean playing a tape or the switch? Sorry, not great at this.

There is a Tape Monitor switch. Set it to source, connect an input, set the record level so it peaks below 0VU. Does the output distort?

 

[Shotbadly]

It's distorted during playback of music tapes, not recording. I haven't gotten that far yet. I play a tape and it's really bad