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Marantz PMD430 - Stopped working after AC adapter plugged in (wrong voltage?)

CareerOfEvil

CareerOfEvil

New Member
I have one of those fancy marantz PMD430 professional tape recorders. Initially, the speaker on the front worked as well as headphones so long as batteries were put in. But I ended up getting one of those DC plugins with variable voltage that you can use in the wall or in your car, and I made sure it was set to 4.5 volts but perhaps it was faulty? Because after I used this thing, the speakers and headphone jack no longer output audio. Also, if I try to record from the microphone jacks to the tape, it doesn't register on the VU meter (though the green light behind the meters work). BOTH of these functions worked previously to me plugging in the AC adapter. Also, the tape motors all spin and all tape functions work.

I bought a 4.5v 700mA ac adapter which seems to cause the entire device to lock up (tape stops spinning).

Any ideas what could be wrong? Could it be just a faulty capacitor? Do I need to show some pics of the circuit board?
 
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I am very new to repairing these kinds of things. If I can get no help specific to this device, is there some kind of general guide I can follow?
 
CareerOfEvil said:
I have one of those fancy marantz PMD430 professional tape recorders. Initially, the speaker on the front worked as well as headphones so long as batteries were put in. But I ended up getting one of those DC plugins with variable voltage that you can use in the wall or in your car, and I made sure it was set to 4.5 volts but perhaps it was faulty? Because after I used this thing, the speakers and headphone jack no longer output audio. Also, if I try to record from the microphone jacks to the tape, it doesn't register on the VU meter (though the green light behind the meters work). BOTH of these functions worked previously to me plugging in the AC adapter. Also, the tape motors all spin and all tape functions work.

I bought a 4.5v 700mA ac adapter which seems to cause the entire device to lock up (tape stops spinning).

Any ideas what could be wrong? Could it be just a faulty capacitor? Do I need to show some pics of the circuit board?
Click to expand...

I have that unit, and without actually digging up the original wall wart, I don`t believe 700ma is enough current capacity to run the tape transport motor/s in it. I would think 1000ma minimum @4.5 volts would be a better choice for a adaptor..
And if that is the case I`m sure your replacement(most certainly unregulated) wall wart`s voltage drops so much that the unit is unable to function !!
Watch out for proper polarity on the plug that plugs 4.5 DC into the recorder.
Try, like was suggested, to operate it on batteries, and see if it functions correctly.
 
Bill Ferris said:
I have that unit, and without actually digging up the original wall wart, I don`t believe 700ma is enough current capacity to run the tape transport motor/s in it. I would think 1000ma minimum @4.5 volts would be a better choice for a adaptor..
And if that is the case I`m sure your replacement(most certainly unregulated) wall wart`s voltage drops so much that the unit is unable to function !!
Watch out for proper polarity on the plug that plugs 4.5 DC into the recorder.
Try, like was suggested, to operate it on batteries, and see if it functions correctly.
Click to expand...

Thank you.
I've tried to operate on batteries - however, the tape spins and nothing will come out of the speaker or the stereo output. Also, the microphone input will not record.
Battery tester also seems to work.
 
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