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Servicing a SONY DAT machine (Pictorial)

Couldn't have run across this thread at a better time.
I'm just getting ready to test a sony a-6 that's been laying around for years.

Thanks SaSi :)
 
SaSi said:
So, Lesson here is:
A deck sitting idle for years will not lose it's azimuth adjustment but might lose it's agility in terms of tension arms extending fully.
Click to expand...
Sasi is a very wise man and I fully agree with him. :thmbsp:

I have repaired something like 40 DAT decks, mostly Sony, Aiwa, Luxman, Tascam and most of the time problems are related to mecha jammed by dust or hardened grease.
 
Sony DTC-A6 without Remote.

I bought it a few years ago and misplaced the remote.
Am I able to do all or most of the functions without it?

What functions need the remote to control them?

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Thanks
 
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I'm not sure about your model details but from experience with other decks in the SONY range, there are usually more controls on the deck than on the remote.

And, btw, I've invariably been able to remote operate any sony DAT deck with any of the various remotes I have for different sony DAT decks.
 
hdrobien said:
Sasi is a very wise man and I fully agree with him. :thmbsp:

I have repaired something like 40 DAT decks, mostly Sony, Aiwa, Luxman, Tascam and most of the time problems are related to mecha jammed by dust or hardened grease.
Click to expand...
I would not say wise but thanks.

You've been pretty busy, it seems. I may have something like 20 decks awaiting repair. There's something in knowing how to do it that takes the glamor from the job and turns it into a hassle.

I once purchased a lot of 10 (ten) DTC Ze700 decks in unknown state from a studio. One was beat-up externally but surprisingly was fully functional, the rest having the usual problems with back tension, clips falling off, tension arms stuck and of course dirty heads.

Fixed 4 of them IIRC and the rest are waiting for me to get bored with other things. I recall that I fixed one of these decks demonstrating to a friend how easy it is to take them apart, fix them and put them together. It had a missing clip that was found inside the decks surface. Dismantled the transport without actually taking things apart, plugged the clip to it's original position, replaced the screws in place and that was that.

Not trying to show off or something. Just to point out that these decks, although built with precision and very small tolerances, and built a bit flimsy for that matter, are an order of magnitude easier to work with compared - say - with a vintage '70s cassette deck.
 
Westy56 said:
I bought it a few years ago and misplaced the remote.
Am I able to do all or most of the functions without it?

What functions need the remote to control them?

attachment.php


Thanks
Click to expand...

Your deck's display looks kinda like my DTC-ZA5ES. Without a remote, I can't display recorded "time / date". And without a remote you can't type numbers for the AMS function.
 
SaSi said:
You've been pretty busy, it seems. I may have something like 20 decks awaiting repair. There's something in knowing how to do it that takes the glamor from the job and turns it into a hassle.

I once purchased a lot of 10 (ten) DTC Ze700 decks in unknown state from a studio. One was beat-up externally but surprisingly was fully functional, the rest having the usual problems with back tension, clips falling off, tension arms stuck and of course dirty heads.

...

Not trying to show off or something. Just to point out that these decks, although built with precision and very small tolerances, and built a bit flimsy for that matter, are an order of magnitude easier to work with compared - say - with a vintage '70s cassette deck.
Click to expand...
This was done over a period of 4 years.

I like the format and I enjoy helping people to enable them to continue to listen to their tapes. Sony doesn't service these anymore.

Of course most of Sony's DTC suffer from the same failure and the fun and glamor are not always there. But I also repaired other models like 4 DD Sony (much beefier), Luxman (I own 4 of them), Aiwa, Sharp/Optonica, Yamaha (made by Sharp), Pioneer, Casio, even Samsung.
 
Thanks for the info. I'm going to have to read the [just found] A6 manual and find
out what can and cannot be done with the remote. The deck certainly has a cool factor.
 
Hey

Just purchased a Sony DTC-55ES of the bay. For only 1 euro + 20 euro in shipping charging it was mine.
Sadly he deck is in very poor condition. A few of of the internal plastic drive gear are crushed, so i am on the look out for the some parts.
The Tape in / record tab switch board is also cracked in two, but i can repair that.

So does anyone know if the plastic gears are still available. I think the deck was "timed" badly and repaired before. So the gear driving the right tape lifter was chewed. The transport was not frozen when i got it.

Pinch roller is rock hard, so i would need a new one of those as well.

I like "resurrecting" such a sad looking deck, and bring it back to life.

Kind regards

//Emil
 
DTC670 no reel motor running

Hello all,

Let me take a moment to complement on this great thread, to anyone contributing to it, and most of all Sasi off course!

I got a DTC 670, cleaned the mechanisme, but there's still no movement of the reel motor, in either direction. The manual states there should be 4.8V on the motor, but it only receives 2.6V.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Philip
 
Hi

What about fast forward and rewind ?

Maybe the motor is dead. Could you check its internal resistance ? You can compare it with the loading motor which is equivalent.
 
hdrobien said:
Hi

What about fast forward and rewind ?

Maybe the motor is dead. Could you check its internal resistance ? You can compare it with the loading motor which is equivalent.
Click to expand...

Hi Again, the motor runs fine on a 5V power supply. FF and RW don't work either, also only 2.6 V available...I think i'll flip the main board over to check for loose joints, maybe that'll take care of it...

Thanks, Philip
 
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Also check the sub board (small board vertically plugged in the main board) as it hosts most of the wheel motor circuitry.

Sorry: no sub board on the 670, only on the 57ES.
 
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Update : just aquiered A DTC790 for next to nothing, with a loading arm clip missing. Got it up and runnin' in no time. Now i can measure the voltages for the reelmoter and compare it to the 670.

Keep u posted!

Philip
 
Bommer: the reel motor voltage in the 790 is 2.1 V in play mode. So it's not the electronics i the 670 that is a problem, it must me mechanical.

to be continued...

Philip


Become a blood donor: it won't kill you!
 
Xynyx said:
Hello all,

Let me take a moment to complement on this great thread, to anyone contributing to it, and most of all Sasi off course!

I got a DTC 670, cleaned the mechanisme, but there's still no movement of the reel motor, in either direction. The manual states there should be 4.8V on the motor, but it only receives 2.6V.

Any suggestions?

Thanks, Philip
Click to expand...
For a reason that's not very clear to me, the DTC670 transports (although virtually identical to most others) seem to suffer from the "transport creep syndrome" where the spools fail to move the tape.

Provided you have established that the pinch roller is making contact and isn't slippery and / or sticky and that the loading arms extend fully and lock in their endpoints, the next thing to check is the tension/break pads around the reel tables. I have found (mostly in the 670 transports) that they kinda bleed their glue (?) out and become too sticky to the point they don't allow proper movement of the reel tables.

There's a very simple way to verify this, just remove them and clean the reel tables with isopropyl. You can then operate the deck but I would advise against using FF or REW followed by PLAY or you may end up with a tape jam.

If by removing the pads you have a working transport, then the issue is with the break pads.

You want to have the supply reel pad barely touch the reel table to cause back tension. That is adjustable by a screw from the side (IIRC on the yellow solenoid but I may be wrong; it's been a few years since I looked at a transport).

You want both pads to be there and engage when you break so something needs to go there. I tried finding replacement material (tissue, pads, etc) but wasn't happy with the results. I ended up recycling the DTC670 transport components to fix other transports with success. Anyway, the 670 is such a basic unit that I didn't feel sorry making a donor out of them.

I am guessing the issue with these decks has something to do with the glue used to mount the break pads on the "levers". Sony may have identified the issue and used a different glue in later models because I've never seen this issue on a non-670 transport.

If someone comes up with a clever idea on how to replace these pads, please chime. Other decks' transports may eventually need a fix on this as well.

Edit: The motors on the transports are very weak and the toothed belts seem sloppy and loose but they need to be. I was initially suspicious of the motors myself and found some suitable motors to replace but then realized that the gummed up pads cause the weak torque motors to stall.
 
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Broken Gear???

I recently acquired a DTC-700 off eBay where the seller stated "everything was in good working condition the last time we used it." So when it arrived at my house, I tried to play a tape which after going through a brief cycling period, the caution error shows up and I cant do anything.

This is my first time owning a DAT so I know nothing about it. The tape door opens and closes fine but when it starts to read, I only see the left spindle turn the tape and the right spindle not do anything or it appears that it tries to move which then leads to the caution error.

So my search on the net brought me to this post and I have to say this is an awesome site as well as post for the servicing of DATs (thanks Sasi). So I tried to follow this instructions on this post but it was kinda hard since the 700 isnt exactly the same. At any rate, I removed the whole assembly and tried to see if there was anything visually wrong. I couldnt find anything but at the same time I didnt go through the entire instructions because something else caught my attention.

As I was working on the assembly, I noticed sitting on the bottom case, a tiny gear broken in half which is shown in the picture below. The surprising thing is that the gear was together and not separated. I dont know if this was always this way or it happened as I was removing the assembly. Its hard to believe it arrived this way because with all of the movement from shipping as well as my movement, I imagine it wouldnt have moved around the case by now.

So I am wondering if anyone:

1. Knows what this gear is for?
2. Where can I get a new one? (are spares still available)
3. Is this related in any way to my initial problem with the caution error or did I just create a new one?

Thanks for all your help. Sorry for the bad image, was working on this late last night and didnt realize until now. I can provide more pictures if needed.


20140918_234512.jpg
 
Hdrobien, many thanks for providing links. I never would have found these and top of that I live in Los Angeles, so my eBay search might have not returned these.

Would you happen to know which post in Sasi's thread shows how to replace this?
 
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