Kenwood made some really great car stereo systems, this particular one is nice considering it's age. There's really only two things that go wrong with cassette decks and the two are belts and lubricant! The hub speed sensors show Kenwood's dedication to performance, it's amazing that they chose to fit such a great feature in a car cassette deck, the reason why they used two of them is so that the unit can detect that the take up reel hasn't stopped turning due to the tape being caught up in the pinch roller and capstan pin regardless of tape direction, by jumping out one sensor, the unit can now only protect the tape in only one direction. To test out IR emitters, simply turn down the lights in the room and aim the camera lens at it and you should be able to see them glowing on the camera screen, works with mobile phone cameras too, TV remotes can also be tested this way. As for the belt, I have never tried it myself but I have seen other people take the original belt and boil it in water in the microwave, it restores it's original shape and tightens it up a bit also. Even though the tape transport mechanism isn't seized, the lubricant would be dry by now, after all those hot summer days inside a car where the temperature can kill a person. Pulling out the flywheels with the capstan pins to clean out the old grease and reapply fresh new grease generally fixes a lot of problems, it's possible that the unit was detecting that the tape was running slower in the opposite direction due to the extra load that the tape was placing on the mechanism that was already being loaded by the old dry grease, In my personal experience, you can't feel the resistance with your fingers but as soon as you lubricate the capstan pins and guides that they sit in and the hubs also, the eject mechanism also looked like it had grease on it at one time, I can see it on the top of the tape mechanism.. So those are my two first things that I would attend to before anything I do anything else, my next logical step would be to replace every single capacitor, assuming that the unit is worth it and the customer can be persuaded to agree to it also. This particular unit is definitely worth it, it was designed to function well regardless of the conditions, you can almost say that it was built to military spec! That's why they still command a good price.
Peter, thanks for your comments, you provided some good info here. So much of the work I do on units never makes it to the final video because of time, if I filmed it all, every video would be literally hours long. Not seen in the Kenwood: I did pull/oil both capstans prior to the belt replacement, both reels were pulled and oiled also, any other grease issues I would have done “as needed” due to time and cost, I would say to break down that entire mechanism and replace the grease would easily be 3 + hours so doubtful the customer would agree to that. Jumping the sensor was definitely my last choice but was better than the alternative of having no reverse play function, as for changing all the caps? That would be a seriously expensive and time consuming process, I try to strike a nice balance between what needs to be done, what should be done and what has to be done, that way the customer doesn’t need a fainting couch after hearing the quote - LOL. Thanks for watching as always!
@@luvradios I do understand everything that you have said and that's okay, although on the topic of how long a video should be, don't be afraid to make it an hour long. No one has done a video on this device before so it's an original! I would have watched two hours of it if it was there. I have watched videos that had to be split into three or four one hour long videos because I don't want to miss any of it, but I got to see what opamps were used and what was used for the output stage, the type and brand of capacitors used and even some people discuss the circuitry when schematics are available. I realize that you are performing a repair for a customer and you can only do what the customer can afford or has time for but there are some simple things that you can do from your side that don't cost anything that you can include in the video that adds content of value for the viewers like me. 12V Videos also does repair work just as you do and boy does he pump them out! But from time to time he takes a few minutes to talk about something that he's working on and that's where I get to see how good he is, there's plenty of times when I would have wanted him to go right through the device that he was working on because I felt that it should have been restored but he is after all working for a customer. I don't have a TH-cam channel myself so I don't know what sort of money people are making from it but I'm sure that if you had the viewers, you could afford to put more content into it, there's a few great channels out there already and they have basically set the standard for content, some of these are Mr Carlson's Lab, XRayTonyB, EEV Blog, Uncle Doug and more.... To get the viewers, you need to make sure that there's content! Generally speaking, I would watch a video from the before mentioned providers regardless of whether I'm interested in what they are working on or not, but I just know that I'm going to learn something important along the way! TH-cam add revenue and PayPal help financially for the extra time that you put in because this is where the viewers rush to when a new video is posted! When you spend so much time watching someone work, you get to know their style of work and that brings in a lot of new jobs for you. I'm in Australia so that pretty much rules out me sending something your way even for a full restoration because the shipping cost is a huge joke. We have Dave from EEV Blog but he's not into repairs and I just haven't bitten the bullet yet (whatever that means, we don't even know what a gun is either lol) but maybe one of these days! I just hope that I'm not being to critical, I'm just trying to help you grow your channel and along with that your business. Thanks for your reply 😃
Great work , how would I be able to send in a car stereo for repair? Not sure what’s wrong with it came new in box but when I put a cassette in it seems to go forward and back and doesn’t play
Thanks for checking out the video! If you go to the “about” tab on my channel my email address is there, send me an email with the model# and your phone number and I’ll contact you, thanks
Awesome video! I just so happened to have the exact same radio and the cassette player won't play and won't eject. I would love to send it your way for possible repair. Please let me know if you can help thanks!
Hello there . I have similar issues with one of my reel sensor in my Nakamichi TD 35z . I was wondering if you could help me on bridging the rev sensor to fwd so that the deck can function both ways . Currently the tape plays in fwd and once the tape passes 50% it start clicking rev fwd and eject
Yea, just off the get go that doesn't sound like a reel sensor issue and doubtful you can bridge them since the micro would (most likely) wanna see a pulse from both sensors during playback but if the tape stops after 50% has passed by I would want to know the condition of the drive belt and the gear/idler that drive the tape reels, are the gears/idler fully engauged to the reels? Is it always 50% when it stops working? Have you looked at the tape playing while it goes into failure? what exactly happens? Does the tape stop moving then switch from side to side? will if succsesfully FF & Rew a tape to the end?
@@luvradios thanks for the reply . Basically it is not half way it clicks back and forth. Like 20-25% and then change to rev / fwd couple of time and then ejects . Fast FF and redwing RW is good . I checked the belts and all good and new , not hard or sagging . Checked all gears and looks good also . This deck is new one , installed and it was working for a week without issues . Then started this mess
Interesting, I have two old ‘91 Kenwood first generation CD decks that have a common problem that stops them from playing CD’s, wonder what the cost to repair and then market value for them.
sorry for the numb question, but could you briefly explain how you connect the unit to the power? yellow and red together and black? 12 v? is this generic or every cassette player has its own way I'm starting.a musical project and I want to work with a lot of car cassette players. jaja it's really bad since I don't know anything about electronics or repairing these and I guess the ones I encounter will be really messed up, but I'm in love with the idea so anyway thanks for the video it's fantastic! I admire your skills!!
@@luvradios yes i have a sony ES-R18 that uses the same canon motor i was trying to figure out how to adjust it but i guess maybe it can't be unless you know of a way.
![[UNCUT] The Loyal Pin ปิ่นภักดิ์ EP.7 (1/4)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2rPGOyKs0VE/mqdefault.jpg)
Kenwood made some really great car stereo systems, this particular one is nice considering it's age. There's really only two things that go wrong with cassette decks and the two are belts and lubricant! The hub speed sensors show Kenwood's dedication to performance, it's amazing that they chose to fit such a great feature in a car cassette deck, the reason why they used two of them is so that the unit can detect that the take up reel hasn't stopped turning due to the tape being caught up in the pinch roller and capstan pin regardless of tape direction, by jumping out one sensor, the unit can now only protect the tape in only one direction. To test out IR emitters, simply turn down the lights in the room and aim the camera lens at it and you should be able to see them glowing on the camera screen, works with mobile phone cameras too, TV remotes can also be tested this way. As for the belt, I have never tried it myself but I have seen other people take the original belt and boil it in water in the microwave, it restores it's original shape and tightens it up a bit also. Even though the tape transport mechanism isn't seized, the lubricant would be dry by now, after all those hot summer days inside a car where the temperature can kill a person. Pulling out the flywheels with the capstan pins to clean out the old grease and reapply fresh new grease generally fixes a lot of problems, it's possible that the unit was detecting that the tape was running slower in the opposite direction due to the extra load that the tape was placing on the mechanism that was already being loaded by the old dry grease, In my personal experience, you can't feel the resistance with your fingers but as soon as you lubricate the capstan pins and guides that they sit in and the hubs also, the eject mechanism also looked like it had grease on it at one time, I can see it on the top of the tape mechanism..
So those are my two first things that I would attend to before anything I do anything else, my next logical step would be to replace every single capacitor, assuming that the unit is worth it and the customer can be persuaded to agree to it also. This particular unit is definitely worth it, it was designed to function well regardless of the conditions, you can almost say that it was built to military spec! That's why they still command a good price.
Peter, thanks for your comments, you provided some good info here. So much of the work I do on units never makes it to the final video because of time, if I filmed it all, every video would be literally hours long. Not seen in the Kenwood: I did pull/oil both capstans prior to the belt replacement, both reels were pulled and oiled also, any other grease issues I would have done “as needed” due to time and cost, I would say to break down that entire mechanism and replace the grease would easily be 3 + hours so doubtful the customer would agree to that. Jumping the sensor was definitely my last choice but was better than the alternative of having no reverse play function, as for changing all the caps? That would be a seriously expensive and time consuming process, I try to strike a nice balance between what needs to be done, what should be done and what has to be done, that way the customer doesn’t need a fainting couch after hearing the quote - LOL. Thanks for watching as always!
@@luvradios I do understand everything that you have said and that's okay, although on the topic of how long a video should be, don't be afraid to make it an hour long. No one has done a video on this device before so it's an original! I would have watched two hours of it if it was there. I have watched videos that had to be split into three or four one hour long videos because I don't want to miss any of it, but I got to see what opamps were used and what was used for the output stage, the type and brand of capacitors used and even some people discuss the circuitry when schematics are available. I realize that you are performing a repair for a customer and you can only do what the customer can afford or has time for but there are some simple things that you can do from your side that don't cost anything that you can include in the video that adds content of value for the viewers like me. 12V Videos also does repair work just as you do and boy does he pump them out! But from time to time he takes a few minutes to talk about something that he's working on and that's where I get to see how good he is, there's plenty of times when I would have wanted him to go right through the device that he was working on because I felt that it should have been restored but he is after all working for a customer. I don't have a TH-cam channel myself so I don't know what sort of money people are making from it but I'm sure that if you had the viewers, you could afford to put more content into it, there's a few great channels out there already and they have basically set the standard for content, some of these are Mr Carlson's Lab, XRayTonyB, EEV Blog, Uncle Doug and more.... To get the viewers, you need to make sure that there's content! Generally speaking, I would watch a video from the before mentioned providers regardless of whether I'm interested in what they are working on or not, but I just know that I'm going to learn something important along the way! TH-cam add revenue and PayPal help financially for the extra time that you put in because this is where the viewers rush to when a new video is posted! When you spend so much time watching someone work, you get to know their style of work and that brings in a lot of new jobs for you. I'm in Australia so that pretty much rules out me sending something your way even for a full restoration because the shipping cost is a huge joke. We have Dave from EEV Blog but he's not into repairs and I just haven't bitten the bullet yet (whatever that means, we don't even know what a gun is either lol) but maybe one of these days!
I just hope that I'm not being to critical, I'm just trying to help you grow your channel and along with that your business.
Thanks for your reply 😃
Это малинький накамичи дракон...😊
Good video thank you
The complexity is incredible even back then
Anarchy, thanks for checking out the video!
Great video, I just picked up this unit for my 80's Toyota pickup. I think playing Tesla through it helped.
Done with mirrors music! Last place I expected to hear this
Aerosmith killed on that record! IMO
@@luvradios yes!! The record/cassette is super cool how the way all the text on the label/ track listing is mirrored
Эх....858 кенвудятина....❤😊
I have the same car radio and wanted to start it up again after years, but now the TPC light is on and it won't start.
How do I get it going again?
Is it possible to connect these stereos to a modern external amp?
Sure, you would need to find or make DIN to RCA adapters.
Great work , how would I be able to send in a car stereo for repair? Not sure what’s wrong with it came new in box but when I put a cassette in it seems to go forward and back and doesn’t play
Thanks for checking out the video! If you go to the “about” tab on my channel my email address is there, send me an email with the model# and your phone number and I’ll contact you, thanks
Awesome video! I just so happened to have the exact same radio and the cassette player won't play and won't eject. I would love to send it your way for possible repair. Please let me know if you can help thanks!
Sure, you email me about this at: luvradios@yahoo.com
Hello there . I have similar issues with one of my reel sensor in my Nakamichi TD 35z . I was wondering if you could help me on bridging the rev sensor to fwd so that the deck can function both ways .
Currently the tape plays in fwd and once the tape passes 50% it start clicking rev fwd and eject
Yea, just off the get go that doesn't sound like a reel sensor issue and doubtful you can bridge them since the micro would (most likely) wanna see a pulse from both sensors during playback but if the tape stops after 50% has passed by I would want to know the condition of the drive belt and the gear/idler that drive the tape reels, are the gears/idler fully engauged to the reels? Is it always 50% when it stops working? Have you looked at the tape playing while it goes into failure? what exactly happens? Does the tape stop moving then switch from side to side? will if succsesfully FF & Rew a tape to the end?
@@luvradios thanks for the reply . Basically it is not half way it clicks back and forth. Like 20-25% and then change to rev / fwd couple of time and then ejects . Fast FF and redwing RW is good . I checked the belts and all good and new , not hard or sagging . Checked all gears and looks good also . This deck is new one , installed and it was working for a week without issues . Then started this mess
Interesting, I have two old ‘91 Kenwood first generation CD decks that have a common problem that stops them from playing CD’s, wonder what the cost to repair and then market value for them.
sorry for the numb question, but could you briefly explain how you connect the unit to the power? yellow and red together and black? 12 v? is this generic or every cassette player has its own way
I'm starting.a musical project and I want to work with a lot of car cassette players. jaja it's really bad since I don't know anything about electronics or repairing these and I guess the ones I encounter will be really messed up, but I'm in love with the idea so anyway
thanks for the video it's fantastic! I admire your skills!!
how do you adjust the speed on the motor?
If I recall correctly, this model uses a fixed speed Canon motor, is yours running too slow?
@@luvradios yes i have a sony ES-R18 that uses the same canon motor i was trying to figure out how to adjust it but i guess maybe it can't be unless you know of a way.
Do you still repair?
Thomas, check the "about" tab of my page for my email address, send me an email about what unit you need serviced.
please, i have a kenwood that has a cassette, but it can't come out, that's the cassette