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00:00:00
I love cassette decks over the years I've owned
quite a few different makes and models of them 00:00:05
many of which I've shown on this channel
but sometimes they don't love me back00:00:13
but it's understandable because they are highly
mechanical devices with lots of intricate parts 00:00:21
some of which need periodic maintenance or
replacement in order to keep the deck functional00:00:26
but sometimes the repairs that a cassette deck
needs in order to work properly again are just 00:00:32
not economically feasible and sometimes
they may not be repairable at any cost00:00:37
and I have just such an example of that
with this Technics RS-TR180 cassette deck 00:00:43
from around 1996. some people pronounce
it Techniques but regardless of how you 00:00:49
say it most people consider Technics to be
a premium brand of audio components they're 00:00:55
probably best known for their SL-1200 series
of direct drive turntables which are legendary 00:01:02
for their durability and performance both for
professional DJs and home audiophile listening00:01:08
they've also made some really good CD players
such as this SL-PG300 it it's packed with 00:01:15
features works perfectly and sounds great so
you'd think that same reputation would carry 00:01:21
over to their cassette decks especially on a
model like this which has auto reverse Dolby 00:01:26
noise reduction soft touch full logic controls
remote control capability and automatic opening 00:01:35
soft eject doors which is normally a feature
you only see on high-end cassette decks00:01:40
the price sticker says $29.99 but there
was a 50% off sale at the thrift store so 00:01:46
I ended up getting it for around $15 which
you'd think would be a great deal for this 00:01:51
kind of cassette deck but first let's
take a closer look at this control panel00:01:55
one thing you might notice is that even though
this is a double cassette deck it only has one 00:02:00
set of controls for both decks and you
switch between them with this button but 00:02:06
that's not such a big deal because normally
you're only using one deck at a time anyway00:02:10
but did you notice something else that's missing?
there's no recording level control because as it 00:02:16
says down here it has automatic recording
level there's no way to set the recording 00:02:21
level manually obviously that's no big deal
if you're just going to be using it to play 00:02:25
tapes and some cassette recorders do an
entirely respectable job of automatic 00:02:30
recording level but it's definitely not a
feature you would expect to see on a Technics00:02:35
also missing as a headphone jack which is a
feature I really like to have on a cassette 00:02:40
deck so I can just plug in a pair of headphones
and listen to what's on our tape without needing 00:02:44
to connect it to any other audio equipment but
none of those may necessarily be deal breakers 00:02:49
for you especially if you only paid $15 for it
but of course you want to see if it actually works 00:02:56
so let's put in a tape00:02:59
and try to play00:03:04
nothing's moving and it just timed out
let's try playing the opposite direction00:03:11
that way is actually working I don't know if
there's anything recorded on that side of the tape 00:03:15
but it is moving in the opposite direction so at
least some part of this functionality is working 00:03:23
how about rewind that works 00:03:28
what about fast forward nope that doesn't
work so it looks like only the reverse direction 00:03:33
functions work the forward directions do
not work so it probably needs new belts00:03:39
let's just try with a pre-recorded tape to make 00:03:42
sure it actually was playing
in the reverse direction00:03:48
and yes we do get a indication on a
level meter so it does appear to be 00:03:52
playing properly in the reverse direction but
not the forward direction let's try deck two 00:04:01
the door does open automatically we'll hit play00:04:07
again nothing happens and it stops
because it realized the tape wasn't moving 00:04:14
but it does fast forward00:04:17
what about reverse play it is playing
in the reverse direction you can see 00:04:24
and rewind it is rewinding so this side works a
little bit better than the first side the only 00:04:31
function that was not working is forward
playback otherwise everything else worked00:04:35
I couldn't find anything for the TR180 but
I looked up the TR280 which is basically 00:04:41
the same thing except with Dolby C noise
reduction and you can get a belt kit for 00:04:46
it for around $20 so you would think
this would be a good candidate for 00:04:50
restoration just put on a new set of belts
and you would have a working cassette deck00:04:55
but before we click the Buy It Now button
let's pop the cover and take a look inside00:05:02
well this is certainly a highly integrated 1990s
design it's mostly empty space inside a very 00:05:08
small main circuit board mostly with the
power supply on it there's the mechanism 00:05:14
and electronics of deck number one which is
a playback only deck and the belts actually 00:05:19
appear to be intact they're not falling
apart and turning into sticky black goo 00:05:24
although they may have gotten a little bit
loose of age so that's probably why it's 00:05:29
not working fully but at least we won't have a
big mess to clean up when we're replacing those00:05:34
deck number two has considerably more
electronics on it this is the recording 00:05:39
deck and that's really where they put most of
the circuitry on the back of the mechanism due 00:05:43
to the sandwich of circuit boards it's
more difficult to see the belts on this 00:05:47
side but again they do appear to be intact
although they've likely gotten loose of age 00:05:53
and I notice it has plastic
flywheels not a good sign of quality00:05:58
and here's where the repairability of this
deck starts to go drastically downhill 00:06:03
another thing you may have noticed is
that the motors are soldered onto the 00:06:07
circuit board and according to the service
manual which does actually tell you how to 00:06:12
replace the belts unlike many service
manuals for cassette decks it tells you 00:06:16
you have to desolder the motor in
order to gain access to the belts00:06:21
and that alone may make restoring this
cassette deck unfeasible for many people 00:06:25
because they lack the proper equipment and
knowledge of how to unsolder and re-solder 00:06:31
components but even if you do have the
equipment and knowledge to do soldering 00:06:35
there's another big issue of these decks
that may make them totally unrepairable00:06:40
I removed the door to give you a better look at
the mechanism look at how brown and crusty this 00:06:46
pinch roller looks the other one doesn't
look nearly as bad although it's clearly 00:06:53
quite dirty itself and you may think this is
just because someone mainly used it to play 00:06:58
tapes in the forward direction but if that
was the case the wear would only be on the 00:07:03
surface of the pinch roller where it actually
contacts the tape as it moves through the 00:07:07
mechanism but you can clearly see the entire
rubber is all brown and crusty and degraded00:07:14
it reminds me of one of those make-believe
restoration videos where they paint on fake 00:07:19
rust on non-metallic objects but this is
real that's exactly the way I found it00:07:25
luckily you can easily remove the pinch roller
assemblies they're just held on with little 00:07:30
plastic clips again not a good sign of quality
so I already did that on this other mechanism 00:07:35
and you can even see some rust in here so
here they are removed and just like that 00:07:40
other deck the one on the right is all brown and
crusty and almost looks rusted even though it's 00:07:47
made of rubber and the one on the left doesn't
look as bad but take a close look as I spin it 00:07:52
see how much that wobbles the rubber
pinch roller is completely separating 00:07:57
from the plastic spindle it's mounted
on again another sign of bad quality00:08:03
it uses a plastic post to mount the pinch
roller I've never seen that before I mean 00:08:09
even these cheap Tanashin knockoff mechanisms
you find in boom boxes use a metal bracket and 00:08:15
a metal pin to mount the pinch roller but on this
Technics deck it's all plastic and it's completely 00:08:21
disintegrating I don't know if that was glue
or what that brown crusty stuff but this pinch 00:08:28
roller is shot they're all shot all these pinch
rollers need to be replaced this is another one 00:08:34
that looks all brown and disgusting it's not quite
as wobbly as the other one but still not usable00:08:41
I popped off the pinch rollers from the brackets
and this one is completely separating look at 00:08:46
that it just falls right out and this plastic
post it was mounted on has some kind of crusty 00:08:51
stuff on it I guess that was the glue
that was holding it together so that's 00:08:55
just the rubber and that's hard as a rock
there's no flexibility to that whatsoever 00:09:01
and I bet if I take a pair of pliers to it00:09:06
yep it just disintegrates crumbles and the
strange thing is this one that was all brown 00:09:12
and crusty looking is actually still flexible
see this one actually still has some give if I 00:09:18
squeeze on it so even though it looks a lot worse
the rubber is actually in better shape on this one00:09:24
so I was able to find a kit of replacement
pinch rollers for Technics tape decks the 00:09:30
set of five of them on eBay for around
$20 so if you add that to the belt kit 00:09:35
which costs $21 you're going to
be spending over $40 to repair 00:09:39
this cassette deck once you add in taxes
probably gonna be closer to around $4500:09:44
and I couldn't find any Technics TR180 cassette
decks that's sold on eBay but I found a TR170 00:09:50
which I guess was the previous model it looks
the same and has the same features except it 00:09:55
actually does have two sets of controls for the
two decks instead of combining them into one so 00:10:00
it's actually a slightly better tape deck and the
last one of those that was on eBay sold for $4900:10:06
so even if your time is worth nothing
and you're just doing this for fun and 00:10:10
you have the knowledge and equipment to
unsolder those motors I don't think it's 00:10:15
financially viable to repair one of these 1990s
Technics cassette decks they were made mostly 00:10:21
of cheap plastic parts that are starting to
disintegrate and even if you replace all the 00:10:26
belts and the pinch rollers who knows what
else is going to start falling apart next00:10:30
these simply were not good tape decks despite
the premium reputation of the Technics brand 00:10:36
name and this is a perfect example of why
I'm more enthusiastic about new cassette 00:10:42
tape equipment than many other tape enthusiasts
because a new cassette deck that works OK...00:10:47
"at the moment I am directly between the front
microphones but I'm now moving over to the left 00:10:52
front microphone I am just starting a mechanical
stopwatch which will move with me and help you in 00:10:59
locating the sound as I walk between and around
the microphones no this is not 60 Minutes"00:11:05
...is a lot better than a vintage one that doesn't
work at all but I'll make a deal with you if this 00:11:13
video earns enough in ad revenue to cover the
cost of the belts and pinch rollers I will go 00:11:18
ahead and repair this cassette deck despite
my own advice that it's not worth buying or 00:11:23
repairing one of these because now that I have it
in my possession I really don't want to see it end 00:11:28
up in the e-waste bin and I am kind of curious to
hear how well that automatic recording level worksDescription:
Technics is widely regarded as a premium brand of audio components, but that definitely does not apply to their entry-level cassette decks from the mid-1990s. With a lack of important features, cheap plastic parts, disintegrating pinch rollers, and service-unfriendly design, the time and money spent repairing them is likely to exceed their value. #technics #cassette #repair
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