TECHNICS RS-DC10 DCC TAPE DECK. NO PLAYBACK

[Stevo 1]

Hello everyone,
I recently came across the above, and tested it, and found out there is no playback, analog or digital. This unit looks mint! Inside as well. Can someone possibly steer me in the right direction. In record mode, everything "appears" fine, but no playback. Tested using headphones, no power amp. Thanks very much in advance.

Stevo 1

 

[Martaine2005]

Hi Stevo 1,
Lovely piece of 90s audio.
On the cassette mechanism there is a play back and record board. These commonly fail due to bad caps. If you are lucky, the board itself will be re-usable to simply replace the bad caps. If you are unlucky, the tracks will damaged due to leaking caps. But you can still fix it by using TH caps.
Can you post a photo of the board?.

Martin

 

[Stevo 1]

Hi Martin,

Haven't checked yet, are those caps SMD?? If yes, I don't have a hot air tool to deal with those.

Stevo 1

 

[Martaine2005]

Yes, they are SMD alum.
You might be lucky enough to be able to just get your iron on the tabs.

Martin

 

[Stevo 1]

I haven't as yet removed the mechanism. I did spot a small pcb with the number GCMK-301X. I don't see those caps present on THAT pcb. I did spot some tiny pots on that board though.

Stevo 1

 

[Martaine2005]

I have no idea of board numbers.
The board is located under/inside the mechanism. You cannot see or access it without removal.
There are about 10 caps on it.

Martin

 

[Stevo 1]

Ok. Tonight, I'll remove the mechanism and now, thanks to you I know what to look for. I'll take a pic of the board also.
Stevo 1

 

[Martaine2005]

Be very gentle. After removing the top, you should see 4 or 6 screws holding the mech in place. You may not see 2 of them hiding under an alum cover. Remove it first.
You may also need to remove the screws holding the front on too.
Just be gentle and methodical. Don't pull anything. Gently disconnect!!

Martin

 

[Stevo 1]

Be very gentle. After removing the top, you should see 4 or 6 screws holding the mech in place. You may not see 2 of them hiding under an alum cover. Remove it first.
You may also need to remove the screws holding the front on too.
Just be gentle and methodical. Don't pull anything. Gently disconnect!!

Martin

 

[Stevo 1]

Thanks very much. I appreciate your help. I believe the aluminum cover will be the underside of the machine. Tonight's after dinner project. My usual interest is vintage Electronics. But someone had very neatly placed this machine by the curbside pickup. It looks absolutely mint! I have already removed the cover. Mint, inside as well. I would love, to get this baby up and running again.

Stevo 1

 

[Stevo 1]

By the way, when I say "vintage", I mean vintage as in 1931, a Philco 50 Cathedral TRF set. My oldest set so far.

Stevo 1

 

[Martaine2005]

After your dinner, put youtube on in the background. Find Mr Carlson's lab. What this chap (Paul) doesn't know, isn't worth knowing.
Great find by the way.

Martin

 

[Stevo 1]

Ok, will do. Yes, that's why I grabbed it! I thought so as well!

Stevo 1

 

[Stevo 1]

I just ordered an ESD MAT. I have an ESD STRAP, but no mat. I think, before I begin, I should work on a mat, as, of course, with the ESD strap. Wise move, right??

Stevo 1

 

[Stevo 1]

Hi Martin,

I forgot to mention earlier that the first thing I tried was cleaning the head. Q Tip, and Alcohol. Vertical motion only. No luck

 

[Stevo 1]

Hi Martin,

I'm waiting for the ESD mat to arrive. In the meantime, question...
I notice when I load a DCC cassette, I get a "READING" message on the display. No error messages etc. Could that be because the processor "thinks" the system is reading the tape? Curious about that...

Stevo 1

 

[Martaine2005]

To be honest, I have no idea.
But more than likely.
I find it very difficult to post links with my phone but have a look on Youtube for Dr DCC. He and a friend have lots of videos servicing DCC players of different manufacturers. I was watching some last night. He services your unit in one of his videos. He clearly explains how to get the mech out. Should be a very helpful video for you.

Martin

 

[Stevo 1]

Hi Martin, Happy New year!
Yes, I heard of him. I'll surely check that out. I received my ESD mat today so more than likely, I'll be working on this, this weekend. Once I start, I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks much!!

Steve

 

[Stevo 1]

Hi Martin,

I changed all the caps in question. Cleaned the pcb's. Examined the pcb's. They "looked" ok. Can't read the schematic, it's so dense, very difficult to read. Didn't have 68uf caps that are on the Read/Write PCB, so I installed 100uf caps on the read/write PCB instead. Any thoughts??

Steve

 

[Stevo 1]

Hi Martin,
I forgot to mention, same problem as before, no playback, analog AND digital. I didn't make that clear before, my apologies.
Steve