So I have one which was serviced by Sony just before they shut down support for this device.. It was only ever used in a home studio environment so is in perfect cosmetic condition, and thanks to its still relatively recent service, also in perfect working conditions. The mere fact that changing its position seriously impacts playback speed is pointing at mechanical issues, possibly just sticky lubricant, instead of an electronic problem. This is a device aimed at reporters, has been used in war zones, and should be able to work reliably without such speed issues while thrown in a backpack and running a military assault course. At to their disc drive, you absolutely have a point about the effect of wear on it.. but for the intended application, it has a very good track record of being unaffected by shocks and vibrations, one of the key selling points for devices like this.
Thanks a lot, only took me about 6 hours to fix my TCD5M with the same problem. Geez too much time for me too! Your video really helped as you showed that the transport could be fixed more easily by removing the PCB, I had been working on it by pulling the transport out the top. Mine had little or no take up, like yours, but not the same issue cause. It badly needed a belt but that didn't do it. Cleaning the rubber tire idler wheel and associated parts did the job. I did loose the tiny Jesus clip, but found it, thank God. I did break two wires, you mentioned the wires 50 times, almost impossible thing to work on. I used the amazing Miller & Stephenson control cleaner that after 30 years in the high end audio business proved it was best.
@@12voltvids I wish more would use one [any bench mat], full stop. I used a large thick rubber mat at work 20-30 years ago, made out in the form of a 1m square grid pattern and 3+cm deep. I was looking for a similar one last week but unable to find anything like it today.
@@MarkHopewell i used to and everyone jumped on my back about ESD. Used to use a piece of carpet too. This mat was sent to me to evaulate but the sender didn't give me any info to give them credit. It just showed up unsolicited which was a nice gesture by a viewer / company. Came from a company but combing through my emails could not find anyone that said they were sending it. For the things that will fit on it though it is great.
If you don't mind me asking, what brand / model is your screwdriver with the blue wooden handle? I see it in a lot of your videos and it looks comfortable and good quality.
Hi Dave, The Sony TCD5M looked expensive and difficult to manufacture (yet alone service). They should have ty wrapped all the wires into a small harness assembly and used small Amp or Molex connectors to attach the harness to the board. Less assembly time and labor would probably have made up for the extra cost of the connectors (although I cannot say for sure). What do you think? Also, don't you think it is silly to spend almost an entire working day's worth of time just fixing a portable cassette deck? I suppose the high asking prices of the Sony TCD5M make it worth the cost to the customer. Regards, Ben
I never had the privelage of messing with any of these portable sonys. Always wondered how they fared compared to my Marantz PMD-430 which is long gone/sold on ebay years ago..........
Hello I have a Marantz PMD 201and so far its still working just fine. Everyone keeps telling me how much better the Sonys are , are I have been thinking of buying the Sony TCD5M. I was hoping you might be able to tell me if it worth upgrading? are they really that much better then my Marantz? I figure if I buy one I can use your guide the fix the broken. Could I get your opinion please????
I've worked on plenty of these and they are a right bastard thing as you said with all those flimsy wires , well done Dave , I'd have launched it into the steet nowadays !!
What a pain to repair 😞 If you ever fix one of those again, use your old phone and take pictures of the wiring. Those wires are a nightmare. Your old phone would be ideal, just a silly thought.
@@12voltvids i dont remember everything you have shown on video. i tend to remember the things you use all the time. And of those things, i may not remember the brand. Just my dodgy memory, could be all the doctors drugs i take. I rattle as i walk lol.
Great work and dedication to get this one going! I have a TCD5m with no FF but no problem. What is a problem are the scratchy vol/record pots and now I know what to try after watching your vid, so thanks for that! 👍 Did you use de-oxit or something else to squirt into the back of the pots? I have Kontakt PRF 7-78, the one with a lube component built in. Would this be suitable?
I was working in a shop where a lady that was soldering dropped the soldering iron into her blouse, she was well endowed. It was the talk of the shop for quite some time.
These days I don't put any time into cassette decks without visually inspecting the heads. If the heads are worn with a cutting edge groove, no matter what's done to the rest of the machine, it's not going to record or play properly.
on paper, the PMD430 has better SN ratio, better freq response, has 3 heads, and has dbx! But, the SONY has the better wow & flutter. SONY sounds brighter, marantz sounds more relaxed with better bass. Here: ua-cam.com/video/Vx-fDrtq5is/v-deo.html
This one is going to cost a few bucks. Basically it was sent in with the message see what you can do, if it can be done reasonable then go ahead otherwise keep it for parts. I have about 5 hours of work into this one and it is working good as you saw.
@@12voltvids How would you charge someone for a repair that extensive without knowing what they are willing to pay in advance? What is reasonable? The client may just say keep it.
@@zulumax1 They very well could. The thing is it is totally impossible to give an estimate without actually repairing the item. You can give a guestimate where you just take a shot in the dark and hope you hit something. Low ball guestimates always end up biting you in the ass. I am dealing with that with a certain Canon camcorder now. He could say keep it and it will go into my collection. I could have highball guestimate and he could have said scrap it then I would be going through the motions to see if it was repairable. He could ask for it back and I would just pull the belts and ship it back. I make nothing on unrepaired equipment. This is why mist shops charge 100 or more when the equipment walks in the door. Even if the customer says junk it they still make money. I only make money from UA-cam views in this case but i don't make that much as so much tax is taken off both us and Canadian.
Nice job, sir. You've returned that old girl to her glory days. Plays beautifully.
Those small wires are the curse on small walkman's too. I have a few WM-F65's and WM-F15's and no matter how careful I am, one always breaks.
So I have one which was serviced by Sony just before they shut down support for this device.. It was only ever used in a home studio environment so is in perfect cosmetic condition, and thanks to its still relatively recent service, also in perfect working conditions.
The mere fact that changing its position seriously impacts playback speed is pointing at mechanical issues, possibly just sticky lubricant, instead of an electronic problem. This is a device aimed at reporters, has been used in war zones, and should be able to work reliably without such speed issues while thrown in a backpack and running a military assault course.
At to their disc drive, you absolutely have a point about the effect of wear on it.. but for the intended application, it has a very good track record of being unaffected by shocks and vibrations, one of the key selling points for devices like this.
Thanks a lot, only took me about 6 hours to fix my TCD5M with the same problem. Geez too much time for me too! Your video really helped as you showed that the transport could be fixed more easily by removing the PCB, I had been working on it by pulling the transport out the top. Mine had little or no take up, like yours, but not the same issue cause. It badly needed a belt but that didn't do it. Cleaning the rubber tire idler wheel and associated parts did the job. I did loose the tiny Jesus clip, but found it, thank God. I did break two wires, you mentioned the wires 50 times, almost impossible thing to work on. I used the amazing Miller & Stephenson control cleaner that after 30 years in the high end audio business proved it was best.
TCD5M - "It's a SONY!" - HISTORICAL INSTRUMENT !!👍
Wow what a task! Wires in machines like those are vey fragile and nope I didn't say you forgot the belt for the counter! LOL Good job on the repair!
It fills my heart full of joy seeing someone using a bench mat.
For smaller devices it's ok but not for larger. Then it gets in the way
@@12voltvids
I wish more would use one [any bench mat], full stop.
I used a large thick rubber mat at work 20-30 years ago, made out in the form of a 1m square grid pattern and 3+cm deep.
I was looking for a similar one last week but unable to find anything like it today.
@@MarkHopewell i used to and everyone jumped on my back about ESD. Used to use a piece of carpet too. This mat was sent to me to evaulate but the sender didn't give me any info to give them credit. It just showed up unsolicited which was a nice gesture by a viewer / company. Came from a company but combing through my emails could not find anyone that said they were sending it. For the things that will fit on it though it is great.
If you don't mind me asking, what brand / model is your screwdriver with the blue wooden handle? I see it in a lot of your videos and it looks comfortable and good quality.
Its a Sony tech tool. It was given to him from a Sony Tech. You can't buy them. He mentioned this in another video.
@@Calcraft11 Thanks for the reply! I shall give up on looking for one then :)
Hi Dave,
The Sony TCD5M looked expensive and difficult to manufacture (yet alone service). They should have ty wrapped all the wires into a small harness assembly and used small Amp or Molex connectors to attach the harness to the board. Less assembly time and labor would probably have made up for the extra cost of the connectors (although I cannot say for sure). What do you think?
Also, don't you think it is silly to spend almost an entire working day's worth of time just fixing a portable cassette deck? I suppose the high asking prices of the Sony TCD5M make it worth the cost to the customer.
Regards,
Ben
Too many devices these days take a lit of time to fix.
11:30 - That sticky oil also plagues SONY open reel decks from the early 70s.
Sure did. Turns to glue.
I never had the privelage of messing with any of these portable sonys. Always wondered how they fared compared to my Marantz PMD-430 which is long gone/sold on ebay years ago..........
Why did you sell it?
Wow! You sure put in the time on this one!🤯SuperTech to the rescue!💪
Hello
I have a Marantz PMD 201and so far its still working just fine. Everyone keeps telling me how much better the Sonys are , are I have been thinking of buying the Sony TCD5M. I was hoping you might be able to tell me if it worth upgrading? are they really that much better then my Marantz? I figure if I buy one I can use your guide the fix the broken. Could I get your opinion please????
42:50 - The 'slow forward' idler! :)
5:50 - Did you just snap off that wire?
I've worked on plenty of these and they are a right bastard thing as you said with all those flimsy wires , well done Dave , I'd have launched it into the steet nowadays !!
working tc-d5m is fairly valuable nowadays...
What a pain to repair 😞
If you ever fix one of those again, use your old phone and take pictures of the wiring.
Those wires are a nightmare.
Your old phone would be ideal, just a silly thought.
I do have a camera right overhead. It shoots 20mp stills.
@@12voltvids i dont remember everything you have shown on video.
i tend to remember the things you use all the time.
And of those things, i may not remember the brand.
Just my dodgy memory, could be all the doctors drugs i take.
I rattle as i walk lol.
Nice!!! Greatings from Romania. I need to restore 2 belts. Please , i need more details , step by step how to do'it. Thank you...
Great work and dedication to get this one going! I have a TCD5m with no FF but no problem. What is a problem are the scratchy vol/record pots and now I know what to try after watching your vid, so thanks for that! 👍 Did you use de-oxit or something else to squirt into the back of the pots? I have Kontakt PRF 7-78, the one with a lube component built in. Would this be suitable?
I used old stock nutrol but deoxit would by my first choice but I am out at the moment and 30 for a can is pricey.
I pick the soldering iron up once by the hot end
I've done that more than once wearing magnefier glasses. Can't see anything distant with them and reached for where i thought it was.
@@12voltvids oof
I was working in a shop where a lady that was soldering dropped the soldering iron into her blouse, she was well endowed. It was the talk of the shop for quite some time.
Ditto
Choice of Sony,s CEO
These days I don't put any time into cassette decks without visually inspecting the heads. If the heads are worn with a cutting edge groove, no matter what's done to the rest of the machine, it's not going to record or play properly.
All I can say is “WOW”
What do you use to clean the controls?
I used nutrol on this. Deoxit also very good.
@@12voltvids xraytonyb had really bad luck using 'regular' Doxit on pots. They get gummed up. Doxit 5 is better.
@@dhpbear2 f5 is recommended for pots.
I knew a technician for 40 years that's now retired and said he never made money on tape decks..
I haven't made money doing this for the past 20 years.
Why he hate such a well regarded cassette-corder?
How’s this compare to a marantz pmd 430?
Couldn't tell you. Know nothing about a marantz pmd430
@@12voltvids thanks for replying
on paper, the PMD430 has better SN ratio, better freq response, has 3 heads, and has dbx! But, the SONY has the better wow & flutter. SONY sounds brighter, marantz sounds more relaxed with better bass. Here: ua-cam.com/video/Vx-fDrtq5is/v-deo.html
How do you boil the belts in the microwave?
Put in glass of water, put in microwave and turn on.
@@12voltvids thanks, but for how long in the microwave?.
@@davewilliams5932 I left it is for about 10 minutes.
@@12voltvids thank you very much.
Damn! Hardly maintenance friendly is it ... Grimacing just watching lol
No, not maintenence friendly at all. There are worse. Anything that has the words DAT Walkman is worse.
Was someone paying handsomely to get their cassette fixed?
This one is going to cost a few bucks. Basically it was sent in with the message see what you can do, if it can be done reasonable then go ahead otherwise keep it for parts. I have about 5 hours of work into this one and it is working good as you saw.
@@12voltvids How would you charge someone for a repair that extensive without knowing what they are willing to pay in advance? What is reasonable? The client may just say keep it.
@@zulumax1
They very well could. The thing is it is totally impossible to give an estimate without actually repairing the item. You can give a guestimate where you just take a shot in the dark and hope you hit something. Low ball guestimates always end up biting you in the ass. I am dealing with that with a certain Canon camcorder now. He could say keep it and it will go into my collection. I could have highball guestimate and he could have said scrap it then I would be going through the motions to see if it was repairable. He could ask for it back and I would just pull the belts and ship it back. I make nothing on unrepaired equipment.
This is why mist shops charge 100 or more when the equipment walks in the door. Even if the customer says junk it they still make money. I only make money from UA-cam views in this case but i don't make that much as so much tax is taken off both us and Canadian.
Ah...sometimes you would like to dump this whole ting into isopropanol, come back the next day and all of your sticking mechanics are (dis)solved....
12:10 Why would Sony do that, make a gear out of different plastic to the others? This really makes no sense to me!
Also, why did you put the old belt back on?
@@theotherchannel2279
I didn't put the old belt back on.
@@12voltvids How does the guitar pitch control work, and how accurate is it. I am thinking of getting one for me to check my decks with.
@@theotherchannel2279
It is dead on accurate.
@@12voltvids Great idea, I am going to buy one now. ;)
Is there anyone out there that will take mine in for a repair?
OMG if I knew you spend 10 hrs on repairs I have a Lexicon rv8 and a Pioneer axdv 10 both had power supply boo-boo
boiling softens rubber, ruining its elasticity.
Actually the opposite. It returns the elasticity.