DCC 900 - Quiet on left channel on analog playback (Post-Recap)

Recorders, Players, etc.
#1

Hey all, ran into a roadblock with something that’s still very new to me, and the only thing I can think to do now is ask somebody else for help.

To start, I’m brand new to the DCC format. I’m a college student who finds stuff like this and repairs it as a hobby, and recently found this Philips DCC 900 last weekend at a local swap meet for only 20 bucks, in a cosmetically new shape. Since I have no DCC tapes to test it with, when playing with an analog tape all I got was an incredibly quiet output on the right channel only, and no sound at all on the left. After looking around some more and finding DrDCC’s video on a recap, Sure enough, both of my boards were slowly being eaten away by old caps. I bought the exact same caps shown in the video off of Digi-Key, and swapped them out without much trouble. The traces didn’t look substantially damaged, and I thourgouly cleaned the whole board before soldering with isopropyl alchohol. And while I wouldn’t call myself a genius when it comes to soldering, It seemed to me that I made a solid connection on all pads, which all seemed to be present.

Here’s a before and after of the worst example of corrosion:

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20211020_1207551251×938 399 KB

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20211020_1213011024×768 268 KB

And here’s my terrible solder job:

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20211021_1756591920×1440 357 KB

(residue on this board was some leftover isopropyl alcohol that hadn’t dissovled yet when I cleaned it a second time.)
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20211021_1705374128×3096 1.11 MB

Now when powered up with the new caps, while the right audio channel now sounds perfectly normal, the left channel is just quiet instead of dead. so far I’ve tried messing with some of the pots near the headphone out port, but to no avail.

Is there anything else I should try, or should I just sell it for parts? Thanks in advance.

-Payton

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#2

Hi Payton,

The boards look ok. Seen far worse. As you can see in many of our videos (See the Techncis RSDC10 restoration on YT), there could also be a problem with the side A-B connections.

Ralf

#3

Hey,
Thanks a lot for the relatively quick response, I’ll be sure to give that video a look. Now that you mention it, I remember reading somewhere about those A to B connections before, but I hadn’t given it much thought until now. Actually when cleaning the audio-in/out board, I did notice some corrosion had made it’s way to the other side of the area pictured earlier. I’ll see what I can do tonight, and I’ll leave an update afterwards. Thanks again.

#4

Update:
Tested essentially every A to B connection on both boards, especially those under and around caps, and found only working connections. Double checked some traces as well, but couldn’t find anything. Also just put it back together just to see If it could’ve been my fault when reassembling, but nope. Sounds great on the right side, but still very quiet on the left. Barely moves the VU meter, and when Turning it up all the way from the headphone jack on that side, it sounds OK too, just has some static noise alongside it. Anything I should try next? Judging by the fact sound is properly passing through the play head to my headphones, is it possible the problem is more localized on the amplification side, like with the audio board?

#5

At this point it could be the audio board, but also the head amplifier / quite a few other things.

Without a DCC title it might not even make sense to continue. I would firstly make sure it plays and records DCC as it has been widely documented that you should refrain using analog tapes on any DCC player.

#6

I appreciate your help up to now, but I guess I’ll be calling it quits for the time being.

Since the day I found it, in my head I was gonna prove it worked just through analog tapes, then decide whether I wanted to go further with the format, but with the high price-per-tape and other costs involved, for me it becomes too much of a financial commitment to be anything more than a casual hobby I throw a couple bucks at here and there like I do with standard cassettes. I just don’t have the time or previous investment in the format to justify going further. I think my best course of action now would be to make my money back by selling it to someone who has a better shot of getting it going, and DCC tape collection to boot. Just glad I saved it, as I still plan to move it on from here.

Thanks again,
-Payton

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#7

Hi mate I have Technics RS DC10. Doesn’t play DCC tape. Please tell me what is the value of capacitors that I need to replace… my deck plays analog tape ok but sound bit low volume… haven’t open the deck yet. I am in Sydney, Australia. Tried to talk to local technicians but they are not confident of repair this deck. Can I use electrolytic or ceramic capacitors instead of SMD? Any advise is highly appreciated… thanks & regards- Harun

#8

Hey Harun,

I sold the deck back in November so while I normally couldn’t be much help, in this case I followed the video by Mr DCC himself regarding this deck for the relevant values and how to perform the repair. Even if It didn’t completely fix it in my case, it was one of the easiest repair processes I’ve ever done. Here’s a link:

The video description shows all the relevant values. If I remember correctly all the caps I used were just standard through-hole as they were easier to solder with a regular iron. I’d just stick to electrolytic.

Hope this helps,

  • Payton
1 Like