My DCC730 is now poorly

Recorders, Players, etc.
#1

The player will play analogue tapes (but the left channel keeps on dropping so probably needs a recap) but major issues with DCC tapes.
Didn’t have any DCC tapes (sold them all years ago) so bought one off of E-Bay - it started to play well then went funny - checked the tape and in some areas you could see it was damaged. Informed the seller who sent another one - when this is inserted it just says 'CLEAN HEAD"
I have cleaned the head with IPA and also put new pinch rollers in but still the same.

Just in case the second tape was duff I bought a third and the same (bought from this very site) :frowning:

So, just put a DCC tape in and put it in service mode and I get the following when pressing play:

ERROR 00001000 on but the 3rd from the end o keeps flicking to a 1 (so 00001100)
When I check the channels:
Ch5 ERROR 20
Ch6 ERROR 13 (sometimes 17 or 18)

Ready for the skip then??

#2

Oh - and if I choose play no sound (even thought the CLEAN HEAD message has gone.
It shows which track it is playing and the counter goes up.
If I put the duff tape in it plays fine (head out of alignment??)

#3

If I chose side B I get sound but constantly breaking up (bity) only on the right side

#4

Hi,
That is a strange situation.

Side A and B should react the same as the head turns.

It might be bad pinch rollers. Old rollers can damage the tape as well. They are easy to replace.
I would start with that .

#5

I already changed the pinch rollers - supplied from this site.

#6

If it still damages your tapes, there is mechanical issue, vs capacitors.
Does is always damage the tapes?

#7

No - the first DCC tape appears to be damaged. The other 2 seem fine.
Also analogue tapes seem fine (physically) also.
Yet the damaged tape plays OK (until it get to the area where it is damaged then the player stops the tape which makes sense).

#8

The data shows at least one bad track on the head.
Analog is not affected by that, but DCC could.

You could send the mechanism to us for review if needed.

#9

Would the bad track cause the dropouts on the left channel?
Sure - which part of the mechanism would you require?

#10

That is a good point. It actually can’t just cause a dropout on the left channel in my opinion.

The 730-951 are known for bad soldering joints, especially on the analog output.

Do the dropouts on the left channel also occur when you are using the digital output?

The solder the connections, you need to remove the back panel and mother board. It is not as hard as you would think. Flip the board over and go over the soldering joints in the Analog Output and Input.

If you are not able to do that, you can also send us the entire machine for a checkup.

Ralf

#11

Thanks again

The dropouts happen when using either digital or analogue. I will drop the main board and have a look underneath - doesn’t look to difficult to pull apart.

Andy

#12

Wow - long time since I was on here (due to work and all that).
I checked the solder on the bottom of the main board and looked OK to me!
Playing an analogue tape and so far no issues so far (been playing for an hour or so).
But digital tape is another matter :frowning:
Played a digital tape and the sound keeps on breaking every now and again. I have the same artist/recording on another digital tape and it is worse.

I received early this year a FYC tape from this forum and that just says ‘CLEAN HEAD’ and it shows it is playing but no sound.

I recorded the 2 tapes so you can hear the breaking of the sound .

Hope you can play these and point me in the right direction.

#13

The clean had indicates a bad contact between the tape and head.It also could be that your head has lost two tracks permanently.

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#14

Sounds like I may as well scrap the unit then :frowning:
With the UK no longer being a part of Europe the costs will be expensive just to ship!

#15

We only need the mechanism to investigate. Easy to remove by just 2 screws.
It would be a very small package that way.

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#16

OK - will have a look and see about sending just the mechanism.
Cheers

#17

You will still need to solder the main board. It’s not difficult if you have some experience soldering.

I’m sure there are cracks in the solder joints, not visible by the eye. I repaired a lot of them and they are always cracked. That might sure be the cause of one of the channels (L or R) not working on analog outputs (on analog and digital cassettes).

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#18

Thanks - I can solder so will have a go of re-flowing sone of the joints.