My DCC951 suddenly no longer played dcc tapes but only analogue ones.
The head test returned error 20 on all channels.
I was starting to worry about the bad head, but when I tried to record and play back on a DD-82, the recording was fine.
I then examined the digital board and found a leaky SMD capacitor.
I therefore decided to replace them all.
once desoldered, 5 of them left traces of acid on the PCB.
All replaced with normal electrolytics, never more SMD.
The 951 is back to life and no errors on the head channels.
I’m thinking of changing those on the head amplifier PCB too, before something irreparable happens…
I decided to share it so it can be useful
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@Sandro Thank you for sharing. I have a DCC 951 new out of the box (3 years ago)
I have replaced the belts, the capstan rollers and the gears. I have no issues with this deck whatsoever. I heard that this type of deck does not have the same issues like the DCC 900 because it doesn’t uses the same SMD capacitors. Now i hear you talking about leaking SMD capacitors. Is it possible that also these decks will suffer overtime from leaking capacitors?
Hello Jurjen,
unfortunately yes, they last much longer than the dcc900 but after a few years, it happens that they lose acid.
In my case I replaced them in time, before the acid started to corrode the printed circuit board.
when I removed them, even though they looked healthy, they had released acid underneath them
My advice is to replace them all before that happens.
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