Problem with my Aiwa Ad-6900 cassette deck

[Patrick_K]

For reasons I'll not go into, most of my stereo gear was in a storage unit for some 10 years. I finally got it all out and setup. I now have problems with several of the components. I'll post separately for each.

This one is about my Aiwa AD-6900 cassette deck.

When I turn it on, the electronics work (i get VU needle movement for both mic and line input) but when I put a tape in it refused to play. At first, the transport just clicked but nothing happened. I tried this a couple times then the transport quit completely. No solenoid click at all.

I like this deck a lot and would rather not replace it (I'm using a Radio Shack POS right now). I think it is worth repairing. Any ideas on what it would take to fix it?

[Nakdoc]

Belts. You will have to find generic replacements. Very nice deck.

[braxus]

I would agree the belts have probably stretched and broken down over time. You can parts from Sony for these decks. There are a lot of online dealers for parts.

[Patrick_K]

From Sony? Really? Surprising.

I found this site with repair briefs. http://www.divdev.fsnet.co.uk/ (do a search for 6900)
Looks like this is a very difficult deck to repair. I dread undertaking it. It also looks like I'll have to pull the belt to measure it before odering one.

[braxus]

When I ordered new belts from Partssearch for my Aiwa deck, they had them in stock and came in bags with Sony all over them. If you didn't know Sony bought out Aiwa some years back.

[Patrick_K]

I didn't know that. Do you have a url for Partssearch? Google didn't turn up one. www.partssearch.com doesn't seem to be answering their phone. Although pinging gets a response.

[braxus]

I tried the Canadian version which is run by Future Shop, and the site didn't show any parts for your model. You'll have to look around on the net.

[Patrick_K]

Thanks for looking. I'll see what I can find.

[TinMiner]

I also have one of these units and I think belts are the problem, Did you get yours replaced , and did it do the job?

This was also packed away for 18+mths through a couple of moves. When put into use it would FF but not FR, was playing ok and simply stopped 1/2 way through a tape and no more play :(

I have a copy of the service manual, supplied by AIWA back in the early 1980s , looks like a complex job to get at the belts?

[bshorey]

I also have one of these units and I think belts are the problem, Did you get yours replaced , and did it do the job?

This was also packed away for 18+mths through a couple of moves. When put into use it would FF but not FR, was playing ok and simply stopped 1/2 way through a tape and no more play :(

I have a copy of the service manual, supplied by AIWA back in the early 1980s , looks like a complex job to get at the belts?

I've got three of these decks, two functioning, one not.

I would *love* a copy of the service manual..

I bought my non-functioning 6900 as a parts deck for the other two, I'm going to take a stab at getting it working, but if I can't, I'd be willing to 'part it out' if anybody needs anything.

bs

[TinMiner]

no problem from my end for a copy, I have recently scanned it as I was looking to protect the quality. Mine is a photocopy, so I have done 600x600 B/W scan (.TIF) to get as much definition as possible in the circuit schematics and assembly diagrams. Single file for each page to keep the size managable , I also did 300x300 scan to PDF per page ( does not have as clear definition).

The TIF version zipped to bind(no real compression) is just under 11Mb seperately the largest is just over 1Mb. The PDF version is 5.5Mb files up to 500k.

New here , so I did a quick look around , not sure of the attachment size allowed, can do it outside here if necessary.

TinMiner

[bshorey]

no problem from my end for a copy, I have recently scanned it as I was looking to protect the quality. Mine is a photocopy, so I have done 600x600 B/W scan (.TIF) to get as much definition as possible in the circuit schematics and assembly diagrams. Single file for each page to keep the size managable , I also did 300x300 scan to PDF per page ( does not have as clear definition).

The TIF version zipped to bind(no real compression) is just under 11Mb seperately the largest is just over 1Mb. The PDF version is 5.5Mb files up to 500k.

New here , so I did a quick look around , not sure of the attachment size allowed, can do it outside here if necessary.

TinMiner

If you can't post it here, please e-mail me a copy. 11 mb is no problem for me.

bshorey@cisco.com

Thanks!!

bs

[Patrick_K]

I also have one of these units and I think belts are the problem, Did you get yours replaced , and did it do the job?

This was also packed away for 18+mths through a couple of moves. When put into use it would FF but not FR, was playing ok and simply stopped 1/2 way through a tape and no more play :(

I have a copy of the service manual, supplied by AIWA back in the early 1980s , looks like a complex job to get at the belts?

I read a "service notes" type page on changing the belts and it does look very complicated. Lots of parts that have to fit together at the same time.

I, too, would like a copy of the service manual.
pkelley2@uia.net

Thanks, PK

[bshorey]

If you can't post it here, please e-mail me a copy. 11 mb is no problem for me.

bshorey@cisco.com

Thanks!!

bs

Btw, public thanks to TinMiner for the copy of the manual!

THANKS!!!

bs

[rotovator]

I read a "service notes" type page on changing the belts and it does look very complicated. Lots of parts that have to fit together at the same time.



Yes... it's the way they are built, get used to spend one hour carefully putting parts aside... you'll enjoy.

[bshorey]

Btw, public thanks to TinMiner for the copy of the manual!

Hey, I stumbled across the manuals for my 6900 and 6900 mk II and stuck them here:

http://www.shorey.net/Audio/Aiwa/htmltree.html

Enjoy!

bs

[Scorpion8]

BS -- Do you want those in single PDF files? Let me know and I can e-mail them to you.

[bshorey]

BS -- Do you want those in single PDF files? Let me know and I can e-mail them to you.

I have no need, but if others would prefer PDF, I'm happy to put that up there too.

Ultimately, I'd like to scan at higher res, do some OCR, and then build some real indexable HTML files for this kind of thing.

bs

[bshorey]

For reasons I'll not go into, most of my stereo gear was in a storage unit for some 10 years. I finally got it all out and setup. I now have problems with several of the components. I'll post separately for each.

This one is about my Aiwa AD-6900 cassette deck.

When I turn it on, the electronics work (i get VU needle movement for both mic and line input) but when I put a tape in it refused to play. At first, the transport just clicked but nothing happened. I tried this a couple times then the transport quit completely. No solenoid click at all.

I like this deck a lot and would rather not replace it (I'm using a Radio Shack POS right now). I think it is worth repairing. Any ideas on what it would take to fix it?

I'm going to post this here, as the title may help future searchers.

First of all, thanks to sleddogman for pointing me to a source for belts for the 6900. I have 3 decks, all need belts. I finally got the belt kit and tackled this job on Christmas Eve. Why Christmas Eve? Well, I found a 35 year old recording, and wanted to transfer it to MP3 to give to my mom for Christmas.

This job was an absolute nightmare, but I think I've found an 'easy' way in, that doesn't require dismantling (and therefore re-aligning) the tape mechanicals. I'm also pretty sure I can do the next one without even removing the face plate.

Basically, I removed the cover of the deck, the door, and the panel covering the back of where the tape sits in the deck. I also unscrewed a couple of circuit boards inside that were blocking access to the belts.

I pulled off the face plate, but I'm pretty sure I could do the next one without going through that effort again.

Once I had all that apart, there are three belts. The first is the one that drives the tape counter. That one is pretty easy to do from the front, fishing the belt inside and around the counter.

The second can be gotten from the top, it's the smallest belt. There were three screws holding the pulley in place, I removed the screws, backed the pulley out, and was able to slip the new belt over the pulley, then put it back in place.

So far, so good.

The last one is the bitch, it's the large, main drive belt. This one I was able to get at by undoing the rear of the bar that holds the large drive pulley in place. Lifting the circuit boards gave me access. I was able to slide the pulley off to the rear, there was *just* enough space to get it out, then slip the new belt into place. Getting the pulley back in place was easy, getting the threaded hex piece back onto the stud was extremely frustrating, and required some dexterity and luck.

The whole job took me under three hours, and so far, all is well! That three hours included time spent studying the three belts and how I might tackle each one without dismantling the tape mechanism.

I've got two decks to go, I'll try to take some decent pictures of the next one as I do the job.

Hope this helps somebody.

Merry Christmas,

bs

[Celadon]

Awesome !

I've got a dead one of these hiding in a closet somewhere....

Thanks for the write up guys.

[Scorpion8]

Way to go. New belts can certainly revive a treasured tape deck.

[RayW]

I'm going to post this here, as the title may help future searchers.

It helped me!

First of all, thanks to sleddogman for pointing me to a source for belts for the 6900. I have 3 decks, all need belts. I finally got the belt kit and...

Would you mind letting us know where you got it? And part/order numbers in you have 'em? I just pulled the cover on mine (picked up with a whole stack of stuff) and the belts are toast. The main one was in 4 or 5 gooey pieces so I can't measure it. Any help would be appreciated. I think your writeup of how to do it will help immensely in the re-stringing.

Thanks,
Ray

[bshorey]

It helped me!



Would you mind letting us know where you got it? And part/order numbers in you have 'em? I just pulled the cover on mine (picked up with a whole stack of stuff) and the belts are toast. The main one was in 4 or 5 gooey pieces so I can't measure it. Any help would be appreciated. I think your writeup of how to do it will help immensely in the re-stringing.

Thanks,
Ray

http://www.vintage-electronics.cc/aiwakits.html

$17, cheap! I'll try to get around to doing deck #2 soon, and taking pics along the way.

bs

[RayW]

Despite what anyone else might say, you sir are the man! Another $10 will get me the belts for the M-800 I have sitting beside the 6900II. Thanks!!

Ray

[uniqueid]

Hi. Would 6900 MKII belt kit from vintage-electronics fit 6900? I do not know how they differ.
Thanks.

[BrocLuno]

Keeping the high end Aiwa's running is the coolest thing :) These are really nice decks and it's a shame when they go by the way side :(

[bshorey]

Hi. Would 6900 MKII belt kit from vintage-electronics fit 6900? I do not know how they differ.
Thanks.

The belts are the same. The decks are identical, except the 6900 MKII is metal capable.

HTH,

bs

[uniqueid]

Thanks bs.
Do you still have the service manual posted? My browser times out when I go to http://www.shorey.net/Audio/Aiwa/htmltree.html.
If anyone has it in less than 10MB peaces - please e-mail it to me at extrauniqueid@yahoo.com.
Thank you.

[bshorey]

Thanks bs.
Do you still have the service manual posted? My browser times out when I go to http://www.shorey.net/Audio/Aiwa/htmltree.html.
If anyone has it in less than 10MB peaces - please e-mail it to me at extrauniqueid@yahoo.com.
Thank you.

Give it another shot, my server is getting hammered for some reason. It's up there..

If you still have trouble, let me know and I'll e-mail them to you.

bs

[uniqueid]

Hi bs.
Still the same and I am using my pc at work this time.
Thanks.

[Nakdoc]

This is Karma at its best. We are singing the praises of the 6900 on the NakTalk group. Someone reminded me that the VU needles are dual peak/ average. I believe there is an AK thread on cool meters, and a pix posted to that thread would be neat.

[Old_Tech]

I have this deck which I bought at the Heathkit store back in 1977 for 389 dollars. I used it for years then stopped for awhile and when I came back several years later the FF/RW speed was very slow. There is a triangular shaped belt used for that drive that is by now probably disintegrated. At the time Aiwa service was horrible to work with so I never sent it in for repair.

Early on around 1985 the deck died completely and I did send it to Aiwa. They replaced the power transformer as the fuse is inside of it. So, be careful working on these fellas! Also, when they sent the unit back from that repair the tech had tweaked the machine for me. It sounded way better than when I bought it. The case was damaged in shipping (or at Aiwa) and the Service Manager would not assist with a replacement and said I did it in my living room. That was the last I ever did business with them.

It has been packed away now for over ten years because of the RW/FF problem and I doubt it will ever work again. The drive and load transport is a total nightmare to work on. I am not sure it was meant to be serviceable.
I was given a NAD 6100 brand new in the box from a co-worker earlier this week. It has been in storage for a long time unused. I am nursing it back to life and it is not pleased with having been woken. The drive grease is a bit heavy and needs TLC. I need to learn my way around that deck it looks promising.