JonnyD Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Project ticking along and glad I have a friend handy with wiring. But currently stumped as where to get a cassette radio head unit that will fit my Manta GTE 1987 due to the shallow space in dash. Car came with the Radiomobile AKB710 and even out of the car it will not come to life. I bought a AKB760 from eBay. Unfortunately it did not power up either. And it is a little too deep. is there a secret to testing these on the bench? images attached of what I have. Insides are of the AKB710 anyone any knowledge of repairing these or alternatives? as always thanks!! JD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Google close to you, there should be a few old boys still doing analogue Audi repairs, more than likely bench engineer (I.e HAM radio) who will easily be able to fix that for you. Call the local college is another option, they usually have electronics tutors who repairs on the side 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 for a basic bench test you will need a 12 supply or battery and connect as listed on the label ( cant quite see it clearly) but usually casing metal and /or a black lead would be neg and the positive red . other colours may be positive too and may need feeding too especially if they are a memory feed but check label as i said. some but not all may have a fuse in the back, some have an inline one. you can think about speaker connections if you get the units to power up . if they do ! otherwise any local tv repair shop ( not a phone repair shop !) mat take a look or there are plenty of ICE shops around . as regards fitment the deeper units were accomodated by having a front shroud which brought the front out by an inch so pretty much anything can be used . there are single din versions of the shroud and also older ' double knob' types around ( but rarer) also there are some modern 'retro look' units on ebay which are basically a radio with usb input . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealExile Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Plenty like this around if you don't mind something modern. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/196162179382?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=-y4h6ixlsgy&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=s6tm7DJNRhi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=SMS Sometimes original units crop up which have been modified to take a mp3 via a auxiliary input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyD Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 Cheers but I really want to keep the old tape player in the car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRealExile Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Do you have a voltmeter? Few continuity tests you can do to start with. Any inline fuse, then internal fuse too, next take a look at the Capacitors, anything bulging is usually a red flag, plenty on here with more experience than I no doubt but on older kit it is often the simple stuff like a dry joint, check where the power goes to the board first for dry joints also check you are seeing volts there first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyD Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 Thank you. I did a few multimeter checks just to confirm continuity in wires. There does not appear to be any fuses of any kind which is strange I thought? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 there was probably an inline fuse in the wiring then so not to worry about nowfor testing purposes. so ... if you power it up ( as req) what happens ? no lights or tape movement .ie totally dead ? has it been working before ? its unusual for 2 units to be randomly totallydead ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyD Posted February 26 Author Share Posted February 26 Correct on the weird on two units. Just there now instead of connecting the red power feed wire to the positive of battery, I connected the orange electric aerial feed to the positive and ground to negative if battery and it powered up. same on both units. Red wire must be for something. the journey continues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 (edited) yes it can vary with different makes . red yellow or orange usually live . so if it powers up now you may be ok . the label will confirm wire colours thou blue is often electric ariel ? sounds like it could be an issue with the on/off switch especially as it powers up after the switch ? anyway try it with some speakers connected or back in the car . worth cleaning the tape head and rollers etc whilst its apart ? Edited February 27 by cam.in.head additions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickfrad Posted February 27 Share Posted February 27 Very often a permanent live for memory clock etc and switched live usually yellow and red Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumster Posted February 28 Share Posted February 28 The space is quite shallow, cassette players usually require the "spacer" between the dash & unit. Does your player fit in flush without the spacer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyD Posted February 28 Author Share Posted February 28 The AKB710 fits in without any spacer or shroud needsd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JonnyD Posted July 25 Author Share Posted July 25 So the journey continues. this head unit now working for radio but tape player plays really slowly. Do I need a new motor or is there any way to check Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooker Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 44 minutes ago, JonnyD said: So the journey continues. this head unit now working for radio but tape player plays really slowly. Do I need a new motor or is there any way to check Get some cotton buds and some methylated spirit or surgical spirit. Open the unit up again & clean the pinch roller with a cotton bud dampened with the spirit. Best if you can power it up & trigger the mechanism so it runs without a cassette in it and you see the pinch roller running against the capstan. Clean and repeat until there’s no oxide left on the pinch roller. while you’re in there gently clean the head too, run the end of the bud across it in the same direction as the tape will run. Don’t put a tape in for 10 mins as any dampness left will make it stick to the pinch roller & wrap itself around it. Check the belt underneath, it may be ok but may have hardened and be perished. If it looks ok clean it. I should have gone & looked for a YouTube video but hey, I’ve tapped this out on the phone now 🤪 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cam.in.head Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 all good advice plus once all that's done and working smoothly if it's running at a maintained set speed but just slightly slow 'most' cassette deck motors have a speed adjustment screw on the back . if it's an irregular and varying speed then this probably wont work and may need another motor . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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