Aiwa Z-L500 Stereo Tape Deck Eject Issue

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The solenoid should engage the PTO from the main system. Is there another band you have not seen or missing linkage or pawl connecting to the solenoid spindle ?

Possibly your replacement belt(s) haven't quite enough tension. That is, slightly too large outer circumference. I have had similar problems when the belts I used weren't "quite" right.

The Aiwa's do click quite a bit as they change modes, but I don't think the heads stay engaged in regular FF or REW modes - sounds like a music search (skip to next song) function.

Mark Z.

Hi Mark,

You are right. The heads do not stay engaged during FF or RW.

This was my error because I made that observation when this problem occurred during a "play" action.

Thank You, John

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This is almost certainly the belts still. You probably need some which are a bit shorter or a bit thicker. Did you clean the motor pulley and capstan flywheel surfaces with alcohol before fitting the new ones? This is essential to remove old deposits and grease which cause slippage under load.

It could also be that the cam and its follower arm /associated sliders, racks etc. have old grease on which has hardened and is causing things to bind. Only cure is a full strip down, clean, and regrease. However, this is not likely in a cassette deck like this.

In particular problem cases, I have found that roughening up the plastic on the grooves where the belts go helps give it that bit more grip.

HTH regards B.

I absolutely agree. I used to repair literally hundreds of assorted Aiwa models for an outfit that were main service agents for a barn that sold them almost exclusively as their 'budget' range. The problem that you describe is very common on all variations of deck that Aiwa used in these twin deck all-in-ones and it is always caused by the belts not having enough grip to turn the cam gear over, after the solenoid has allowed it to engage with the drive gear on the front of the capstan flywheel. I actually used to stock my belts from Aiwa (latterly Sony) direct, as the decks were more critical than most of having the correct ones. You also have to be very careful with them to select two belts for the two different lengths, that are exactly the same cross sectional size. Even a small difference such as 1mm on one, and 1.2 mm on the other, is enough to produce an un-resolvable speed difference between the two decks.

Arfa

Hi,

The problem is not a belt slip issue in my model. I already said that replacing the belts did not cure the problem, which included cleaning the belt drive pulley at the motor, etc.

With a side panel removed, when this problem occurs, I place my finger on the large pully/gear drive and rotate it in order to get the stop mechanism to complete it's action. The amount of force I need to apply is significant.

Since both sides have this same issue, I have to conclude this is a faulty designed mechanism which is prone to have this problem after the warranty runs out. This is when my problem started.

John

Ah. OK. Well I guess my considerable experience in seeing all models of Aiwa for the last 15 years or more, and never having seen a tape deck problem that I would consider to be down to poor design, must count for little then. For what it's worth, I would actually say that the Aiwa twin decks are amongst the more reliable and better designed 'budget' ones. Did you use manufacturer's original belts for your replacements ? When the deck grinds to a halt, is the motor still running ? If the belts are really tight enough as you suggest you believe, then if the cam gear is needing excess torque of the level you are saying, I would expect this to stall the motor. At the end of the day, the deck is easily removed, and easily cycled mechanically by hand into any of its modes, if you properly understand its sequencing, and know the right times in the cycle to flick the solenoid lever. If it truly is jamming up, then the reason should be obvious to a skilled eye.

And if you wouldn't mind, please try to avoid top-posting in newsgroups. It is generally considered to be bad practice, and plays havoc with the thread's timeline ...

Arfa

I have been in the service field longer than you, and I have serviced many different brands of cassette decks over the years. I own other brands of cassette units (dual decks, etc.) and I don't have problems with them after years of use. Note: In the past, I have seen problems with Sony cassette units too. There is such a thing as "normal" problems after years of use, but my Aiwa does not have a "normal" problem after a year of use. I didn't use the cassette units "hard". Note: This model is several years old and I have been using another eternal cassette deck instead.

My original post was to find out if anyone knew if an improved cassette deck was made for this model.

John

There would not be any improved deck to replace yours. Geoff is probably correct. If you did not use original Aiwa belts, that is probably your problem. The Aiwa's are simply more critical for this than you might think.

Mark Z.

wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

And how, pray, do you think you know how long I've been in the business, and what my experience level is ? I have probably seen and repaired more models of Aiwa than you even knew existed. The several different decks fitted to Aiwa units - which for some time now have been Sony anyway - are not generally unreliable, and have not undergone any improvements in their design that I am aware of, because they have not needed it. The one problem that all varieties that they fit suffer from, is belts, and the symptoms, as anyone familiar with them will tell you, are exactly as you described in your original post. That is the only 'normal' problem that I have ever seen them suffer from. You suggested that both decks did the same thing, but otherwise ran ok. As the two decks are effectively completely separate entities except for sharing a common motor, don't you think that it would be extremely unlikely that both had suffered from the same problem at the same time, if it was some kind of mechanical problem within the deck ? About the only other thing that I can see that it could be, is either a bad motor or low supply to the motor, either of which might result in poor torque when it was needed to turn over the cam gear, and would be easily diagnosed by someone with your apparent experience and understanding of these decks. Did you ever check, to answer my previous question about whether the motor is stalled or running when the cam gear has stopped ? If you don't follow the correct diagnostic procedures, you will never get to the bottom of the problem. But then I expect you know that, being a service technician for many years ...

Arfa

I agree with you. My experience with AIWA multi-disc carousel players has shown that the belts used in the drawer drive/disc load mech are very critical in their specs. Using AIWA belts is the best bet, and making sure all the sticky grease has been cleaned out and replaced with new. Is AIWA currently producing audio equipment? Haven't seen many ads for them lately. Tom

Yes, stuff is still produced under the Aiwa brand name, but that name has been owned by Sony for some time now. However, that may be changing. If you try to look up anything to do with the Aiwa brand name, you just get led back to a Sony site that tells you that the Aiwa site has closed down ...

The OP's original question of course referred to the tape decks fitted to these Aiwa all-in-ones, and I made the point that the belt sizes that are used for replacement on them, are somewhat more critical than on other makes of deck. However, I'm also with you on the belts fitted to the carousel CD mechs - both the 3-changers, and the 5 changers - in that these are also extremely critical. The one that drives the worm gear for carousel rotation is particularly so, and I never found a suitable third party replacement that would work correctly on them, so always stocked a genuine Aiwa replacement.

Arfa