UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Citroen (Freeman) 550 tape recorder- bad capacitor?

ct92404 · 18th May 2017, 10:08 am

Hi,

I just recently bought a small antique reel-to-reel tape recorder. I'm not sure exactly when it was made, but based on what I've been able to find out so far, it was made in Japan and might be from the early 1960's. It's in beautiful condition, and even came with the original case and microphone and even some extra blank tape reels.

It's kind of confusing though, because there are two company names shown. It says "Freeman Electronics Corporation" on the case, but on the tape recorder itself, it says "Citroen Electronics Corporation." The case was definitely meant to go with the tape recorder though. Maybe the company changed names at some point?

When I first tested it, it played and recorded ok. But then I started noticing that the recording started getting worse. It sounded kind of distorted and muffled, and now it's barely recording at all. It hardly records over sounds already on the tape (like how you can normally just re-use tape by recording over it). Instead, I get a really distorted sound of both recordings playing at the same time. I tried cleaning the heads with alcohol and that didn't do anything. The recording is still bad.

I've read before that bad capacitors can cause problems like this with tape recorders. Could that be what's going on? I know that with antique tube radios, bad filter capacitors will cause loud humming from the AC line power, but this tape recorder just runs on batteries. I don't know much about how tape recorders work or what the capacitors do.

I really want to get this little tape recorder working again. It seems to be very solid and well made. It's pretty much entirely made out of metal and is really heavy for its size! It's probably bullet proof! I attached a few pictures, including one with the back cover off. The batteries (4 AA) go in a holder on the left side that connects with a 9v style plug. IF capacitors are the problem, I wonder if it's the big 10v 100mfd ones? But I just don't want to start messing with it and changing parts haphazardly until I have some idea of what can cause problems like this.

I'd appreciate any help. Thanks!

- Chris

18th May 2017, 10:08 am	#1
ct92404 Pentode Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: San Bernardino, California, USA. Posts: 101	Citroen (Freeman) 550 tape recorder- bad capacitor? Hi, I just recently bought a small antique reel-to-reel tape recorder. I'm not sure exactly when it was made, but based on what I've been able to find out so far, it was made in Japan and might be from the early 1960's. It's in beautiful condition, and even came with the original case and microphone and even some extra blank tape reels. It's kind of confusing though, because there are two company names shown. It says "Freeman Electronics Corporation" on the case, but on the tape recorder itself, it says "Citroen Electronics Corporation." The case was definitely meant to go with the tape recorder though. Maybe the company changed names at some point? When I first tested it, it played and recorded ok. But then I started noticing that the recording started getting worse. It sounded kind of distorted and muffled, and now it's barely recording at all. It hardly records over sounds already on the tape (like how you can normally just re-use tape by recording over it). Instead, I get a really distorted sound of both recordings playing at the same time. I tried cleaning the heads with alcohol and that didn't do anything. The recording is still bad. I've read before that bad capacitors can cause problems like this with tape recorders. Could that be what's going on? I know that with antique tube radios, bad filter capacitors will cause loud humming from the AC line power, but this tape recorder just runs on batteries. I don't know much about how tape recorders work or what the capacitors do. I really want to get this little tape recorder working again. It seems to be very solid and well made. It's pretty much entirely made out of metal and is really heavy for its size! It's probably bullet proof! I attached a few pictures, including one with the back cover off. The batteries (4 AA) go in a holder on the left side that connects with a 9v style plug. IF capacitors are the problem, I wonder if it's the big 10v 100mfd ones? But I just don't want to start messing with it and changing parts haphazardly until I have some idea of what can cause problems like this. I'd appreciate any help. Thanks! - Chris Attached Thumbnails Last edited by ct92404; 18th May 2017 at 10:14 am.