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Vintage Tape (Audio), Cassette, Wire and Magnetic Disc Recorders and Players Open-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, 8-track players etc.

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Old 6th Oct 2017, 9:36 am   #1
RissyMcG
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Default Philips D8304/05 assembly.

Hi folks, first ever post.

I've got a Philips D8304/05 "ghettoblaster" which I've literally had from new for the past 30 odd years. The unit is is great shape and has been well looked after all these years. Whilst moving house in July, I noticed that a rubber belt had gotten so old that it had snapped and was hanging half outside of the casing. I decided to investigate after the big house move had calmed down. That time came this week. I've opened up the unit and have assessed the three belts inside.

It seems that there is one for the tape counter (this is the one which has snapped) - its dimensions seem to be (roughly) 1mm square profile of 44mm diameter.

The two tape drive belts seem to be roughly the following:

1mm square profile, 120mm diameter
1mm square profile, 160mm diameter

I appreciate that these belts have probably undergone some stretch over the years, so if I'm going to buy new ones, I'll probably try and find something close to these dimensions, but airing on the slightly smaller side.

The reason for joining the website is not entirely belt related however.

Upon partial reassembly, I realised a piece has "fallen" out or off the unit from inside somewhere. I now can't figure out where this piece comes from, and I'm frightened now that I'll never get the unit back together and working 100% again. Very sad.

I've spent hours trying to figure out this conundrum, without success. I also cannot see how the record mechanism on the PCB is "slid" from PLAY mode to RECORD mode by way of the record button on tape deck 2. The two seem to be unlinked mechanically, which means it'll never record again unless I can figure out this mechanical link. I wondered whether this piece I have which has fallen out and can't figure out where it comes from, was related to this area, but for the life of me, if it is, then I can't figure out where or how it goes!?

I've looked up the service manual for the unit on the internet, but it's just not detailed enough to allow me to work out my problem.

So finally, I come to my question.

Does anyone have any experience with this unit, perhaps even having one themselves, which they could use to help me work out what's going on with my one? I'd be ever so grateful for any help anyone can provide me. It's a matter of life or death for my beloved Philips D8304/05 - Yellow edition.

Thanks in advance.

Chris
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Old 6th Oct 2017, 10:41 am   #2
ricard
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Default Re: philips d8304/05 assembly

If you post a picture of the part that has fallen out and perhaps a picture of the interior of the machine someone on the forum might recognize it without further intervention.
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Old 6th Oct 2017, 11:04 am   #3
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Default Re: Philips d8304/05 assembly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by RissyMcG View Post
I appreciate that these belts have probably undergone some stretch over the years, so if I'm going to buy new ones, I'll probably try and find something close to these dimensions, but airing on the slightly smaller side.
Chris
Packs of assorted rubber belts are available from Chinese sellers on eBay. I was able to use these to rebelt the Philips dual decks in a midi system.
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Old 6th Oct 2017, 11:33 am   #4
paulsherwin
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Default Re: Philips d8304/05 assembly.

Yes, it's well worth getting a pack of these generic belts. Even if they don't contain the correct belt they will help you to estimate the required dimensions.
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Old 6th Oct 2017, 12:53 pm   #5
RissyMcG
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Default

Here's some photo's as requested. I've added indication arrows and text to try and explain more clearly where I think it's necessary. Basically, pushing on the record button *should* *I think* push the slider into the record position, but the two are completely disconnected, physically, from one another under the PCB when it's mounted above the tape decks mechanisms.

This is why I thought the random piece, also pictured from several angles, is something to do with this area of the function of the stereo. I simply have no idea WHERE this piece goes!? It fell out upon disassembly. Whether it's related to the record functionality or not, I'm only guessing. I don't really know. I can't find any other missing pieces lying around the floor from the disassembly process a couple of nights ago.

I personally think I'm in need of someone to open up a good one, and identify the random piece for me, and advise where it goes. Whilst in there, they could also identify how on earth the play/record slider is pushed into the record position by way of the record push button.

See, if you look at the service manual, you can see that item #428 on page 5 looks slightly different from mine, as if it's supposed to be an amalgamation of my random piece and the springed sprocket thing in mine. I also think it's coincidental that the sprocket thing has an identical looking "hook" for holding only 1 leg of the spring wrapped around it as can be seen on my random piece, as if the random piece has a job of holding the other leg of the spring....?

https://freeservicemanuals.info/en/s...lips/d8304.pdf
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Old 26th Oct 2017, 12:37 pm   #6
RissyMcG
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Default Re: Philips D8304/05 assembly.

Although no one here was able to help me, I figured since I've resolved my issue (finally), I'd complete this thread in case anybody in the future runs into a similar issue with this stereo.

Without recapping the details above too much, I had a component which seemed to be in two pieces (i finally confirmed with help from someone from Facebook who had the same stereo (all be it the white version, not yellow). This part can be seen in the first two photos below. The second photo shows the component in such a way that you can see a darkened line on the left half, which is representative of where the part on the right should have been joined (as per the original plastic mould). The two pieces should be "hinged" down this line. For whatever reason, possibly my fault if i've pressed or squeezed it whilst taking the stereo apart to assess rubber belts; mine had parted company into the two pieces shown. This then meant that the spring could not be loaded properly on to the piece, so the record functionality of the stereo would never work, since the record button could then not push on the lever to change modes properly.

What I had to do, was buy another stereo of the same model from ebay (again, i picked up a white one), disassemble it (carefully!) and rob the same component from it, for use in my immaculate yellow one. Whilst I was in there, I also robbed the rubber belts for spares for mine, although i used the counter belt straight away, as mine had snapped already (what prompted me to open up mine in the first place).

You can see from the third picture how the full component should look when it's in one piece instead of two (the replacement seems to be made from a more translucent plastic instead of the white opaque one from mine), and how the spring is loaded on to it. Finally, the last picture shows this component installed on to TAPE deck B before rebuilding the rest of the stereo.

I'm going to try and glue my broken part with some araldite or something, to see if it can be used again, but even if the glue works, i suspect the reason for the "hinging" of the two halves, along with the spring, would suggest that it needs to be able to give a little whilst pressing and holding the record function slider. This didn't look to be the case with my new part installed in my yellow stereo when i tried it, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, for what it's worth. This may or may not help someone in the future. This stereo doesn't seem to be very popular, and there's hardly any internet entries on it globally, so hopefully my little thread might help in some small way to keep this stereo model alive for years to come. It's a shame it doesn't receive much respect, as it's an awesome stereo with GREAT sound!
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