Just to update people with my PX303 adventures. I ended up with three units. Two black, one silver. One of the black units, and the silver unit, are being sent to Galaxy today, for them to repair. Cleaning the boards and recapping went OK as far as I can tell, but the faults persist beyond my abilities to diagnose. The silver unit is actually being sent before I've even had the cover off it. It's probably easier for them to repair, if my sticky fingers haven't been inside it. I'm hoping to hell that I don't end up with an unexpected bill going into the hundreds. This is my first experience using them. That leaves me with one black unit, which has also been cleaned and recapped, but is immediately going into fast forward the moment power is applied. I'm going to have a crack at finding that fault while I wait to see what Galaxy do with the other two units. Galaxy also do courses in soldering technique, and also PCB repair, so I've asked them for details of those. It would mean taking time off and making trips into London, but if the courses will contribute to my being able to take better care of these units, then it will probably be money well spent. The RS-B705 is currently with someone in Brighton being repaired. A friend of a friend. So far, progress is good, so I might not actually have to buy another deck so soon... which will be good because my car insurance is due. Regarding batteries, I have a query in with someone in China to try and net me a few USB chargeable replacements. These are most likely LiPos inside. I have been in contact with a number of people now over LiPo technology, and I do now have the necessary parts to make my own rechargeable LiPo stick battery... but I suspect that the EBay seller lied about the 500mAh capacity of the batteries, but they do seem to have overcharge and over-discharge protection circuits on board. There is also the prospect of a 1450mAh NiMh stick battery delivering 1.2V which could be stepped up to 2V, which I believe is a safer technology, but the question is... will it fit? I've been trying to contact battery manufacturers to try and source two smaller batteries that could be used in series, but so far, no luck. (I'm not entirely sure how they would react to being charged in such a mode... but that's another question for another day.) Unfortunately, I don't have an outhouse where I can risk explosions without burning the house down, so I've got to be careful. I do have LiPo explosion safe bags to store and work with batteries in, but these small LiPo units seem to be in so much tech from China these days, and nothing has blown up yet, that I'm tending to believe that as long as they are properly protected from undercharge, then the risk should be absolutely minimal. I am also working on a battery unit that will step down from a 5v USB input, so a stick with no actual battery, but simple step-down circuitry that can be powered by an external USB battery should be a possibility. The only issue then is the battery door... but that's something I've got to think about.
Hi Michelle Hopefully you get some good result with your walkmans sent to Galaxy. This is my personal experience that Aiwa walkmans are extremely difficult to be restored. Sony walkmans are the easiest one to be repaired. I never had any experience with Galaxy . Sergi (who is a member here repaired some of my walkmans and i am very pleased with his work. Please update me about courses Galaxy offers. I need to learn about PCB troubleshooting. I have many dead walkmans and cannot verify where the problem is. please update us with the battery you are working on Thanks
Did you get a quote from Galaxy before sending the units off? In not, they should give you an estimate when they get the units before any work is done. You've picked some of the most difficult Walkmans to work on. Troubleshooting is a step by step process that takes a lot of time, and sometimes you have to work around not having the right (expensive) equipment. I have a stash of Aiwas that I failed to repair when I first started out. Thankfully they are mostly low-value units (Alpha-1). The most common issues I see after re-capping are: 1 channel dead, persistent hum, logic issues. 1 Channel dead is relatively easy to solve. You can compare both channels and see where the signal ends. Without a scope, you can just wire the working channel into the same stage of the dead one, this way you can work backwards to find the spot where the signal ends. In most cases, for Aiwas it is a dead coil damaged by electrolyte leakage, or broken trace. Persistent hum is usually a bad trace/joint problem as well, or in rare cases, a damaged motor. For Logic issues like the one you are having, you first need to rule out mechanical issues, like dried grease, broken parts. Next check the solenoid, and any tiny switch in the logic path. Bad switches/connections cause all sorts of problems. If deoxit does not help and the switch is too small to rebuild, the only option is to replace it. You need to understand the logic modes of the functions. For example, most logic mechanisms FF/REW in stop mode, with no solenoid action. One click of the solenoid moves the cam to play. Some mechanisms reverse motor direction to change direction, or have 2 solenoids. Usually when an Aiwa goes into FF immediately, it is trying to reset the logic state to stop mode. They do this because the unit has no idea what mode it was left at when the power was removed, so it cycles the mode cam until it thinks it has reached stop state. To do it, it actuates the solenoid and goes into fwd play/reverse until the cam reaches stop mode. So I would start looking for a bad solenoid and switches first. Run the unit on jumper wires so that you can observe the mech as you apply power, and try activating the solenoid by hand. Check if power goes to the solenoid. I have never seen IC failure in Aiwas of this era, only earlier models.
OK - Galaxy are holding on to the units until I can give them a reliable battery solution in order to do a fix, They don't want to run the fixes off a bench power supply. They also don't want to run the repair from a AAA holder soldered into the unit. That is disappointing. They know how rare the AAA battery case is to come across. I am currently negotiating with both Singapore and China, to get USB rechargeable batteries. I am having to do things I didn't want to do, in order to make some progress. I have managed to rule out mechanical issues on the unit I have here, but the electrical side I am having trouble working through. I'm going to take a break away from it this weekend, and try and return to it next weekend. I haven't had a formal response from Galaxy about their courses, but the soldering course is showing on their web site as a 5 day course for £199. http://www.galaxyrepairsandspares.com/soldering-training Looks like this is going to take time....
A little strange that they won't power it with a bench supply. Maybe send it to one of the Walkman techs here? No need to rush it! You can learn soldering yourself. Most of it is getting the right equipment and supplies (example: temperature controlled iron, high quality solder and wick). If you post pictures I can help.
@bub +1! This is the first time I hear such an excuse, but there is first time for everything myguess... Regulated power supply has a benefit of showing current being used, much safer and more reliable than batteries during restorations. At least that is my limited experience, but I am not a pro...
I have been looking into Galaxy Repairs and I'm not liking what I'm reading. I have asked them to return the units to me. - https://www.yell.com/biz/galaxy-repairs-london-6733005/
Yikes! Either on this forum or another they've had a recommendation. I'd pass I think. Clearly, they think it's a magic wand, not a soldering iron that's needed...
OK - had a chat with a friend of mine who sees a justification in them not wanting to power the units by a bench power supply. So there is a chance that I may be over reacting. I've calmed down, and I'll judge them by how they act next week. Obviously, I'm going to have to pay for return postage, and something for their trouble in talking with me over this... but I shouldn't jump to conclusions. There are always two sides to every story.
Pay for postage and what they reasonably invoice, if anything. Pay for a service/inspection fee if approprriate/ if they did anything, if not there's no obligation morally nor contractually. Seeing as you're voicing opinion based upon your experiences rather than conjecture, and even if you feel a retraction is now due, then why give them an extra bung through guilt? In journo-speak, what you've done is issue a correction/retraction. This mitigates a lot or anything you feel is out of proportion or context. Find another tape-tech, there's a few around in the UK, even the amateurs are pretty good too, some anyway! GB
I called Galaxy and arranged the return. The charge was perfectly reasonable. They said it is tracked, so it sounds like everything is going to be above board and I've been worrying for nothing.
I'm starting to get nervous again. The return postage was paid on Monday morning, but this is now Thursday morning and their promises of a tracking number have not yet materialised. - I've been polite and patient, and I appreciate that their post department consists of nipping down the post office when they've got enough parcels.... but time is now marching on.
I plucked up the courage to call them again. I don't like to pester people, and potentially upset them. Especially repair places like that, who work at a different pace to most run of the mill commercial operations. I've been assured that the walkman units have been posted this morning, and the tracking number will be texted to me. So... I just sit and wait, be patient, and trust them.
I now have a tracking number. It will probably arrive early next week. The nervousness has gone down quite a bit. Unfortunately I was hoping to have them for the weekend, to progress things... but such is life. Interestingly, in the last phone call, they discussed creating an alternative way of powering the Aiwas... Oh well, that will be something to potentially look at in the future. The other thing that is on my mind is that I have the battery packs from the P505, but the screw and posts are on the wrong side... and I'm wondering if I can alter it to match the PX303. Still... I'll investigate that when they are back with me.
If i send a unit for service I will consider the following: I pay for shipping (both way) I pay for the repair fee/ parts ... Even if the unit is not repairable still i will gladly pay for the time technician spent on my walkman.
I am readying a tutorial for through hole recapping (PC202 series). But I have trouble finding another affordable SMD Aiwa with leakage worth fixing for a tutorial. So that will have to wait.
I've also sourced Nimhs small enough to fit in the space of Aiwa Lead Acid batteries. I will try to do a tutorial on building a Lead Acid battery replacement. (But once you source them, you can build it anyway you want)
I've got a number of PB-3 cases empty now. Sadly, those green batteries... can't fit two of them in. I do have some voltage up-steppers coming so I might be able to get one working, but obviously getting less duration. Having said, that, I'm not sure that the up stepper would fit.
I dont suggest trying to stuff the cells in the PB3. Build a new "case", like the old members from stereo2go, with breadboard and copper/stainless contacts. If you want to make it fit, it is possible, but probably only if you solder the batteries (RC style) and wire to the original contacts. But you will need to charge the batteries with an RC/variable type charger.
