[filip_kbh]

Yeah – that thing flew right off a few times but I found it. I glued it back on.

Here is a pic of the gearbox:

The symptoms are:

1. Play works on the left reel but the take up reel does not move, so the tape soon becomes tape salad
2. Fast Forward and Reverse do not work. I can hear the motor spinning but the tape does not move.

As a side note: the VX7000 that I received was also eating the tape. The reason was hardened grease under the take up reel. After cleaning and lubrication, the tape is no longer eaten. Anyway, I am not so interested in the VX7000 as its functions are very limited without a suitable Beovision.

[filip_kbh]

The FS arm is the blocker. It does move away if I turn the small motor to the right.
However, the damn thing wont either forward or reverse. I am clueless at this point.

[filip_kbh]

Hmm – I tried to do what you wrote. After putting it together there was no change. However, I did have some success – not sure why.

After covering the light sensor, I could see that the take up reel was spinning both during play and fast forward. Maybe there is some misalignment somewhere as the eject mechanism was actually in the up position (as in no tape there). I then put in a tape, and it would fast forward and reverse. Screwing down the eject mechanism, I could hear that the forward motion started to struggle, so I didn’t screw it down completely. Play still chewed up the tape as the take up reel would not move. I ejected the tape. Inserting it again, I could hear the motor spinning when fast forwarding but again the tape would not move 🙁

[Die_Bogener]

The left wheel is the clutch. The torque is made with a spring and some tissue pressed together. Fast forward/rewind stops if torque is to low.

Clean it with alcohol, the tissue collects something like silicon from the plastic and becomes lower and lower…

Improvement of the to low torque: use some sanding paper. Not in rotation direction, across rotation. The scratches make torque higher… dont exceed with to rough sanding paper, it can make rattle.

Take photos BEFORE disassembly. There are a lot of parts inside. And springs…

I prefer the VX5500. Less heat and less problems than the VX5000 … and more cooling air and space inside. Modified with a switching power supply and removed tuner and unusable analog sound system unit it stays pretty cool. Much work, but worth the uncounted hours of work. I use it still every day for watching satellite TV.

The VX7000 is technically better, but functionality is a pain… especially the unsolved rewinding problem. It stops without any reason by software, starts again like starving… just a pain. And with BEO4 software just worse…

[Die_Bogener]

Wider? Nooo…

But the metall plate under the cassette itself is a little different acording to the drive…

I just opened a VX5000 and VX7000 and everything is identical but the cassette holder itself is different according to the drive. The trim/cutout is different.

And yes, there seems to be a problem using a 7000 unit in a 5000…

[Die_Bogener]

This here is a original VX5000 loading unit and cassette lifter…

[filip_kbh]

Wider – no. Deeper yes. As you rightly say, the cutout is different.

Anyway, I changed the cassette holder base and put the one from the VX5000 in the 7000 eject mechanism and put the whole thing in the VX5000. Happy to report that play, FF and Rewind are now working.

There is still a wow and flutter problem with the sound so that needs to be fixed. Not sure where to start with that. It comes from small speed ‘jerks’ it seems.

[Die_Bogener]

Hmmm, is there a difference between old records and new records?

Old= dump, odd, dull, no treble…

New= crisp and clear? But little bit jumpy?

Then it is adjustment of the sound head and/or Tape guide.

But: turned once on the screws it will never be the same…

Have you good old records of the original machine?

[filip_kbh]

Here is a recording: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mzdzpocwz6rork3kb361g/VX5000_lyd.mp3?rlkey=mc5cz7lzpptfmgp6gtnv1hhka&dl=0

The pressure roller looks dry and slightly cracked. I can replace it with the one from the VX7000 which is in perfect condition but I don’t know if that could be the issue?

I have only tried old tapes so far but they do the same thing. I have not turned any adjustment screws.

[filip_kbh]

So … I think I have narrowed down what the actual problem is – though I have not found the solution.

If the tape eject mechanism is not in, and I put a tape in the machine, it will play, reverse, fast forward etc. (there is still a wow and flutter problem that I don’t know why is there).

However, when I put in the eject mechanism, nothing really works. It can play but will make tape salad after a few seconds due to the take up real not engaging. Looking at the eject mechanism when it goes all the way down, it will press on the reel drive idler. I presume that due to this, it will stop working – unless this is normal behaviour?

[filip_kbh]

And looking at the VX7000 and VX5000 mechanisms, I now see that there is a crucial difference. The part called Cassette Holder Base is much wider (edit: I meant ‘deeper’) on the VX7000 mechanism, causing it to press on the Reel Drive Idler. I initially thought that the two eject mechanisms were fully the same, except for the materials chosen.

[filip_kbh]

Yes – no recapping done yet – except for the capstan motor board – as I first needed to source the eject mechanism and get it working. I guess, I will take it board by board, starting with the main board which has the servo and hifi circuits. Perhaps even the power supply first, though it seems to be working fine.

[Die_Bogener]

Uuuups, that is the tape speed control itself… tachometer control?

I had this on several VX, but it was gone with a 100% recap… i dont know which cap is responsible for this… but probably you have not done all of them…

[filip_kbh]

Power supply first. Though it seems to work (though perhaps not 100%), I took it out for inspection. Hmm – does look a bit corroded in the middle of the board, so I will start recapping that one first.

[Die_Bogener]

C876 lost some acid, the typical dead 220uF C878 and C879 are still alive… you are lucky. This board is a 1% survivor.

[filip_kbh]

I decided that I needed to be able to remote control the unit. Luckily somebody had tossed a transceiver a while ago that I found in the dumpster. It looks an awful lot like the VX sensor so I figured it would be possible to make it work. Sure enough. Green wire was 5+V, White data and brown ground. So now I can remote controle the VX5000 without a Beovision. Still need to fix that sound issue. Of all the caps that I changed on the power supply, the video amplifier and the 12 V regulator, I did not find a single faulty one. (I still need to change a 4700uf cap since my cap pusher only had one). The only faulty one that I discovered was one that was leaking at the right side of the top board. I changed it, and measured that it was completely open.

[filip_kbh]

Moving on to the main board. I took a look in the service manual and ordered what I thought would be pretty much all the caps needed. I don’t know what happened – either I totally missed some parts, or I simply made a wrong order – in any case, I still need a lot of caps to change but I think I have done almost half of them. Of all the caps that I have pulled out, only very, very few have actually been in working order. The majority of them have shown Open Line on my multimeter, and I think 5 of them have been within spec – but I have changed them also. Finally, I had a chance to remove the tuner board(s) – they were a hazzle but I managed. This gives a bit more space.

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