Hoping to buy a Clairtone 7980 in the coming days.
- Thread starter andytobin
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Thanks for this information. I am planning on going to look at this radio in the future. he made an offer of $200.00 as is. Is that a decent price to pay.
floyd
Boomus Fidelis
That's a decent price considering you probably can't find one cheaper than that unless it's free.
I was thinking of buying and fixing. i think the belts are neding replacement. I am hady around electronics but it looks like a lot of disasssembly to get at the belts. I am told that everything functions fine but the tsape won't play. The tape motor can be hear spinning so if I cannot fix the deck, I may flip it and try to make a few dollars on it. Or maybe just keep it. I guess i will have to go and check it out at least.
Northerner
Boomus Fidelis
I am going to have a look at it in a few days. I think I will take a chance on it. I just want to be sure I can flip it for my costs if I change my mind on it. I think the tape player belts are about $60.00 CAD.
caution
Member (SA)
You could buy it for that much and flip it without doing a thing to it.
Interesting. What would it be worth on a flip? I am in Canada. I am not sure if there is much of a market in Canada but who knows? Actually, I am interested in what it may be worth as is but I think I will hang on to it and do some restoration to it.
I just bought one last week for $800 and it needs restoration, so $200 is a steal. I have seen parts for $200!. I am in the Toronto area
Cpl-Chronic
Member (SA)
I've had some experience doing light restoration to 3 of them. The auto-reverse deck is quite rugged overall actually but the motor has no speed adjustment at all & the head is prone to electromagnetic interference without a ferrous collar around the deck motor if you replace the motor with a mabuchi or whatever. The bottom deck will sometimes fail in the play position with transport in the up or Play position which in turn leaves the rubber of the pinch roller resting against the capstan pin. This leaves a dent in the roller which will need replacing if that happens. The silver face sometimes comes unglued from the cabinet & the bottom right knob for the mic mixing is different from the rest in its position so you cannot substitute any other knob. Weird but true.
There are I believe 13 0r 14 different connections that have to be unplugged before you can remove the guts from the cabinet & no way of servicing either deck without removal of the chassis/guts. just a heads up before you dive in. You must be organized & able to effectively mark connections accurately as many connectors can fit more than one location. I number them with a marker & painters tape during disassembly to keep everything straight.
Finally, when adjusting azimuth(head alignment) on deck 2(top auto-reverse), it will quickly come out of alignment after a few cycles back & forth in play direction unless you use some loc-tite or mild glue to secure the adjuster screw of the playback head.
Good luck. I love mine & really fell in love with this beast. It really is pretty much everything a great boom-box needs to have, including the VUs, Big bright power LEDs & giant shiny bumper bars...
Oh, & the power output is unreal!! I put my volume on 2 & my ears bleed, lol!
There are I believe 13 0r 14 different connections that have to be unplugged before you can remove the guts from the cabinet & no way of servicing either deck without removal of the chassis/guts. just a heads up before you dive in. You must be organized & able to effectively mark connections accurately as many connectors can fit more than one location. I number them with a marker & painters tape during disassembly to keep everything straight.
Finally, when adjusting azimuth(head alignment) on deck 2(top auto-reverse), it will quickly come out of alignment after a few cycles back & forth in play direction unless you use some loc-tite or mild glue to secure the adjuster screw of the playback head.
Good luck. I love mine & really fell in love with this beast. It really is pretty much everything a great boom-box needs to have, including the VUs, Big bright power LEDs & giant shiny bumper bars...
Oh, & the power output is unreal!! I put my volume on 2 & my ears bleed, lol!
UPDATE: I went to see the radio and it is in real, real bad shape. Tape tray missing, tape door not opening right, battery door mising and a foam like material glued over the battery compartment to hide the possible wires because the AC power may very well be dead. He had it plugged in DC by the battery terminals to feed it 17 volts ( too much voltage). He is using a laptop PSU and wired it to the AC plug???? OMG... All belts are shot and the tape decks have corrosion. The plastic chrome is all pitted and rough like sandpaper. The back of the radio plastic is tannished with nicotene. The radio seen a lot of dampness and the back of the radio is smoked up and it wreacks of weed
The radio does not dial in FM radio very well and it seems to be starving for power. All pots are scratchy and I say there is corrosion because I am sure this thing got really wet for a while somewhwere. He was asking $200.00 I offered $100 as is. He came down to $150. but then when I wanted to know more about the power supply and how it was hooked up he said "Nevermind" I was not gonna be able to find enough money or parts to restore it. I would have paid $150.00 for it as is but he shut me down.
The radio does not dial in FM radio very well and it seems to be starving for power. All pots are scratchy and I say there is corrosion because I am sure this thing got really wet for a while somewhwere. He was asking $200.00 I offered $100 as is. He came down to $150. but then when I wanted to know more about the power supply and how it was hooked up he said "Nevermind" I was not gonna be able to find enough money or parts to restore it. I would have paid $150.00 for it as is but he shut me down.
Honest to goodness, if someone's offering you that box for $200 it's gonna be a piece of s**t. Those boxes are iconic. "Bad condition" ones are $1000.
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