New VZ2000 owner with cassette and sound problems, is it terminal

[pgtips]

Hi,

I recently got a VZ2000 which I was assured was all rebelted but I am running into a few problems and would be grateful for some insight or advice as to what I might be up against or have to consider in order to fix/repair.

Playing cassettes the sound is good RHS, LHS there is faint weak sound.

Balance slider does not do anything to resolve this.

Tape counter does not work.

Cassette deck is weak to rewind fwd

In the first few minutes of powering up the LHS is faint on all media, record and radio. i.e not just when playing tapes but then it improves and its just cassettes that have the problem.

I read about cracked boards which concerns me, or could it be a case of re belting and cleaning up inside?. I am worried I've bought a unit that someone realised was shot and passed off to me.

I'll consider anything but if I have bought something that is showing signs or terminal failure then I need to decide whether to set aside as a lost cause.

Any insight or advice very appreciated,

PG

 

[floyd]

Hi,

I recently got a VZ2000 which I was assured was all rebelted but I am running into a few problems and would be grateful for some insight or advice as to what I might be up against or have to consider in order to fix/repair.

Playing cassettes the sound is good RHS, LHS there is faint weak sound.

Balance slider does not do anything to resolve this.

Tape counter does not work.

Cassette deck is weak to rewind fwd

In the first few minutes of powering up the LHS is faint on all media, record and radio. i.e not just when playing tapes but then it improves and its just cassettes that have the problem.

I read about cracked boards which concerns me, or could it be a case of re belting and cleaning up inside?. I am worried I've bought a unit that someone realised was shot and passed off to me.

I'll consider anything but if I have bought something that is showing signs or terminal failure then I need to decide whether to set aside as a lost cause.

Any insight or advice very appreciated,

PG

Seems to me like the belts are shot also these have horrible problems with the selector switches oxidizing and intermittent contact in the switches .

 

[floyd]

I love the vz 2000 but after 4 of these I realized that there are so many things that can go wrong and servicing them is a lot of work and cleaning the switches and rebuilding them requires somebody who knows wtf they are doing.
These are great boxes when they are working right . when they start having problems it's usually just the beginning of more problems lol.

 

[BoomboxLover48]

I've completely rebuilt mine and it was such a nightmare!
Now it is fully working!
A gem in my collection!
Like Floyd mentioned switch cleaning and all is necessary, in my case I had to get a new board to make the turntable stylus "pulse advance" to function.
That donor board came broken in shipment and then had to use jump wires to fix it.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/a9900whfke6d85a/Sharp_VZ-2000_%2528Strip_Down_Instructions%2529.pdf/file

This will really help to work on the VZ2000. Thanks to Bobby!

 

[BoomboxLover48]

Cassette part was very easy to work on.
Careful not to break the cassette door hinges.

I made a note on fragile components of VZ2000.


Fragile components of VZ2000

• Pin like projections on either side of the cassette tray can easily break. Leave the cassette door open to keep the tray raised so that it won’t catch on the play and rewind axles to break off.
• The small " micro switch" near the play pulse advance small motor is very fragile. Avoid touching that area when you remove the turntable assembly.
• The PC board on the right bottom side with headphone connection can easily break if the front part is not opened slowly after disconnecting the speaker wires.
• Stylus assembly on both sides can also get damaged if one is not careful handling it.
• Never rest the turntable assembly on the PC board side. PC board is held by one screw and the two other points at a “V” cut on the metal housing. The tall cap will take most of the weight and will break the PC board at the “V” cut area where it is held.

 

[floyd]

Cassette part was very easy to work on.
Careful not to break the cassette door hinges.

I made a note on fragile components of VZ2000.


Fragile components of VZ2000

• Pin like projections on either side of the cassette tray can easily break. Leave the cassette door open to keep the tray raised so that it won’t catch on the play and rewind axles to break off.
• The small " micro switch" near the play pulse advance small motor is very fragile. Avoid touching that area when you remove the turntable assembly.
• The PC board on the right bottom side with headphone connection can easily break if the front part is not opened slowly after disconnecting the speaker wires.
• Stylus assembly on both sides can also get damaged if one is not careful handling it.
• Never rest the turntable assembly on the PC board side. PC board is held by one screw and the two other points at a “V” cut on the metal housing. The tall cap will take most of the weight and will break the PC board at the “V” cut area where it is held.

Also the power button is easy to break when disassembling and reassembly .

 

[BoomboxLover48]

Also the power button is easy to break when disassembling and reassembly .

Thanks! You are correct! That is something I forgot to mention.

 

[pgtips]

Thank you everyone.
Unfortunately looks like this one is going back, the seller is being quite difficult/abrasive and life is too short. It was supposed to be a nice experience so I'll keep looking out for one.

UK based if anyone has a heads up.

Pg

 

[floyd]

Thank you everyone.
Unfortunately looks like this one is going back, the seller is being quite difficult/abrasive and life is too short. It was supposed to be a nice experience so I'll keep looking out for one.

UK based if anyone has a heads up.

Pg

I hope you find a nice one . these boxes are worth having unless they have faults .their just to expensive big and complex to have to be working on it all the time.
I totally restored one just to have it not working at all after sitting for a year or so without being used.

 

[pgtips]

That's a shame but I hope you get it working !

 

[floyd]

That's a shame but I hope you get it working !

I don't even know where to begin . the power light comes on but nothing works anymore. I had this box dialed in as good as it gets but then I left it sit and when I got it down to use it . it was doa and I spent years and money on this thing . I love these boxes but I'm too tired to mess with them anymore.

 

[BoomboxLover48]

After say 4 years I brought out mine last week and luckily everything was working. I was a bit shaky when I pressed the power button. I heard the click of the solenoid and then checked all functions one by one.

It is a heavy beast!

The image next to the cassette door is the reflection of ceiling light.

 

[BoomboxLover48]

I don't even know where to begin . the power light comes on but nothing works anymore. I had this box dialed in as good as it gets but then I left it sit and when I got it down to use it . it was doa and I spent years and money on this thing . I love these boxes but I'm too tired to mess with them anymore.

Power light is on. Any clicks?

 

[floyd]

Power light is on. Any clicks?

Yes the power relay does click.

 

[BoomboxLover48]

We unplug many connections while dismantling and I would check those connections.
Normally I spray Deoxit on both female and male plug connectors before I push them in place to lock.
On my GF9797 the radio was off and on because of a bad plug connector contact.