Sharp WQ-T281Z (BK)

[icewinddale]

Greeetings,

I recently get ahold of this Sharp WQ-T281Z at a local thrift store. Tis my first boombox in 12 years. But the area, where you plug in the power cord is unlike the ones in the states. Any info would be appreciated.

 

[Northerner]

Just looks like the usual figure of 8 lead to me?

 

[Beosystem10]

Just looks like the usual figure of 8 lead to me?

It is, but the supply selector on these has three male parts and for American >< 117 Volt sockets, the screw is loosened, the plate slid to the far right and the lead fitted to the first and second pins. For countries that use >< 240V as we do, then the plate is slid to the left and the lead connected to pins two and three.
It's just another way of selecting which primary winding of the transformer you connect to, simpler and less prone to trouble than the more common, separate selector as found on many - but not all - other boxes. How? Because it has no moving parts or potentially corrosion-prone sliding contacts.

It looks like a solid bit of kit, I love these clever parallel twin tape transports. Thanks for posting the pictures and welcome to the forum.

 

[icewinddale]

Thank you for the info. I paid about $7, hopefully it works. I also heard that the sound on this particular model to be very good.

 

[icewinddale]

I found out that the tuning string broke. Is there a way to fix it?

Here are some photos.

 

[Beosystem10]

If you can find a copy of the service manual, then replacing the dial cord will be covered in there, with a stringing diagram that shows you how many turns the cord takes around each pulley and the direction (top to bottom or bottom to top, clockwise or acw) in which that cord runs on that pulley. However, it's actually really simple to work out the route for yourself, do this as follows:

Remove the old cord and lay the pieces of it out so that you can measure the length, taking care to mark the exact position at which the cursor is attached to the cord in order to preserve the calibration. Measure the depth of each pulley and divide that by the external diameter of the (original) cord. Measure the height of each intermediate pulley (the ones that are there to route the cord without taking it up or down the way, these have one V groove rather than a crown (barrel-shaped) land), this measurement will tell you which way the cord enters and exits the pulley that has multiple coils of cord around it and also which direction the cord runs on that pulley. Doing this will get you close enough to the correct route that any final adjustments will amount to the odd coil here and there. You'll know when it's right because the dial cursor will then run the full sweep of the tuning scale and the springs at the anchored ends of the cord will be only slightly stretched, neither slack nor fully stretched.
Someone who hasn't done this before should allow a few hours (not all in one hit or you risk becoming frustrated with the thing) but the satisfaction is immense when you get it right and it all works!

Also, the same tuner head and scale are sure to have been used in more than this one model so if you don't fancy the mystery string puzzle route and can't find the exact manual for your model, another Sharp enthusiast may recognise which other models share the tuner parts.
I've found that most people with an affinity for physical quizzles such as Rubik's cube and Mousetrap can generally pick up the technique for restringing pretty easily.

 

[icewinddale]

That has been very informative, thank you. Now what I need to do is figure how to remove the top of the boombox.

 

[The Box of Boom]

My 4 year old boy has this box in his bedroom ... very reliable, well made and sounds great.