I am currently restoring a Mitsubishi MC-8000 music centre. I made a post which was specific to an issue with Mold growing on the inner wood chassis but I wanted to start a general thread where I can put pics of it as it progresses and share pics with others in case they may be of help to them in the future. I hope this is ok.
A video of one in action:
So, the MC-8000 is a Turntable, Tuner, Tape deck and amplifier all in 1 music system from the early 1980's. The turntable is vertically mounted and its this which attracted me to it. Its also linear tracking which is cool.
It's my understanding that these turntables are far from from being high end or anything considered remotely Audiophile. But they produce a decent enough sound and to my eyes they look pretty cool!
Here is my actual one:
Its not in bad shape cosmetically for its age but is missing its perspex cover unfortunately. There is also some deep scratches/pitting to the stainless steel trim and toggle switches which let it down when you see it close up. Id like to try and repair this somehow to make it look a bit better. Iv'e thought about getting some sort of strip to put over the whole section or perhaps just trying to fill the gouged/pitted areas with something to make them blend it a bit better. Any input welcomed!
Unfortunately the years in a cold, damp loft (attic?) have taken there toll.....
The mold on the inside looked like this:
I used a thick bleach and water solution with a sponge to get off as much as I could...
There is still a lot I couldn't get to unfortunately. Without completely dismantling the whole thing its just not possible. There are to many wires which I run the risk of snapping at their solder joints to get right in, plus, the back side of the wood is probably infested as well. I'm hoping that now the unit is in a warm, dry house the mold wont be able to spread as rapidly.
As a precaution I plan to use 99% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle to douse all the remaining mold I can see. I think this should kill the spores without damaging any of the electrical components given that the alcohol isn't conductive and evaporates extremely quickly? Once its dry I plan to treat the wood with anti freeze.
I've ordered a main drive belt for the unit, before I can fir it though I need to figure out a way to clean all this crusty mess off the counter platter if anyone has a suggestion:
Its strange is its pretty tough to remove, its really stuck on and its much wider than the belt could possible have been looking at the width of the drive pull on the motor. I tried some isoproyl to soften it but i think its going to have to be scraped. However I get it off it will have to be something fairly delicate as the platter is made of a really soft alloy.
The drive pully itself looks like brass and has corrosion/green oxidisation on it, again any suggestions for that would be appreciated:
There are 2 more smaller belts I need for the turntable which move the tone arm left and right. There is a seller on eBay in Germany selling whole sets but they are pretty expensive. I hoping If I can measure the circumference I can find something suitable elsewhere for cheap? Any suggestions for this?
Other than that, I suspect that the lights which sense the progress of the stylus in the record grove and move the arm accordingly may need replacing as from what I have read at least 1 is usually blown. I have bought high light output LED's of the same physical size and Voltage to replace them with.
The tape player motor works when you press play but the spindles don't move. From what I can see there are belts in the cassette mechanism which are intact, maybe its a main drive belt somewhere in there which has perished but I just cant see it? I've read several accounts from people much more component than myself who have restored these units who say getting to the belt part is a total nightmare. With that in mind I may well just leave the tape player as it is and concentrate on the turntable.
The radio works and the amp seems to produce good audio on both channels. I may recap it anyway.
Then its just the usual cleaning of the pots and some cosmetic repairs.
I got this for next to nothing, unfortunately without the dust cover I don't think it would be worth much even if I fixed everything (tape deck inc). Therefore its not worth spending too much money on it. I don't mind spending the time as I enjoy tinkering with things and getting them working.
Thanks for reading, I would love to hear from anyone who can offer any advice for this project. I'd also love to know how much these cost when new! And it would be nice to hear from anyone else who owns or may have restored one.
Cheers 8)
A video of one in action:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
So, the MC-8000 is a Turntable, Tuner, Tape deck and amplifier all in 1 music system from the early 1980's. The turntable is vertically mounted and its this which attracted me to it. Its also linear tracking which is cool.
It's my understanding that these turntables are far from from being high end or anything considered remotely Audiophile. But they produce a decent enough sound and to my eyes they look pretty cool!
Here is my actual one:
Its not in bad shape cosmetically for its age but is missing its perspex cover unfortunately. There is also some deep scratches/pitting to the stainless steel trim and toggle switches which let it down when you see it close up. Id like to try and repair this somehow to make it look a bit better. Iv'e thought about getting some sort of strip to put over the whole section or perhaps just trying to fill the gouged/pitted areas with something to make them blend it a bit better. Any input welcomed!
Unfortunately the years in a cold, damp loft (attic?) have taken there toll.....
The mold on the inside looked like this:
I used a thick bleach and water solution with a sponge to get off as much as I could...
There is still a lot I couldn't get to unfortunately. Without completely dismantling the whole thing its just not possible. There are to many wires which I run the risk of snapping at their solder joints to get right in, plus, the back side of the wood is probably infested as well. I'm hoping that now the unit is in a warm, dry house the mold wont be able to spread as rapidly.
As a precaution I plan to use 99% isopropyl alcohol in a spray bottle to douse all the remaining mold I can see. I think this should kill the spores without damaging any of the electrical components given that the alcohol isn't conductive and evaporates extremely quickly? Once its dry I plan to treat the wood with anti freeze.
I've ordered a main drive belt for the unit, before I can fir it though I need to figure out a way to clean all this crusty mess off the counter platter if anyone has a suggestion:
Its strange is its pretty tough to remove, its really stuck on and its much wider than the belt could possible have been looking at the width of the drive pull on the motor. I tried some isoproyl to soften it but i think its going to have to be scraped. However I get it off it will have to be something fairly delicate as the platter is made of a really soft alloy.
The drive pully itself looks like brass and has corrosion/green oxidisation on it, again any suggestions for that would be appreciated:
There are 2 more smaller belts I need for the turntable which move the tone arm left and right. There is a seller on eBay in Germany selling whole sets but they are pretty expensive. I hoping If I can measure the circumference I can find something suitable elsewhere for cheap? Any suggestions for this?
Other than that, I suspect that the lights which sense the progress of the stylus in the record grove and move the arm accordingly may need replacing as from what I have read at least 1 is usually blown. I have bought high light output LED's of the same physical size and Voltage to replace them with.
The tape player motor works when you press play but the spindles don't move. From what I can see there are belts in the cassette mechanism which are intact, maybe its a main drive belt somewhere in there which has perished but I just cant see it? I've read several accounts from people much more component than myself who have restored these units who say getting to the belt part is a total nightmare. With that in mind I may well just leave the tape player as it is and concentrate on the turntable.
The radio works and the amp seems to produce good audio on both channels. I may recap it anyway.
Then its just the usual cleaning of the pots and some cosmetic repairs.
I got this for next to nothing, unfortunately without the dust cover I don't think it would be worth much even if I fixed everything (tape deck inc). Therefore its not worth spending too much money on it. I don't mind spending the time as I enjoy tinkering with things and getting them working.
Thanks for reading, I would love to hear from anyone who can offer any advice for this project. I'd also love to know how much these cost when new! And it would be nice to hear from anyone else who owns or may have restored one.
Cheers 8)
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