Marantz 5010B Tape Deck - September 2024 Service

This Marantz tape deck is the little deck that could, or at least wants to! Unfortunately this was a return visit for this guy as it had a previous service for cleaning and replacement of belts. After some time it started having issues with a VU meter pegging out at max while playing. We started by replacing a failed capacitor, but within a month or so the issue returned so it came back in for a final service. Due to the value of this unit and because I care about my customers, I don't want this unit to keep coming back, so I took it back in for a full service so any future issues would be a warranty repair. 

The issue was traced down to a failing germanium diode that occasionally went open, allowing full DC supply voltage to be fed to the meter. I replaced both germaniums with Schottky equivalents and left the other germanium diodes that were in the signal path to retain the original sound aspects that helps give Marantz that well known sound. The remaining electrolytic capacitors were replaced with TDK or Nichicon, WIMA film for the smaller or low leakage required capacitors. 

Some adjustments were also made to the alignment of the door and tape mechanisms, flywheel assembly, and overcurrent protection has been added via an internal PTC resettable fuse.