Grundig CF5500-2 Restoration

[reubensm]

Hi all, I recently got hold of a Grundig CF5500-2 high end cassette deck from our forum member coaltrain. The deck was one of european big-wigs of its time and was in storage for quite a bit. As with gear in long-storage, the electronics and mechanicals are not in the best of shape. The PCBs are a bit corroded and mechanicals faulty. Spent some time over the last week, studying this deck and now realize what a beauty it is. Want to restore it just for the kick of doing a restoration.

Photos and more information on the way.

 

[reubensm]

Got de-railed on this as I had to go out of station and got back last weekend. Will get started this weekend. Thanks

 

[reubensm]

Sorry, just could not find the time to sit down with this. The parts are on the way from Europe and shall post pics of the restoration once I receive them and get down to fixing this.

Meanwhile I will also be posting about the servicing of my Akai GX630D open reel deck. Awaiting its capstan motor replacement to arrive from the UK.

Will be free for both projects in 3 weeks time. Very busy at work currently.

 

[entsurgeon]

updates brother?

 

[Vz3000]

The parts are on the way from Europe and shall post pics of the restoration once I receive them and get down to fixing this.

What is the shipping method you use to import these parts - Private courier or postal service ? I have had very bad experience with postal service and 7 out of 10 times parts never reached at my place. Obviously, Customs people grabbed those parts without sending any notification.

 

[Vz3000]

Also, where can i buy spare parts for tape decks in India (or abroad), specially heads and rollers. I have few Philips heads with me but looking for high end stuff.

 

[reubensm]

Hi all, very sorry to have delayed on this. My brother and I have started the restoration but we diverted our attention to a vintage Grundig V5000 amplifier. Spares are very hard to come by. Shall post one of these days.

 

[reubensm]

A quick update (without photographs unfortunately). The restoration of this magnificent deck is now complete. It is truly a magnificent 3-head deck with a tonne of features. We managed to source some important rare components from abroad to restore this deck to full working condition. The restoration was conducted by my brother. The following was done:

PCBs cleaned
Belts replaced
Cassette deck mechanism completely refurbished, electromagnet based servo controllers replaced
Main drive motor (capstan) replaced
Power supply selectively recapped, 2 regulator transistors replaced

All parts were sourced from different places in Europe from owners similar non-functional decks, to restore originality. The cost for these parts and shipping came up to around Rs.4500/- (the high exchange rates did not help much) not to forget the miscellaneous expenses (not included) that were incurred while doing the restoration.

Will take some pictures of the inside of the deck to give you an idea of what was replaced, and will post them over the weekend.

 

[reubensm]

stock picture of the deck

 

[Gerry_the_Merry]

Good show. Have you played tapes and recorded yet?

 

[grubyhalo]

Looks fantastic!

 

[reubensm]

Good show. Have you played tapes and recorded yet?

Yes, have played a few recordings made on my NAK DR3 and thought that this deck sounds pretty smooth and pleasant. Did a few test recordings with and without dolby, sounds equally good. It is heartening to note that the main combo head and erase head are in perfect condition (obviously this deck has seen very little use). Although I must confess that the face plate of the deck has a whole host of controls which I do not know how to set. Am looking for a user manual, found one online which is in German, hope to find one in english soon. Thanks

 

[reubensm]

Looks fantastic!

Yes indeed, when paired with my NAD rig, it looks quite awesome. We had it up by Christmas and my wife fondly refers to it as a Christmas Tree :lol:

 

[reubensm]

What is the shipping method you use to import these parts - Private courier or postal service ? I have had very bad experience with postal service and 7 out of 10 times parts never reached at my place. Obviously, Customs people grabbed those parts without sending any notification.

Hi, sorry for the delayed response. I had the parts shipped to a friend in the United States who thereafter hand carried them to me when he was back in India for the holiday season. Different couriers were used for shipping by the gentlemen who sold the parts.

 

[reubensm]

Also, where can i buy spare parts for tape decks in India (or abroad), specially heads and rollers. I have few Philips heads with me but looking for high end stuff.

Cassette deck spare parts sold in the Indian market are usually of poor quality, this is especially true with rubber parts like pinch rollers and belts. But honestly, you'll be very lucky if you ever find parts in the Indian market anyways. Always a safe bet to buy from abroad, and better still if you can manage to buy the original spare part itself, new.

The method which I use is to search the internet, locate people selling damaged equipment for repair or spares salvage (of course, the equipment on sale must contain the same part which is ascertained by painstaking research), write to the owner and request him to remove the concerned part and sell it to me. Of course, they tend to charge a bit more but its worth the trouble. The risk associated is that there is no guarantee that the salvaged part would be in working condition.

 

[Saket]

Congrats Reuben for this fantastic job. Its very heartening to know that the magnetic tape format still interests you in-spite of the troubles it comes with.

As of now, I am not particularly fond of the format, but I have a humble Philips 2 in 1; DR 578 which I restored about 2 years ago. Bought first hand when my beloved Dad gifted it to me in 1988, some 25 years ago!

It plays well now, but I think it has lost the desired high frequencies. I think its the electrolytic caps in the amp. I am planning to restore it again: required changes: Tone pots and caps.

When I restored it 2 years ago, I changed the following with Genuine Philips spares which I was lucky to get hold of, albeit at much higher prices than what I would expect:

1. Pinch Roller
2. Philips Playback Head
3. Belt
4. Deck plate (a plastic frame kind of thing fitted in the deck mechanism)
5. Changed with 'Mabuchi' 9v DC motor as Philips genuine was not available.

Plays fine now, but looking to replace the caps. I think it has lost some volume level too. Any suggestion?

Regards.

 

[ottolinko]

hi....
I am a new member and Grundig sound enthusiast...
After a long search finally got hold of grundig CF 55oo....but not working...switches on...motor running,wont play wont rewind or ff....please share your experience...any suggestions....thanks a million
goran

 

[reubensm]

Hi Goran, nice to hear from you. Grundig used to build some really nice equipment, the CF5500-2 is one of these. This is however, a complex machine and a lot of stuff is out there, that can go wrong. Can you share more details (in depth) about the symptoms?

 

[sarith]

Cassette deck spare parts sold in the Indian market are usually of poor quality, this is especially true with rubber parts like pinch rollers and belts. But honestly, you'll be very lucky if you ever find parts in the Indian market anyways. Always a safe bet to buy from abroad, and better still if you can manage to buy the original spare part itself, new.

I agree. But the pinch rollers I bought from a electronics shop which was at the brink of turning into an ATM, was quite okay. It was from 'elin', a good Indian manufacturer of tape mechanisms and spares.

I took out the wheel from the pinch roller kit and used it in my Akai and it worked like a charm. The rubber wheel wasn't a hard one either like typical local ones.

Tape parts are almost extinct and that is why I bought almost a load of spares including different types of rollers, belts, heads, other parts etc from different shops and stored it (more like a collection).

 

[reubensm]

I agree. But the pinch rollers I bought from a electronics shop which was at the brink of turning into an ATM, was quite okay. It was from 'elin', a good Indian manufacturer of tape mechanisms and spares.

I took out the wheel from the pinch roller kit and used it in my Akai and it worked like a charm. The rubber wheel wasn't a hard one either like typical local ones.

Tape parts are almost extinct and that is why I bought almost a load of spares including different types of rollers, belts, heads, other parts etc from different shops and stored it (more like a collection).

Thats right but I usually push for restoration to original state for which the OEM spare is required. Better not to use Indian stuff as replacements. They were not manufactured for precision equipment. Indian mechanisms usually used higher roller pressure to cover the inadequancies of the roller itself hyeah: