JVC CX-F7K AM/FM Stereo Cassette Player -- Revisited

This JVC CX-F7K AM/FM stereo radio cassette player is a rare model that I recently found. This unit needed repairs and I took the opportunity to take some photographs for my record to help me in the future if I found another that needed repairs. You can get specifications and information about this model in the service manual; however this section is more about seeing some of the features and enjoying the design and engineering aspects that were employed in 1986.

This unit has two motors, where one motor drives the capstan flywheels, whilst another motor, seen from within the cassette compartment, lowers the head and pinch roller. This motor is also responsible for the auto-reverse mechanism.

The battery compartment accepts a single AA size battery and in this article, you can also see the battery compartment location that is within the cassette compartment. Another interesting design feature of this model is that the cassette compartment door has two closing positions. When a cassette is inserted, the door does not close all the way, and in that mode of operation, the DC barrel socket is also exposed for use. However, without the cassette, the door closes all the way in making the player extremely thin.

In order to make it as small as possible, this early cassette player has an extremely complicated construction consisting of flex circuits, and wires affixed to a thin metal plate. Consequently, changing the motor is very time-consuming and I have only ever done this once back in 1990 when I managed to receive one for repair. It can easily take a day to take apart just to gain access to the drive belts, and therefore repair costs are high in this one.

A common problem with this unit was with the cassette compartment door hinge. It consisted of very thin metal plate that eventually became warped and popped out of the hinge. In order to repair this, one has to remove the top and bottom halves of the plastic case. Therefore, if you are lucky enough to have one of these units then it is advisable to take extreme care when opening the cassette compartment door.

As you can see, with the cassette inserted, the cassette compartment door closes part way thereby exposing the DC barrel socket.

In this multi-page article, you can see the various aspects of the unit, including the hinge construction. This could be useful if you need to repair your unit and need to know how the parts connect.

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