Back to the Aiwa Mega-CD CSD-GM1, and today we’re going to see whether the cassette player still has a bit of life left in it. After everything these units have been through, even getting some music out of the speakers would be rather encouraging!

I’ve got the working tape mechanism connected up for a test, so let’s press Play and see what happens. And there it is! Music! Both speakers are producing sound, which is particularly good news considering the repairs I’ve been doing to the mainboard.

I’ve also replaced that rather large 4700 uF capacitor I was talking about previously. The audio is coming through, although it sounds a little uneven. I’m wondering whether the cassette belts have seen better days, or whether I’m just too accustomed to listening to digital recordings. Either way, there’s more to investigate.

The important thing is that at least part of this previously damaged mainboard is functioning. The tape player works, the amplifier is producing sound, and the repaired circuitry is doing something useful. The radio, on the other hand, still isn’t working. That could be down to any number of components, so I’m not going to declare that problem solved just yet.

There’s also the other CSD-GM1 tape deck to deal with. This is the Unit-02 revision 2 mechanism, and on closer inspection its metal frame appears to be bent. That’s not a particularly encouraging start.

Worse still, the little circuit board on the motor has been damaged, with part of the PCB broken away around the wiring. I’ve trimmed the damaged wires back and I’m planning to solder them directly onto the remaining motor connections. White goes to the positive terminal and black to negative, according to the wiring I’m looking at here.

I’ll need to test that motor separately before getting too carried away with rebuilding the whole mechanism. Even if the motor spins, there’s still the bent frame to consider, so this certainly isn’t a completed repair.

Still, we have a cassette deck playing music and sound coming from both speakers. That’s a rather nice bit of progress for an Aiwa Mega-CD!

The good news is, I have a solution for the damaged mechanism in mind. Stay tuned for more on this as it unfolds day by day, month by month!