MDS-JE510 - crunching and upset

[Soundbox]

I make no excuses for my like for the JE510. It may be that it was my first deck or maybe that it must have the best user interface of any MD recorder I have used - especially editing and display toggling.

My unit (made in Japan) worked hard and faultlessly for 11 years, only failing due to a internal battery fault - now fixed and working perfectly thanks to Jim H. Seeing a 'barely used' JE510 for sale last week at a good price I picked it up as a spare. It was boxed and almost new, but upon getting it out I noted that the overall feel of the unit was different to mine. The tinwork was a little thinner, the front panel of a different quality of manufacture and the screws slightly burred on the tighten side.

The difference? Made in Malaysia.

Upon turning it on, the display immediately started to say 'no disc' 'eject' and 'toc reading' in an odd flickering action. Sometimes the machine chunters, but it did take in a disk and read it. The eject sound is different too...

The differences are great enough that I would say they are machines from not the same range.

So, I must say that I am not impressed by the Sony Malaysia manufacturing plant. However, now I have the machine I feel that it can be sorted with the correct approach. To me, the fault is the sensor switches as discussed, but rather than being in the wrong position I feel that there is an internal resistance fault, meaning that switches are not at 0 Ohms when depressed. Oxidised perhaps - as I have seen in some DVD tray sensor switches.

So, has anyone had a Malaysia 510 and through the proper repair procedure, made it work as new? If it is a total lost cause then I will take steps, but I hope that it can be repaired properly.

Thanks, Ian

[sfbp]

It was my first unit and it died a horrible death before I knew of Jim (or indeed of how to get these serviced).

A word to the wise, save spare parts especially the Transformer, from it. I wish I had. Particularly useful if you ever get an out-of-region machine that you want to convert to home power. Mind you that's a stretch as some of the very fancy models seem to do out-of-the=way things to power as part of their "upgrade" - I'm always surprised that they even make a different.

Yes anything made in Japan tends to be better, but I have units made in Malaysia that are perfectly fine.

Stephen

[Soundbox]

I remember you speaking of your troubles with the JE510 Stephen, but I don't intend to break it up - it is too nice. I was hoping that perhaps to offset the horror stories I could hear from members who had their 510 fixed and the bugs chaced away. Is it possible or do they just keep returning?