Dusted off the ol' MZ-R50, but it wont record.

[mattxwill]

Hi Minidisk fans.

I decided recently to fire up my minidisk player and use it to try and record a DJ set. It plays no problem, and seemingly does everything its supposed to while recording, but it later tells me i have a blank disk.

I searched in here and on the web. I found barely anything, which surprised me. One thing I found is that the recording head can get worn out even while playing regular disks, and it is a common problem. hard to believe as there is not many posts on this happening.

Whatever the case is, I am wondering steps I may take to fix this or troubleshoot it.

Or is it shot? I must admit i know little to nothing about these devices. I just use to use it to record mixes i did many many years ago.

In reality, this thing seriously probably has had only 6-8 hours of use in its life.

Thanks.

[sfbp]

Overwrite head connection(s) shot. Need to get it to someone who can repair these things. Jim Hoggarth in England is pretty good, you can find him here and on Ebay UK.

[jim.hoggarth]

Not normally the overwrite head cables on this model, usually the overwrite head load motor. I have never known a case of the cabling going on the R30/35/50 before, but plenty of instances of the motor failing. You may still be able to hear the motor whirring when record is pressed, and equally unloading when record is completed, but that doesn't mean the motor actually turned.

It is an easy enough job, if you know what you are doing, but does require some soldering as well as disassembly. Of course, it's not guaranteed to be that part which is faulty. It could be a blown transistor on the OWH driver board, or a logic problem on the main board.

If you are desperate for a repair you are more than welcome to send it to me, but of course air mail is not very cheap either way!

Jim