| BARRY'S 8 TRACK REPAIR |
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| If I am unable to reach you after repairing your unit (number disconnected, E-mails returned as undeliverable, etc.) after 90 days, it will be considered ABANDONED and will be sold for repair cost. Make sure your spam filters are set to allow E-mail from BarryMusicTeach@aol.com |
| Liabilities: |
| All work is performed by a professional Electronics Technician with military electronics training, 35+ years experience repairing audio equipment, and who currently performs repairs on equipment used in aircraft for such customers as NASA, Lockheed, Boeing, Rockwell, Lear Jet, U.S. Coast Guard, Bombardier, Eurocopter and many other end users of aircraft under strict FAA regulations and ISO 9001 industry standards. Work on my customers' equipment is performed to the highest possible standards of quality, reliability and with the highest ethics. However, all 8 track players are between 25 and 50 years old and contain components which can conceivably overheat and cause risk of fire or harmful fumes caused by burning shellac or other potentially dangerous compounds used in transformers, coils, motors and other devices. In addition, transistors, diodes and IC's can contain poisonous chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium or other harmful impurities necessary to give transistors their semiconductor properties. Though the risk of fire or exposure to harmful chemicals is extremely low (and has never happened to date), all customers submitting repair work to Barry's 8 Track Repair agree to never leave their repaired units unattended while in operation. In addition, all customers of Barry's 8 Track Repair agree to never hold Barry Fone or Barry's 8 Track Repair liable for any damage, injury or expense caused by the operation of their repaired equipment. |
| Warranty: |
| These items are NOT covered: Failure of motor, unless motor was serviced or replaced during repairs With extremely few exceptions, motors will last several more years after repairs, provided that the unit is operated for at least a few hours per month. Any potential motor trouble will be found during repairs, and addressed if considered necessary to ensure proper long term performance. Failure of record/playback heads, unless head was replaced during repairs The heads in your machine suffer natural wear from the friction of the tape constantly moving across it. In addition, the surface of heads has a tendency to collect rust if the unit was kept in a moist environment. Either of these conditions can eventually clog or wear away the actual gap which picks up the audio information. A playback head can have visible rust, corrosion or discoloration and still play with no loss of performance; however, I will remove as much rust as possible without damaging the integrity of the head structure. Periodic customer maintenance will keep your head healthy (see "Customer Maintenance" link below). Since 8 track tapes are treated with graphite and can have dirt and grease residue, you may notice that your playback head can become dirty after just a few hours of play in many cases. For this reason, it is always a good practice to clean your heads on a regular basis. The eraser end of a pencil poked through a clean cloth and dipped in common household alcohol will allow you to reach inside to clean the head. NEVER use a sharp, hard or metallic object to clean your head - this can cause permanent damage. Failure of output transistors, which is only caused by improper hookup or excessive volume (if you hear distortion, you're pushing the amplifier too hard) Since 8 track players were manufactured when electronic equipment was still very high quality, their circuit designs and parts used were quite hardy and robust. Most car units can withstand the power being hooked up backwards (plus to minus) briefly with no damage to the electronics. Nowadays, this would instantly fry most electronic products. However, great care must be exercised when hooking up speakers. An 8 track unit must NEVER be operated without speakers. Another very important point is that not all 8 track machines use a common ground connection for both (or all 4) speakers, or a common ground for speakers and power. When installing an 8 track player in your car, special care must always be given to ensure that you are not connecting any "hot" speaker wires to chassis ground. If there is any doubt, use an ohm meter to check if any speaker wires are connected to car chassis ground before hooking up your 8 track player. Tape counter, which has a tiny gear that breaks and is no longer available In some cases, I can repair the broken counter gear - but am unable to guarantee this function. Any problem caused by faulty tapes, or tapes not recently repaired with new splice and pad. ALL 8 track tapes should be repaired (even if currently working) before attempting to play them. The main danger of playing an unrepaired tape is that the foil splice breaks, which can cause several feet of tape to be sucked into your machine and become wrapped around the capstan. When this happens, the machine will still appear to be playing just fine until the capstan finally freezes up and will no longer turn. While this will not cause any permanent damage to your player, it usually takes a professional to remove it. Failure of VU meters, which is impossible to predict Any analog meter is a highly sensitive and precision engineered device, with critical specifications and clearances not too unlike that of a watch - in some cases, they even have jeweled movements. In almost all cases, the only way to repair a VU meter is to replace it. Since new replacements are not available, I would need to purchase a parts unit to replace the meter, in which case a substantial extra charge would apply. Failure of radio section, which is not addressed during repairs As I have chosen to be the world's best 8 track machine technician and focus all my talents on them, I do not attempt to take on the thousands of additional challenges of being an expert radio repairman also. My warranty return rate of less than once every two years illustrates my tremendous skill in repairing 8 track units. Phonograph needles These are made from an extremely hard element (diamond or sapphire). However, they are mounted using adhesives which are subject to weakening or breaking. Phonograph needles wear as they are played, and are not designed to last forever. Always handle your tone arm very gently, and never drop it on the record. Any physical damage WARRANTY DOES NOT COVER UNITS PACKED WITH LOOSE STYROFOAM PEANUTS IF THE FAILURE IS IN THE ELECTRONICS !!! Styrofoam peanuts create large amounts of static, which can weaken the substrate of transistors and integrated circuits, causing them to fail at a later time. Electronics should not be packed in loose styrofoam peanuts. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lifetime warranty, in all cases, DOES cover: Belt, which is always replaced during repairs Head adjustment (track bleedover on MOST tapes) Track change function, manual and automatic Speed consistency, after machine has been cleaned by customer (see my page on Customer Maintenance) Loss of audio in one or both channels, NOT caused by head failure Recording function Scratchy controls which cannot be cured by turning them back and forth several times Generally, lifetime warranty assumes a reasonable amount of consideration from the customer to perform minor and harmless procedures without opening the unit such as the required periodic cleaning and user maintenance, and especially the use of tapes in repaired condition. Barry's 8 Track Repair offers tape repairs as well as player repairs. Prices vary depending on whether they are sent in with a player repair job, and if they require a separate box. Please ask about having your tapes repaired by Barry's 8 Track Repair. |
Customers are welcome to call or write about the status of their unit. However, more than one call per week from the same customer might result in your unit being returned UNREPAIRED with a refund minus shipping costs. This shop doesn't fare well with impatient, angry or pushy customers due to the fact that vintage audio equipment takes much longer to fully repair than modern equipment. You have the exact same parts-locating system I do: The Internet. PLEASE do your own research, unless you're willing to pay me for my time. It can take hours, days or weeks to locate a specific part. Skeptical about Internet businesses, have concerns, want references? You may read some of my customer reviews on the Better Business Bureau website by clicking HERE |
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PLEASE NOTE: We are strictly a repair shop - not a parts supply house. While I do want to be generous and offer some commonly needed parts, I don't intend to spend hours hunting down original parts for specific models - this is largely a hopeless endeavor no matter how you slice it. The only parts, units or accessories I have for sale will be on the "Motors" and "For Sale" pages. IF YOU DON'T SEE IT ON THESE 2 PAGES, I DON'T HAVE IT - OR MY SOURCE IS A TRADE SECRET. |
| If your item was sent to me jammed into a tiny box, and/or with careless packing causing physical damage, Barry's 8 Track Repair reserves the right to send the unit back unrepaired, with a refund MINUS shipping cost and a $50 "wasted time" charge. See the horror stories on my Packing Page There MUST be at least 4 INCHES of padding between the sides of the box and the FRONT PANEL of your unit ! |
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| Manual E-mail address: BarryMusicTeach@aol.com |