Cat Pissed on Yamaha MT8X

Tony D

New member
No joke. My cat pissed on my Yamaha MT8X cassette recorder. Now some tracks (the odd ones) on previously recorded tapes have a weak playback signal and don't sound so good. Suggestions? How do I get inside to try to clean it? Have taken out a bunch of screws, but that doesn't seem to help . . . .

Thanks thoughts appreciated!

Tony
 
Oh shit!
That's lots of cleaning. Don't know what will do it. But I do know that cat has to be gone! Not necessarily gotten rid of, but be gone from your gear.
No matter how well something is cleaned, they'll know, smell or remember that spot as a 'pee-target', and do it again.
Ask me how I know. Had one piss on an amp once
Good luck.
 
Yeah I love our cats, but my wife legitimately sees them as our children. They're great, lots of fun, very sweet and comforting but... they're also animals living indoors and they're f#@$ing filthy sometimes!

Luckily the three of ours are pretty good cats, but when I was 16 we had a family cat who pissed on my drums. I was livid and the floor tom that took the brunt of it funked for months. Our three (two 15 year olds, a male & a female from the same litter & a new female kitten 6 months old), as sweet as they are, still shed, track cat sand on the carpet occasionally and since the two older cats are long hair Maine Coons they yack up hairballs every once in awhile.

I feel you brother on the multitrack recorder, it's hard for m to even fathom how livid I would be if my old Tascam 424 PortaStudio got whizzed on by pungent cat piss... Unscrew the chassis and wipe down every plastic piece with an oxy multipurpose cleaning solution that's available at the grocery...good luck on getting it cleaned up man.
 
Check that there are no hidden screws inside the cassette compartment, there's often one hidden in there - but realistically, if you are having trouble getting the lid off, what follows could be somewhat more tricky in the dexterity and disassembly technique department.
 
Whatever you do, don't be tempted to get out the pressure washer. :D

I'd say lots of rubbing alcohol. Cat pee, being so high in ammonia content, needs to be thoroughly purged.
Maybe your low volume means your heads are contaminated. They'll need a good cleaning for sure.

For any disassembling involved, take pics of everything, take notes, bag up and label parts, and take careful note of the order things were taken apart.

Assembly is usually the reverse of disassembling.
 
Hi, everyone. Thanks for the responses! Ok, I found the screws in the cassette compartment on my own and opened it up successfully. I used a black light flashlight to look for urine. (Every cat-owner should have one.) I didn't see any real retraces--maybe a little around the cassette compartment. So I cleaned that with cat-urine spray. (Every cat-owner should have some.) Then I cleaned the tape heads. (Yeah, I know I didn't need to remove the cover to do that.) Then I tried it again. No difference. i still get little or no playback signal for the odd tracks, either on my meter or when I listen :(

The circuit board itself is obviously something that is not easy to just wipe clean. It's a very uneven surface. Does the fact that it's the odd tracks suggest any part or place in particular that I should try cleaning?

Thank.

Tony
 
So I guess the real take-away here is that the cat didn't like your recorded tracks. :p

I've got two cats that always come into my studio...they love to hang in there when I'm working. They even have a dedicated perch in one corner.
They never pissed on any of my gear...but for that matter, they're well trained and don't piss anywhere but their litter box.

Cat pee is some stinky stuff to try and remove. If you go to like Home Depot or Pet Smart...they have stain/odor sprays for carpeting that work very well.
I use to have a cat that had some urinary issues with blockages...and he would occasionally have an accident when he couldn't get to the box in time, but the poor guy was in pain, it's not like he was just pissing on stuff.
Anyway...some of those cleaners took care of it...but I don't know how you're going to deal with the cassette deck. You can't just spray and then rinse/wipe like you can with a carpet.
 
The circuit board itself is obviously something that is not easy to just wipe clean. It's a very uneven surface. Does the fact that it's the odd tracks suggest any part or place in particular that I should try cleaning?

Thank.

Tony
Did the cat piss on it when powered up???
If so could have shorted something and taken it out.
Otherwise, some electronic cleaner or some 99% pure rubbing alcohol and some Q tips should be able to clean the board. Excess can be gotten off with some compressed air.
That's what I'd do anyway.
Anyone see a flaw in my thinking, please chime in.
:D
 
Clean up with high percent alcohol

I would take the case off and pour a couple large bottles of alcohol our the chassis in a sink. Don't let it sit in the liquid. Be sure to pour through the front back and sides. Shake off excess and let it air dry on a towel overnight. Shake again in the morning then lay on the other side for a day. Sometimes this will drive off the urine and solve the issue. You may need to order some Deoxit cleaner and spray the switches.
 
I would definantly look at any switches that might be involved. Some good contact cleaner could be all you need to clean stuff off. Cat urine isn't pretty...I guess you know that by now.

I didn't hear if it was while the unit was on or off. If it was on, something could have been fried by the liquid content of the urine. If it was off at the time, I'd think it would just be your meticulous approach at cleaning. Your black light is good, but it might not shine into areas that liquid can get to, so think like cat urine and where you would go, from the point of contact. Well, I think you know what I mean.

For the smaller access areas, you might have to get some good quality wooden Q-tips. If you have a good quality electronics store near you, you can also get some spatula shaped sponge tipped Q-tip type things, that won't leave cotton frizzies on your components and the spatula shape will also allow you to get down into cracks and even around some corners.

Remember...the cat was just doing what comes naturally to him...marking his territory. But, if you don't limit his access to this room, he will probably come back at some point. If you can't limit his access, maybe a sheet of plastic over your expensive equipment would be in order. You might also put up a sign that says "No Pissing Zone". I don't know if your cat is smart enough to read that, though. Mine are.

Is the cat neutered? If not, he should be. He would be a calmer cat and it would limit a lot of his desire to mark his territory.
 
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