Tape deck troubleshooting

[The_Lhc]

I've got a decent Sony tape deck that I bought off a colleague a couple of years ago, which has always worked fine but was noisy, when switched on it would make a buzzing noise with one of the spinny things (sorry blanked on the name!) turning constantly if there was no tape in the deck.

I haven't used it for a couple of months but I've just tried it again but nothing plays, it does FF and REW fine but when trying to play it just makes a quiet screeching noise and the spindles don't turn at all.

Anyone got any idea what might be the issue? It does it with every tape, including the last one I played in it.

 

[MajorFubar]

If the capstan is belt driven then it's likely the belt has stretched. Changing them is always fiddly, but the amount of dismantling varies enormously from machine to machine.

 

[chebby]

Probably needs new belts.

 

[The_Lhc]

If the capstan is belt driven then it's likely the belt has stretched. Changing them is always fiddly, but the amount of dismantling varies enormously from machine to machine.

Sounds simple enough, I might as well have a go, it's not doing any good as it is, cheers.

 

[The_Lhc]

So what drives the ff and rewind?

 

[The_Lhc]

just in case your repair attempt goes wrong *bomb*, picked up two recently myself, a nice Denon for £20 and a nearly mint Marantz won in an auction for £60.

*music2*

 

I'm not on eBay and I got burned by a couple of second hand decks before this one.

 

[macdiddy]

just in case your repair attempt goes wrong *bomb*, picked up two recently myself, a nice Denon for £20 and a nearly mint Marantz won in an auction for £60.

*music2*

 

[pauln]

So what drives the ff and rewind?

Different idlers to the capstan - so it says here:

http://home.iitk.ac.in/~amit/courses/371/adarsh/contents.html

I had the same problem on my old deck when I was digitising some old family recordings. Chucked it and got another on ebay.

 

[MajorFubar]

So what drives the ff and rewind?

Usually a separate reel-motor via a combination of belt-driven pulleys

 

[The_Lhc]

So what drives the ff and rewind?

Usually a separate reel-motor via a combination of belt-driven pulleys

Well I never knew that...

 

[MajorFubar]

So what drives the ff and rewind?

Usually a separate reel-motor via a combination of belt-driven pulleys

Well I never knew that...

On really expensive machines the reels were sometimes directly driven by their own dedicated motors. On early cassette decks, ghetto blasters, walkmans and el cheapo machines, one motor often drove the capstan and the reels. But by far the most common configuration was one motor for the capstan(s) and one for the reels.

 

[The_Lhc]

So what drives the ff and rewind?

Different idlers to the capstan - so it says here:

http://home.iitk.ac.in/~amit/courses/371/adarsh/contents.html

Oh so it's the little needle thing that actually drives the tape for playback? I didn't realize that either. Ok this is making a lot more sense now!

 

[keeper of the quays]

Loads of tape machines at cash converters..

 

[MajorFubar]

Oh so it's the little needle thing that actually drives the tape for playback? I didn't realize that either. Ok this is making a lot more sense now!

If I didn't know you of old from my six years of posting on this forum I'd almost certainly think you were now taking the pish. No patronisation intended or inferred even in the slightest, but are you really serious?!

 

[Old Dex]

Sony made some great cassette decks. my TC-KE400S is still as good as new. I don't use it much but it's still ready whenever.

 

[The_Lhc]

Oh so it's the little needle thing that actually drives the tape for playback? I didn't realize that either. Ok this is making a lot more sense now!

If I didn't know you of old from my six years of posting on this forum I'd almost certainly think you were now taking the pish. No patronisation intended or inferred even in the slightest, but are you really serious?!

Yes, I've never looked into the workings of a tape deck before now, I'm not one of life's tinkerers by nature.

I thought Capstan were an old brand of cigarettes to be honest...

 

[The_Lhc]

Right I've had a minor dismantling (not sure how good an idea that is after being awake for twenty hours...), the capstan belt is perhaps slightly slack but the capstan is turning (constantly, it never stops, is that normal?) and is the source of the constant clicking noise.

I pulled the mechanism out so I could observe it during operation and it appears that the pinch roller is no longer engaging with the capstan and tape when playback is attempted. I'm not sure what to do with it now, I didn't think to check if it was possible to adjust the mechanism that lifts the roller and heads into position.

 

[The_Lhc]

At least I figured out why a Google site search didn't find this thread, I never mentioned it was a Sony TC-K590...

 

[keeper of the quays]

Right I've had a minor dismantling (not sure how good an idea that is after being awake for twenty hours...), the capstan belt is perhaps slightly slack but the capstan is turning (constantly, it never stops, is that normal?) and is the source of the constant clicking noise.

I pulled the mechanism out so I could observe it during operation and it appears that the pinch roller is no longer engaging with the capstan and tape when playback is attempted. I'm not sure what to do with it now, I didn't think to check if it was possible to adjust the mechanism that lifts the roller and heads into position.

go to cash converters..bout £10 a tape player...get some sleep mate, remember what happened to prince! No sleep..visit from reaper grim

 

[The_Lhc]

Right I've had a minor dismantling (not sure how good an idea that is after being awake for twenty hours...), the capstan belt is perhaps slightly slack but the capstan is turning (constantly, it never stops, is that normal?) and is the source of the constant clicking noise.

I pulled the mechanism out so I could observe it during operation and it appears that the pinch roller is no longer engaging with the capstan and tape when playback is attempted. I'm not sure what to do with it now, I didn't think to check if it was possible to adjust the mechanism that lifts the roller and heads into position.

go to cash converters..bout £10 a tape player...

Bah, that's the easy way out, besides I've just realized the remote control for my receiver will operate the tape deck as well. We're not up market enough for Cash Converters round here anyway...

get some sleep mate, remember what happened to prince! No sleep..visit from reaper grim

No, got to push through it now otherwise I won't be able to sleep tonight.

 

[keeper of the quays]

Right I've had a minor dismantling (not sure how good an idea that is after being awake for twenty hours...), the capstan belt is perhaps slightly slack but the capstan is turning (constantly, it never stops, is that normal?) and is the source of the constant clicking noise.

I pulled the mechanism out so I could observe it during operation and it appears that the pinch roller is no longer engaging with the capstan and tape when playback is attempted. I'm not sure what to do with it now, I didn't think to check if it was possible to adjust the mechanism that lifts the roller and heads into position.

go to cash converters..bout £10 a tape player...

Bah, that's the easy way out, besides I've just realized the remote control for my receiver will operate the tape deck as well. We're not up market enough for Cash Converters round here anyway...

get some sleep mate, remember what happened to prince! No sleep..visit from reaper grim

No, got to push through it now otherwise I won't be able to sleep tonight.

Do you get insomnia?

 

[The_Lhc]

Right I've had a minor dismantling (not sure how good an idea that is after being awake for twenty hours...), the capstan belt is perhaps slightly slack but the capstan is turning (constantly, it never stops, is that normal?) and is the source of the constant clicking noise.

I pulled the mechanism out so I could observe it during operation and it appears that the pinch roller is no longer engaging with the capstan and tape when playback is attempted. I'm not sure what to do with it now, I didn't think to check if it was possible to adjust the mechanism that lifts the roller and heads into position.

go to cash converters..bout £10 a tape player...

Bah, that's the easy way out, besides I've just realized the remote control for my receiver will operate the tape deck as well. We're not up market enough for Cash Converters round here anyway...

get some sleep mate, remember what happened to prince! No sleep..visit from reaper grim

No, got to push through it now otherwise I won't be able to sleep tonight.

Do you get insomnia?

No, I just two weeks of night shifts out of every five. That's the easy bit, getting back into "normal" sleep patterns is the tricky part.

 

[keeper of the quays]

Right I've had a minor dismantling (not sure how good an idea that is after being awake for twenty hours...), the capstan belt is perhaps slightly slack but the capstan is turning (constantly, it never stops, is that normal?) and is the source of the constant clicking noise.

I pulled the mechanism out so I could observe it during operation and it appears that the pinch roller is no longer engaging with the capstan and tape when playback is attempted. I'm not sure what to do with it now, I didn't think to check if it was possible to adjust the mechanism that lifts the roller and heads into position.

go to cash converters..bout £10 a tape player...

Bah, that's the easy way out, besides I've just realized the remote control for my receiver will operate the tape deck as well. We're not up market enough for Cash Converters round here anyway...

get some sleep mate, remember what happened to prince! No sleep..visit from reaper grim

No, got to push through it now otherwise I won't be able to sleep tonight.

Do you get insomnia?

No, I just two weeks of night shifts out of every five. That's the easy bit, getting back into "normal" sleep patterns is the tricky part.

I can see that being tricky..all I can say is as you get older sleep easier comes..you can nod off anytime! One thing you could try? If you drink tea or coffee or any other beverage that contains caffeine. Halfway through second week of night shifts? Stop drinking these..takes about three days but you should notice sleep comes easier...

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

It seems that the price of tape decks is very much on the rise. A couple of years ago I was considering selling my Teac V-1050, but they were going for about a tenner, so I decided to box it up and stick it in the loft.

I've just had a look on eBay, and there's 2 on there for £180 and £169. I don't believe they'll get those prices, but looking at some of the prices people are bidding for other tape decks, there definitely seems to be a resurgence in their popularity.

 

[keeper of the quays]

It seems that the price of tape decks is very much on the rise. A couple of years ago I was considering selling my Teac V-1050, but they were going for about a tenner, so I decided to box it up and stick it in the loft.

I've just had a look on eBay, and there's 2 on there for £180 and £169. I don't believe they'll get those prices, but looking at some of the prices people are bidding for other tape decks, there definitely seems to be a resurgence in their popularity.

There seems to be a dearth of used cassette tapes in the charity shops..i went looking to buy some.I came home with some nice vinyl and some cds..but no cassettes in sight.