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Akai shift lever

HendeoNZ

HendeoNZ

New Member
Hi everyone,

I'm looking for some advice regarding the shift leavers on my Akai gx 265d.

The leavers look to have some grooves in them and at first I thought I'd was for the tape path. But now it looks like if I rewind for fast forward a tape. It starts to shave off the edges (not good) so now I'm thinking wear not design.

Does anyone know a good way to repair the levers?

I've added some photos for reference.

Cheers
 

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can they be rotated? is there a nut on the arm maybe ,this would give you a unworn surface to start with again?
hi there from taupo
 
The photos appear to be tape guides. They are worn-which is normal. What is not normal, is the tape damage. It makes me wonder if other parts of the tape path, like the heads, were moved. Perhaps the reel tables got moved.

First thing I would do is look for misalignment of the reel tables-causing the tape to ride over the ridge that has been worn. Even if you rotate or swap the tape guides, if there is misalignment, then the problem of tape edge damage will then move to the heads-and if you move them to compensate, you will have other\new problems. Generally, never move heads unless you have the correct equipment and skills to align them correctly. Most factory alignment, when completed, is then set\marked by applying something akin to nail polish to the adjustment screws, to discourage adjustment, and show if adjustment has been altered.

To address the guide wear, you can disassemble and swap the guides-this will put a fresh surface exposed to the tape. Perhaps they can simply be loosened and turned, but sometimes they are keyed, so swapping sides is the solution.
 
oldvinyldude said:
The photos appear to be tape guides.
Click to expand...
The photos show what I believe are the tape lifters (aka "shifter levers"), not tape guides. If it is possible to rotate the pin in each lever to an unworn section of the pin without damaging it, that should allow the tape to pass over the pin without damaging the tape.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the responses.

I thought about rotating the shaft, but it's press fit and I don't want to try to move them. Also they are unique to each side, so I can't swap them.

Because these are the leavers that pull the tape away form the heads for FF and RW (not super critical) I just got some very fine sandpaper and smoothed them out, then polished them. It has seemed to do the job.

Another option was to make a sleeve from some steel tubing to put over the shaft.

Cheers for the replies
 
dhnash said:
The photos show what I believe are the tape lifters (aka "shifter levers"), not tape guides. If it is possible to rotate the pin in each lever to an unworn section of the pin without damaging it, that should allow the tape to pass over the pin without damaging the tape.
Click to expand...

My bad-I see you are correct. Seems the OP has found a solution as well.

Always learning-never heard of "shift levers" to mean "tape lifters"
 
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