Nakamichi 480 Refresh

[RCherrington]

Hi all!

I just received a Nakamichi 480 deck from ebay, and as advertised it has the eject issue. I've looked through some of the fixes people have done and that's pretty straightforward. (actually I own a machine shop, so once I get her apart, I was thinking I'd probably just make a couple of the cable clamps out of aluminum or maybe Delrin. We'll see.

Anyway, my real question is about the belts, pinch rollers etc. I'd like to replace everything while I'm in there, all at once. Can anyone tell me what all the rubber parts needed are? I see Marrs has belt kits, but are there other idler tires, pinch rollers, etc that need to be bought seperately?

By the way, the deck appears to be mostly functional (except the eject cable clamp!) it plays, ffwd, rev, the lights and vu meters appear to all be working (ahh, that wonderful old amber-white color of 40 year old incandescent bulbs!) but the cam wheel doesn't seem to always have enough gumption behind it (belt, I assume) and the record doesn't seem to work. The button goes in, but nothing happens and the light doesn't go on. Is that a known issue with these transports, or do I need to get ahold of the owners manual and learn this machine's idiosyncrasies?

Thanks for your help, I'm really looking forward to hearing this deck and compare it to my old reliable Yamaha K-60. I'm hoping for a world of difference!

 

[zedex]

#1. Dont order anything from Marrs. You will be ripped off. Period
Those transports all require a complete overhaul. The pinch roller arms seize up which effects cam operation. You might be able to exercise them and get them to move freely. All belts need replacing. Idler tire. Lube capstans.The record switch may be dirty but since no light goes on there is a tiny toggle inside the transport that seizes up due to dried grease. This toggle controls the record function and switches the mechanical record switch via cable. A service manual will probably help identify the part. Hifiengine for manual.
Edit..
The 480 i think requires you to engage the pause button. And hit rec and play at the same time. This will engage record function. Disengage pause to record. Try that.

 

[HM-2]

You could have a look at dynamtechgroup.com , they have belts and pinch rollers for your model and possible also Idler tires.

 

[perryinva]

You don’t need pinch rollers. I’ve serviced over a hundred Naks and have replaced maybe 4 pinch rollers, all because of abuse due to the capstans left against the rollers. NAk made the best pinch rollers. Hopefully the pinch roller arms are not stuck to their shafts. You should be able to press the arms against their spring loaded shafts and they move about 1/8” in and spring right back. If not, then the pressure roller arms are stuck to the shafts, & on that model with the nylon nuts, they are easy to remove BUT without an Information Terminals M-300 gauge (or accurate clone) you will be hard pressed to get the tape guide back in the right place. Since you own a machine shop then you appreciate that without the right starting measurement, everything after that is wrong too. If you can machine a flat plate to the tolerances of an M-300, then you are good to go. They used to be cheap & easy to find, but now even copies are over $200. Dimensions can be found in various places on the internet. Then you can apply a soldering iron to the arm where it is over the shaft for about 2 min moving it to different quadrants. The arm will expand more than the shaft and it will slide off.

Replacing belts and tires is relatively easy. You can get a great capstan belt (FRSP9.6) and the counter and mode belts, and tire, all from Electronic Supply Corp for about $15. Mike can hook you up.

The faceplate has to be removed anyway to remove the transport and change the belts. The front of the transport on the right is a C shaped flat brass spring with a loop at each end that slips over nylon posts. That is the sticky latching spring that zedex mentioned. It allows the mechanism to latch when the transport reverses momentarily when engaging the slide switch to record. It unlatches in Stop. On the 48X series the keys are mechanically linked so there is no logic. Always hit Stop after any function before going to the next.

 

[RCherrington]

PerryinVA (and everyone else!), thanks for posting, that's some great information.

 

[spookypurple]

Hi there! Totally new to cassette deck restoration and was gifted a Nakamichi 480 by a kind family member. I've replaced all the belts, lubricated the capstans and replaced the idler tire. I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about! Except I don't. The last remaining issue seems to be that the pinch roller on the right (if you're looking at the unit) doesn't lift up all the way when pressing play (or rotating the gears manually) to make contact with the capstan on that side. It goes up about half the distance it needs to and then I can nudge it up to the final position, but it won't get there on its own. Advice please as you would give it to a 5-year-old? I still don't understand all the terminology and part names so I've gotten a bit lost looking at previous suggestions on the forum. I've read it could be old grease but, again, it'll smoothly go up to the final position if I gently guide it there if that makes any difference. Should I try the above hair dryer trick? Should I try dropping a tiny bit of lubricating oil and, if so, where exactly? The photo posted above by the OP is exactly the issue I'm having.

Thank you for any tips! Excited to hopefully get this deck finally running!