Nakamichi BX-1

N

nashvillebill

Super Member
Just found a Nak BX-1 at GW for $15.99...in great shape cosmetically, but it's having difficulties with the reel drives (wants to stall out in FF, Rev, or Play). I'm guessing a worn-out rubber idler wheel... any recommendations for replacements other than "that auction site"? And is there a a site that walks me through the easiest way to replace the rubber goodies? I've struggled with several tape deck repairs over the years, with varying degrees of success, so any advice would be greatly appreciated....thx in advance.

edit: I found the service manual on hifiengine, that is a great site....but the service manual doesn't give a procedure for tearing into the transport. Guess I'll drag the deck downstairs and have a go at it. And looking at the pictures of the rubber "tire", it almost looks like a Singer sewing machine bobbin tire, that would be too cool!!!
 
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I have a new-to-me BX-1 that a fellow AK member sold me for $20, and it's in beautiful condition. He replaced the tire idler before sending it to me, and he said it's a cheap and easy fix. Apparently that's a common problem with this otherwise nice cassette deck. Sorry to just tell you that without providing links or anything, but the info and parts are out there.
 
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It's really easy to fix yourself try this.

Small Rubber Idler Issue Idler Tire for Sankyo Mechanism
Decks affected BX series decks (BX-1, BX-2, BX-100, BX-125, BX-150 & BX-300), MR series decks (MR-1, MR-2), ZX-5, RX-202, CR-5 and CR-7 decks before S/N A130-10500.
The idler tire on the early Sankyo mechanism decks would commonly fail within 2-3 years. There are two solutions to this problem. Replace the idler tire every 2-3 years or get the gear idler upgrade. It would be nice if the gear idler upgrade was cheap because this would cure the problem forever. Unfortunately this upgrade is neither cheap ($100 plus) nor readily available. Personally I wouldn't worry about upgrading to the gear idler. Just buy a bunch of the replacement tires and replace it every 2 years or when the FF/Rev starts to slow down. Jeffrey Galin of Electronics Services Labs has created a nice instruction page with picture on how to do the replacement. He has posted it on his web site http://www.eslabs.com/idler.htm. Sonic Sense has an excellent web page concerning the gear mod upgrade http://www.sonicsense.com/nakfaq42.htm#gearkit. If you want to get it upgraded to the gear idler the most cost effective way is to buy a used CR-1 (like off eBay) and swap the gear idler assembly in it for the rubber idler assemblies. It's not a trivial job (especially on the RX-202), but, it's not impossible. The CR-1/2/3/4 were never made with rubber idlers, as they were introduced simultaneously with the "gear upgrade".
Sources:
Liberman Sound sells a compatible idler tire for $10 each, plus about $6.50 for shipping within the continental US.
Dean Sanborn sells a compatible idler tire for $4.99 plus shipping. His email address is n4229k AT aol DOT com. He sells on eBay too as "n4229k". Contact him directly though.
HBF Electronics sells a compatible idler tire as part number IT-54 they charge $0.25 each, plus $10 for shipping within the US.
MCM Electronics sells a compatible idler tire as stock number 32-5665 for $0.57 each, but, shipping is about $7.50 minimum within the US.
PRB, now owned by Russell Industries has this idler tire as ST.536.
 
Well, I just got back upstairs...took it apart in the basement, the idler looked decent so I cleaned it with iso alcohol and it now works...I'm listening to it now. I'm sure it'll need replacing but for now it's doing OK.

It sounds pretty good even on an ancient pre-recorded tape.

Thanks for the procedure and the part numbers, I'll order some soon. For $15.99 I think I did quite well. So there are still some bargains to be found at GW.

Thanks again guys
 
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Crap, I spoke too soon. Flipped the tape over and it's stalled out again. Guess I'll order some replacement idlers.

edited: ordered a couple from n4229k on da 'bay for $4.40 each with free shipping.

thanks guys!!
 
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