I recently purchased a Nakamichi BX300 tape deck. It supposedly worked perfectly. When it arrived, it played a taped but no fast forward or rewind. I assumed the idler pully was the issue or possibly a belt. Well it was definitely the idler pully. In fact it is snapped right off. See the pics attached. Is this little plastic arm or complete idler assy available? Also, how do I remove the brass drive gear attached directly to the motor? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Nakamichi BX300
- Thread starter Joe Capua
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Artie
Super Member
It's been awhile since I've opened mine up, but hopefully, that brass thing has a small set screw holding it on. If not, you're kinda stuck with removing the motor so that you can gently, heat the gear with one of those mini-torches to make it expand, then pry it off. Something like these:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Big-Roc-...JVKnm4d0UthTW3CKyhoMRpEHyj8fEsthoCDmoQAvD_BwE
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bernzomatic-ST2200T-Butane-Micro-Torch-330194/100564678
P.S. If you aren't in a huge hurry, I plan to open mine up tomorrow or the next day. I also need to repair my idler assembly. (On a CR-5.)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Big-Roc-...JVKnm4d0UthTW3CKyhoMRpEHyj8fEsthoCDmoQAvD_BwE
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Bernzomatic-ST2200T-Butane-Micro-Torch-330194/100564678
P.S. If you aren't in a huge hurry, I plan to open mine up tomorrow or the next day. I also need to repair my idler assembly. (On a CR-5.)
You should really do the gear drive upgrade if you can find one and get rid of the idler wheel. The gear drive system was a factory mod.
Crazy question, I purchased a BX100 deck which got delivered yesterday. I bought it super cheap for the cover that was in excellent condition and possibly some other parts if needed. It is a 3 motor deck as well. Although the part numbers on the actual motors are different, I’m wondering if I can take the motor assembly out of the BX100 and use it in the BX300?
Artie
Super Member
Well, my CR-5 definitely has a set screw. (Red arrow.) But it's on the same plane as the frame, (green arrow), so you'd probably still need to remove the motor to get to it. And it's probably real tight. I'll mess with mine and see if it can be accessed without motor removal.
Btw, thanks for asking this question. It inspired me to bring my baby back to life.
Boy, this battery doesn't look good. I wonder what it's used for? It's not like a cassette deck has presets.
Btw, thanks for asking this question. It inspired me to bring my baby back to life.
Boy, this battery doesn't look good. I wonder what it's used for? It's not like a cassette deck has presets.
Artie- Is that battery in your deck? Wonder what that’s for?
Thank you for the pics. I’ll pull the motor and swap the idler assy’s if possible. I think I may attempt that later today or this week. I may also try to clean the broken one up and glue or epoxy it and put it back in the BX100. I hate to literally destroy a perfectly good Nak deck. The only benefit is I paid $22 for it lol!
Thank you for the pics. I’ll pull the motor and swap the idler assy’s if possible. I think I may attempt that later today or this week. I may also try to clean the broken one up and glue or epoxy it and put it back in the BX100. I hate to literally destroy a perfectly good Nak deck. The only benefit is I paid $22 for it lol!
Ive taken motors from the BX-100 and BX-125 and fitted them into a BX-300, heck, had a dead CR-1A that I stole the gears and motor from and moved them over to my BX-300. It will fit and work just fine, but getting the orientation right can be a bit tricky since the screw holes are in different spots. I usually just use one of the screw holes, align the motor in the plate, then tighten as much as possible. So far never gave me an issue.
Also, dont feel bad about breaking the idler arm, on some units the plastic didnt age well and just looking at it wrong is enough to break it, I've probably fixed 10 or so of these decks and broken a few of those arms.
No clue, when I break the arm I replace the whole motor, generally easier than trying to swap just the arm. I believe they used glue on that screw so youll need to loosen the glue and then get a good angle to unscrew.
So my deck is now back together but still isn’t working. When pressing FF OR REW the wheels spin for a few seconds and then shut off. When I press play, the heads come up but the take up real don’t spin and I noticed the pinch roller motor don’t run. If I help it get started, then it’ll spin but not on its own. Once it’s running, it continues to run. I did notice that no matter what, the tape counter doesn’t change. Any thoughts on what to look for?
Artie
Super Member
Isn't the end-of-tape signal derived from the counter? I'm pretty sure that if the counter doesn't register a count, it auto-shuts off. I'd clear up the counter problem first.
I see now that it's an electronic counter. That will require a service manual and some signal tracing.
I see now that it's an electronic counter. That will require a service manual and some signal tracing.