scottonnob
Scott Palmer
This may be cassette deck 101 for everyone else, but it's beyond my knowledge level. I have a 900 that's been in storage for at least a couple decades. I pulled the panels and face to inspect, clean, and sleuth. After running through everything, belts were all there and turning, and the controls started to work as intended. The problem is the Play mode. With a tape out of the holder, and while pressing the sensor arm, I hit Play, the idler arm swings to the right, and the right armature spins. The left armature remains motionless. And in this configuration, the Play with continue until I either push Stop, or release the sensor arm. With a tape in the transport, I hit Play, the idler again swings to the right, the right armature typically jerks the correct direction, then abruptly stops. At the same time, the left hub is spinning, running tape across the head, after which, it just balls up once passed the right capstan, then the solenoid stops the playback. Sometimes, with a tape in the unit, I hit Play and both armatures turn normally a few rotations, but eventually the right armature stops and the solenoid again kicks everything off. Rewind and FF both work properly. It's apparently only the Play mode that is malfunctioning. The part I don't understand, and is probably obvious to everyone else is, why, in Play mode, does the left armature stay motionless without a tape in the unit, but spins with a tape in, even though the idler wheel still shifts to the right? Also, without a tape in the carriage, I hit Play and the right armature begins to spin, rather fast, and if I put my finger on it, as it's spinning, there is considerable force moving the armature. It doesn't feel as though the belt is, or would be slipping. It seems solid. I'll eventually replace all the belts, but I want to do as much diagnosis as possible, before I start ordering stuff.
