Strange breakdown CT-F1000 capstan FF/RW counter issues

[copytobbe]

Hello forum! I've lurked here for a long time gathering useful knowledge during the time when my CT-F1000 was restored during a two year period. I finally got it back last fall, and it has worked flawlessly for a little more than six months now. Until yesterday.

The restoration process included:
-Clutch restoration from Markthefixer
-New pulley et al from WJOE
-New belts all over the place
-Full recap of the audio path
-Brand new pinch rollers

Now, like I said, the machine has worked flawlessly since October. A few days ago I noticed something was off as the auto-stop function stopped working even though the tape had reached its end. I didn't give it much thought, but it clearly was weird since it hadn't happened before. Then came yesterday when I tried to rewind a tape, and I immediately knew something was seriously wrong. After only a few seconds, the rewinding stopped, and also produced some tape slack as it did that. Weirdly, the tape counter didn't move during the short time the tape was winding. On the other hand, when I tried fast forwarding, the counter DID move, although the tape itself did NOT.

Anyway, I tried to play a tape and that worked. Being that I have two kids that need lunch, I walked off to the kitchen and let the tape play on in my living room. When I got back, the tape had finished playing, but the auto-stop had not engaged. About 15 minutes later the auto-stop DID engage, and the machine stopped.

But that wasn't the end. Now the machine wouldn't even play any more. It only took me a few seconds to figure out that the capstan motor wasn't running at all. When the switch is engaged as I put in a tape the ONLY thing that happens is the tape winds up the slack, but the capstan doesn't start.
I really can't for the world figure out how all of this would happen within 24hrs, on a machine that was working so well.

I know the tape-counter is a prime suspect here, as I think the auto-stop functionality is sensed from the movement of the counter. But why would that cause the capstan to give in?

I would really appreciate all your thoughts on this. At the moment all I'm doing is searching these forums to see if someone else has experienced something similar, but I think not

Thank you, Toby

 

[copytobbe]

No one has even the slightest idea? I'm still bewildered that the tape deck could go from fully functional to not even having the capstan start within 24 hrs. All this via the sudden malfunction of the auto-stop.

 

[mikiekimi]

I think the number of folks experienced enough to provide info is fairly limited here. Have you checked out tapeheads.net to see if there are any threads on a similar problem over there?

 

[Taketheflame]

I second tapeheads.net.

Lots of helpful folks on there, including a number of professional tape machine techs. Several of whom have experience restoring CT-F-1000s.

IMO, it's the best source online for help with tape stuff. Keep in mind that tape is far more niche than the already niche world of vintage gear and vinyl.

 

[markthefixer]

Sounds like the cassette presence microswitch. That's still original, correct?

The replacement microswitches can be ordered in gold contacts, and is perfect for these low current, low actuation count applications.

Digikey SW777-ND
TL/DR mouser.com Gold contacts, solder terminal, simulated roller, microswitch Part Number 653-SS-01GL13PD

also flush out the tape counter and relube it along with relubing the tape motion detector (hall effect).

 

[copytobbe]

We will definitely replace the microswitch. However, my observation is that the microswitch engages and the left wheel winds up the tape slack. Why would it engage one mechanism and not the other? Is the microswitch connected to some kind of control board, then that board might be where the issue lies?