Technics RS-676US Troubleshooting

mitchard

mitchard

New Member
I recently picked up a Technics RS-676US deck from a local thrift store for $15. The unit is in beautiful condition overall, and with that price tag, I took a small gamble... and I have lost so far. Though I have found a ton of threads on AK and other sites, none of the recommendations/fixes have solved my issue. So here I am!

All features of the unit appear to be working fine, with the exception of Play. When I hit play, the solenoid directly behind the tape housing engages for a couple seconds, then disengages. There is also a small click from the relay, located at the back left corner of the deck.

I have confirmed that the auto-stop bulb is still working, as you can see in the videos below. The light does dim a bit when Play is engaged, and goes back to full brightness when Play disengages.

FF/RW works great, and the counter does move along with them.

I went ahead and did full round or two of Deoxit on all of the switches I could find, and replaced all three belts. The main/capstan belt was in definite need of replacement, but the other two seemed to be working fine, since FF/RW was working without issue. However, I swapped them out anyways.

I’m stumped. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Here are a couple videos for reference:

Thanks are due to 12voltvids on Youtube for the overhaul video, it was super helpful in identifying components and getting the troubleshooting going. And to Leon Ferri for his blog post and subsequent emails trying to help me out!
 
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Okay. Have a look at the motor when you press play. My guess is you won't see it spinning, which would mean either the motor is faulty (which is my guess) or it's not receiving power for some reason. There should be 12vdc or so across the motor terminals if it's like most decks.

If you do see the motor spinning when you press play, there will be a different troubleshooting path.
 
I just rewatched this video, and I think may have found the issue... or one of them at least. The belt obviously spins pretty freely in his video at 13:00, which is absolutely not the case with mine as shown in my last video.

If I had to guess, the motor is seized?
 
in your clips I don't see the take up reel moving. On those and other decks there was a sensor that watched for movement. Without any movement, the deck would think its at the end of the tape and shut off.
 
mcgjohn said:
in your clips I don't see the take up reel moving. On those and other decks there was a sensor that watched for movement. Without any movement, the deck would think its at the end of the tape and shut off.
Click to expand...
Last night I tried spinning the capstan wheel by hand without the belt on - it got the take up moving, and made the wheel above the sensor move. Play would stay engaged as long as I kept spinning the capstan wheel.

Definitely appears to be a motor issue. I did a complete tear down on the motor (which was a lot easier than I expected) and added some Zoom-Spout oil. Adding oil definitely smoothed it out a bit, but I'm still not getting any activity from the capstan motor. The motor still feels and sounds like its grinding a bit, and is still far from being able to spin freely.
 
mitchard said:
Definitely appears to be a motor issue.
Click to expand...

Yup, replacing that motor would seem to be indicated if you can find something suitable. There are people who have reported success rebuilding/reconditioning capstan motors but that's outside my experience so I'm probably at the end of my usefulness on this one. Good luck!
 
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