Sluggish Tape Deck

Service the takeup clutch, and the idler which drives it. This is probably of the swinging arm type, which rolls to the right to drive takeup and FF, and to the left to drive REW. Poor grip from this item will cause sluggish fast ops, and poor takeup torque which will cause the takeup reel table to keep stopping, tripping the autostop system.

Often, with the deck removed, a thin metal coverplate can be removed from the front of the mech ( two small screws and hooked in at the bottom, or two clips and hooked in at the bottom ). In 8 cases out of 10, this will give access to the drive components without further dismantling.

Replace idler if poss. Failing this, spend time gently removing all glaze from the idler surface using VERY fine aluminium oxide ( wet 'n' dry ) paper. Then clean thoroughly using isopropyl alcohol.

The takeup clutch should again be replaced if poss. If not, carefully and gently scrape the pressure surfaces of the felt pad, using a blunt curve-blade scalpel, until new clean felt is exposed. Stretch the pressure spring 20% to compensate for fallen tension. Reassemble.

Arfa

I wonder if using something like Goof Off will rejuvenate the idler? Many sites recommend it for printer rollers. Especially when you can'f get new parts. I've used it for that with excellent results. It will damage plastic. Richard

I used to use some similar stuff called " Platten Clean ", and it was very good. Had a sort of combination amonia / paraffin smell to it. It left behind an oily residue initially, and you used to think Christ ! that's totally *&&%!! the thing, but after a short time, this dried off, and left a nice rejuvenated surface behind it. The bottle I had lasted for years, but when it finally ran out, I was unable to find it again. Perhaps I should look again now. Years ago, I also used to have some stuff called " Gripex " which was like a sort of paint-on liquid rubber. Came in a little bottle with a brush built into the lid. That stuff would put a new hard wearing surface on just about any rubber drive component, but I haven't seen any for years ...

Arfa

Sounds alot like the idler system used in some of the later Nakamichi decks. I have an RX202 with that rubber idler tire that can be a pain. I clean mine with denatured alchohol and recondition it with a drop or two of pure silicone oil to rejuvinate the rubber tires.