Real to real

[Quadchuck]

I had to use my 2channel Teac lately, the capstan was gummy and I had to open front and clean it.
Teac made it so difficult, I was only able to clean and lube 50% but it worked.
If they had moved one part it would have been so much simpler.
I was reminded that I find the effort to load reels and turn reels so much bother. This unit does
have auto reverse so that helps, and Q4 at least played through 1 side. I only had a few Q4s but didn't keep them.
Did commercial Q4s suffer from the same gumming that mastering tapes had?

 

[par4ken]

Gummy capstan? I assume that you mean the pinch roller. The capstan can be cleaned with a bit of alcohol. You can try alcohol on the pinch roller as well, to attempt to clean it. If the rubber has deteriorated you may need to replace the "tire" or the entire pinch roller. This eBay seller has replacements that are better than the original!

AthanCorp

 

[Quadchuck]

Gummy capstan? I assume that you mean the pinch roller. The capstan can be cleaned with a bit of alcohol. You can try alcohol on the pinch roller as well, to attempt to clean it. If the rubber has deteriorated you may need to replace the "tire" or the entire pinch roller. This eBay seller has replacements that are better than the original!

AthanCorp

Yes, sorry the pinch roller lever shaft got gummy oil. Teac made removal so complicated
I only could get to a portion and lube. It works better. One small relocation in design,
would have made it simple to remove and clean

 

[mandrix]

Even cassette decks suffered from this, although generally easier to clean I would think. I recorded from LP to tape hundreds of cassettes back in the day on my trusty Teac A-350 and Technics decks. I always worried about the effect of alcohol on the rubber, but never had any problems after years up until I sold them. Q tips and alcohol.

 

[barfle]

I would guess this happened in the late 1970s. I took a course on a Sony industrial Betamax deck, and the instructor specifically used MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) to clean the pinch roller. While I didn’t do that much maintaining of tape decks after that, I did use MEK on a handful of pinch rollers without issue.

 

[MidiMagic]

Just be careful with the MEK. It eats plastic.

 

[atrocity]

Gummy capstan? I assume that you mean the pinch roller. The capstan can be cleaned with a bit of alcohol. You can try alcohol on the pinch roller as well, to attempt to clean it. If the rubber has deteriorated you may need to replace the "tire" or the entire pinch roller. This eBay seller has replacements that are better than the original!

AthanCorp

Oh, very cool, thank you! I think I could probably use one for my RT-707, though I'm hesitant given that they want $95 and I'm not sure I can trust myself to replace it...

 

[barfle]

Just be careful with the MEK. It eats plastic.

Not to mention your brain.