The KDV-300 was my first cassette deck! Bought mine new in 1985 from a shop called Laskys! Cost me £120. It still works so I guess it was money well spent. Thanks for posting this great video, I guess it will only be a matter of time before I will have to boil it's belt!
To add even more grip to the belt, i take the capstan wheel out and polish the surface of it with PEEK metal polish to a mirror finish, it massively improves things.
Another great video! That blue wooden handle micro Phillips screwdriver that you have were like gold in our shop. they were bought from Sony, in Westwood Massachusetts .
Wow thanks for the tip. I've got a Technics deck here that I'm pretty sure has loose belts. I haven't pulled the cover yet to check, but if this turns out to be the case I'm going try boiling them. Great video by the way. I really enjoyed it.
Notice anything unusual on that deck? +9 Db VU meters....for some reason. Also...why are the JVC cassette decks seemingly always backwards? They put the transport on the right
great video, i have a question , mine is a kdv100 and it is a bit different what i want to know is since i dont have the belt to replace can i do the trick on this model ? thanks in advance
What trick was that? Boiling belt. Sure worth a try. Depends on what the belt is made of. Some regain elasticity others not. If not you will have to measure the belt and replace.
Hello thanks for your channel. I have a little problem with a JVC tape deck. When I press play it plays for a few seconds and then the play switch kicks off. Any ideas? I presently have a little wedge of wood that I jam into the switch to keep it from tripping.
Great video. I’ve got a KD-A11 everything works fine but FF. Being told it was about a cracked gear but very difficult to dissemble that parts out for replacement. What do you think from your expertise? 🤓
A quick note to all, I have purchased a few decks to tinker and or to restore them on Ebay and what I've observe is that some people do not know how to clean tape heads on a cassette deck, more so with the capstan shaft/pinch roller as people put the Q-tip on the side towards the head instead of the side going outwards where I see shredded cotton wrapped tightly around the shaft which is a pain in the butt. Is there an easier way to do this than what I am currently doing?
Hmmmm, how do you know whether "tape speed" is correct after belt "cooking"? There were used to be tapes out there with recorded Sine Wave(s), depending on manufacturer, for checkup. For Marantz anyway there were 3 kHz and 6 kHz Tapes out there (for two speed model is what I know for sure). You boil your belt but but how do you know all the rest? Thickness, transport quality, etc etc etc. You use Oscilloscope towards the end of Tape Deck repair or you go just by your own feeling? I am really interested in what you're going to say about it. Thanks!
I have a calibration tape. I use my technics rsm275 quatrz lock direct drive cassette deck that has been calibrated with a factory speed tape to record 440 Hz tapes that go in unknown quality decks. 440 is the music note "A" so a cheap guitar tuner can be used to verify speed. And yes boiling belts works great on slipping belts, not melted belts. They work better than many of the crap belts sold on eBay whose thickness varies and produce high wow and flutter.
How could you physically tell the different type belts, real rubber vs the synthetic in order to know what can be and what can not be boiled? Love the videos!
Does anyone know what belts these decks need? Just ordered a deck but first thing im gonna do is clean everything and replace the belts. Thanks in advance.
Excellent video, just in time for me to fix the KD-V33 - it's the Euro edition of the same deck. Unfotunately, bathing the belts didn't help much, replaced two of the three with new ones. One hint: threading the main belt was much easier after removing the bottom cover.
I am having a problem with my KD-V200! It has a tape mechanism identical to the KD-V300 here - mine is exhibiting a lot of wow and flutter - I think maybe it's the take up clutch. I purchased the service manual, and it doesn't give any help about what to do about wow and flutter with the KD-V200 Could you help?
Lucky there, I usually find quite frequently by this point the belts are already starting to turn to goo or get so soft they fall apart. As far as being secretive, I have seen that alot and from my experience it has always boiled down to ego, and more importantly, job security...
Natural rubber belts this is a problem. The synthetic belts used on later model decks don't have that issue as a rule, and these ones are the best candidates for restoring in boiling water. At least that is what I have found. If they are really soft and stretchy, then they are most likely natural rubber.
The only decks I have ran into that didn't have a melted belt is two Akai units. One of them was a newer unit, CS-F12 which actually works fine, But the other one is a GXC-39D and it starts off playing fine but gets slow after a little bit of play time, it uses an AC motor. I had to disconnect the trip solenoid on that one because the counter belt is shot. I really dont use cassettes at all anymore, not since the 90s so I havent messed with any of them.
Boiling belts, never to old to learn something it seems. I still have some 80's Technics decks in boxes I believe that I haven't used in like 15 years time. So I suspect the belts will be in the same state. So boiling them in water for 5 to 10 min would get them back working would be fantastic. As an experiment you should try and measure before and after boiling. As long as it doesn't turn into a cooking channel keep on going.
I have the exact deck. Mine plays back a hair fast and records a bit slow.. Would get stuck in record till i used a drop of belt dressing. Could a stretched belt cause the speed issue? Great trick tip! I need to do that on my kd-d30 too 👍
I wouldn't use it on belts. It can melt them, and that is not the goal, as that will stretch them out. The goal is to tighten them up a bit. Rubber renew is fine for pinch rollers and idler tires where you want to soften up the rubber.
Thanks for sharing the info, please do know that I have so much respect for you and the things you do are highly beneficial to me and countless people around the world, question is, must it be boiled using microwave or just any source of heat can do? And hey! Did I tell you that I also love the DJ skills you possess,not to mention the collection of tracks you featured....lol. Lastly thanks for sharing the rubber belt boiling trick secret
Thanks for sharing the belt trick. 90% of everything I have learned. About a quarter of them were secretive about what they knew and would make me swear not to tell anyone else, especially the dicks that usually worked for the same company we worked for.
When I learned the belt trick it was totally by accident, as Leo wouldn't share anything. It just so happened that I walked into the lunch room and the microwave was going like crazy, and I wanted to heat something so I stopped it, and took out the mug and there was a belt boiling in in. I asked him about the belt, and he said it fixes them when they slip. OK, learned something new. Tried it myself, and it worked, and have been doing it ever since but I generally didn't tell people about it. Mainly because when I was in the business we would charge 50.00 to replace the belt. Well, technically I was replacing it right. I had to take it out, and put it back in again.
Yes, but it works, and I have tape decks of my own that I did this on 5 years ago and they are still working fine. It only works with some belts. If they have become really loose and the rubber is sticky don't waste your time. It works with neoprene and other synthetic rubber compounds. If you do't have access to a new belt this will quite often get you out of a bind. I am not about to spend 10.00, plus another 10.00 in freight to get a belt. Hell that would be cheap. I did order a new one for my Tascam DA40, and by the time I got it, 30.00 for a belt, but that one was a natural rubber belt and it was soft.
Boiling belts... you bodge artist Ha ha :-D, just leg pulling :-D. I have been very nasty in the past, if the belt was slightly too slack and there was no chance of getting one, i would remove the motor screws and use a tiny rats tail file to elongate the holes to pull the motor back 1mm. Nasty but it works, i always told the owner, they didn't give a dam as long as it worked.
Of course there’s a little project box just for that MP3 player on flea bay under “Clear MP3 player PCB enclosure plastic USB DIY kit 10 pcs. $9.99”; no doubt by someone in China using Google translate to produce this Chinglish keyword jargon mess. 🤪 I don’t buy anything there, but it is good for a laugh or two!
I have just the material for the case. Spare parts from a little speaker box that I converted to a stereo 2 speaker bluetooth. The second speaker. I still have the box.
The insides of the cassette deck looks so clean, simple and attractive to the eyes, I gotta get one of these!
The KDV-300 was my first cassette deck! Bought mine new in 1985 from a shop called Laskys! Cost me £120. It still works so I guess it was money well spent. Thanks for posting this great video, I guess it will only be a matter of time before I will have to boil it's belt!
I have never heard about boiling the belt as a way of rejuvenating it. That is a great tip. I'll have to try that sometime.
Regards, Tom
Another great video. Tried your boiling the belts trick. It really works. I have ressurected 2 dual decks and one Sony sports Walkman. Brilliant!
To add even more grip to the belt, i take the capstan wheel out and polish the surface of it with PEEK metal polish to a mirror finish, it massively improves things.
Tank you
I've used your microwave trick on a VCR idler tire and it seem to work.
Thanks!
i do this with rubber pinch rollers that have hardened
Synthematix A microwave? how does that work?
Put the pinch rollers in a cup of olive oil for 30 seconds, just an inch of olive oil at the bottom of the cup, it then softens them up
what if you have a idler wheel that has a metal center? will olive oil prevent sparking in a microwave?
The rubber tyre usually comes off the metal center
Another great video! That blue wooden handle micro Phillips screwdriver that you have were like gold in our shop. they were bought from Sony, in Westwood Massachusetts .
Mien was stolen from Sony. I forgot it in my pocket on my last day there.
Thank you so much for this! I can never remember how to put the damn belt back on when I have to service my KD-VR320 lol
Love from Canada!
i really adore your videos such a great mess on your service table but te result is always gorgeous
No time to clean it. If I am not fixing something I am not anywhere around the work bench
I boiled belts from vcrs and cassette decks usually when I repair them. It always works
Not always, but better than 50% for sure.
Wow thanks for the tip. I've got a Technics deck here that I'm pretty sure has loose belts. I haven't pulled the cover yet to check, but if this turns out to be the case I'm going try boiling them. Great video by the way. I really enjoyed it.
Notice anything unusual on that deck?
+9 Db VU meters....for some reason.
Also...why are the JVC cassette decks seemingly always backwards?
They put the transport on the right
great video, i have a question , mine is a kdv100 and it is a bit different what i want to know is since i dont have the belt to replace can i do the trick on this model ?
thanks in advance
What trick was that? Boiling belt. Sure worth a try. Depends on what the belt is made of. Some regain elasticity others not. If not you will have to measure the belt and replace.
Hello thanks for your channel. I have a little problem with a JVC tape deck. When I press play it plays for a few seconds and then the play switch kicks off. Any ideas? I presently have a little wedge of wood that I jam into the switch to keep it from tripping.
Great video. I’ve got a KD-A11 everything works fine but FF. Being told it was about a cracked gear but very difficult to dissemble that parts out for replacement. What do you think from your expertise? 🤓
Have no idea what a kda11 is
The eject button has stopped working on my JVC kd-d30. Do you have experience with this model and issue?
A quick note to all, I have purchased a few decks to tinker and or to restore them on Ebay and what I've observe is that some people do not know how to clean tape heads on a cassette deck, more so with the capstan shaft/pinch roller as people put the Q-tip on the side towards the head instead of the side going outwards where I see shredded cotton wrapped tightly around the shaft which is a pain in the butt. Is there an easier way to do this than what I am currently doing?
I have the kdv 100 looks the same except the led display i put a 1/2 amp line fuse in it it didn't have one from the factory is it a good idea
Hmmmm, how do you know whether "tape speed" is correct after belt "cooking"? There were used to be tapes out there with recorded Sine Wave(s), depending on manufacturer, for checkup. For Marantz anyway there were 3 kHz and 6 kHz Tapes out there (for two speed model is what I know for sure). You boil your belt but but how do you know all the rest? Thickness, transport quality, etc etc etc. You use Oscilloscope towards the end of Tape Deck repair or you go just by your own feeling? I am really interested in what you're going to say about it. Thanks!
I have a calibration tape. I use my technics rsm275 quatrz lock direct drive cassette deck that has been calibrated with a factory speed tape to record 440 Hz tapes that go in unknown quality decks. 440 is the music note "A" so a cheap guitar tuner can be used to verify speed. And yes boiling belts works great on slipping belts, not melted belts. They work better than many of the crap belts sold on eBay whose thickness varies and produce high wow and flutter.
@@12voltvids Hey, thanks a lot for your reply as well as for good tips!
How could you physically tell the different type belts, real rubber vs the synthetic in order to know what can be and what can not be boiled? Love the videos!
Does anyone know what belts these decks need? Just ordered a deck but first thing im gonna do is clean everything and replace the belts. Thanks in advance.
Excellent video, just in time for me to fix the KD-V33 - it's the Euro edition of the same deck. Unfotunately, bathing the belts didn't help much, replaced two of the three with new ones. One hint: threading the main belt was much easier after removing the bottom cover.
For how long boiled belt will last compared to the new one?
hello
thank you for your videos
ihave a question to ask you :
how paste belt dish in cassette
I am having a problem with my KD-V200! It has a tape mechanism identical to the KD-V300 here - mine is exhibiting a lot of wow and flutter - I think maybe it's the take up clutch.
I purchased the service manual, and it doesn't give any help about what to do about wow and flutter with the KD-V200
Could you help?
Lucky there, I usually find quite frequently by this point the belts are already starting to turn to goo or get so soft they fall apart. As far as being secretive, I have seen that alot and from my experience it has always boiled down to ego, and more importantly, job security...
Natural rubber belts this is a problem. The synthetic belts used on later model decks don't have that issue as a rule, and these ones are the best candidates for restoring in boiling water. At least that is what I have found. If they are really soft and stretchy, then they are most likely natural rubber.
thetechknight I hate when the belts do that, that goo gets everywhere and it stains anything it touches
The only decks I have ran into that didn't have a melted belt is two Akai units. One of them was a newer unit, CS-F12 which actually works fine, But the other one is a GXC-39D and it starts off playing fine but gets slow after a little bit of play time, it uses an AC motor. I had to disconnect the trip solenoid on that one because the counter belt is shot. I really dont use cassettes at all anymore, not since the 90s so I havent messed with any of them.
Boiling belts, never to old to learn something it seems. I still have some 80's Technics decks in boxes I believe that I haven't used in like 15 years time. So I suspect the belts will be in the same state. So boiling them in water for 5 to 10 min would get them back working would be fantastic. As an experiment you should try and measure before and after boiling. As long as it doesn't turn into a cooking channel keep on going.
I have the exact deck. Mine plays back a hair fast and records a bit slow.. Would get stuck in record till i used a drop of belt dressing. Could a stretched belt cause the speed issue? Great trick tip! I need to do that on my kd-d30 too 👍
I ordered a new belt that claimed it was for that deck and the sent meca square belt... Thats why i used the dressing
I have a jvc td-w75 dual that I need for overdubbing but it won't switch to that mode. Any guess on cause. Seems switch fault. Not mechanical. Thanks
Try ejecting some contact spray in the switch. It may work.
How long does a boiled belt last?
I asked the same question and he said they can last up to several years. If the belt is too deteriorated, it cannot be restored.
If boiling does not work, have you ever tried Rubber Renew? It always worked great for me.
I wouldn't use it on belts. It can melt them, and that is not the goal, as that will stretch them out. The goal is to tighten them up a bit. Rubber renew is fine for pinch rollers and idler tires where you want to soften up the rubber.
مرحبا كيف توصل الا ام بي ثري مع الكاسيت
The secret is out...lol I will definitely be giving this a try 👍
Thanks for sharing the info, please do know that I have so much respect for you and the things you do are highly beneficial to me and countless people around the world, question is, must it be boiled using microwave or just any source of heat can do? And hey! Did I tell you that I also love the DJ skills you possess,not to mention the collection of tracks you featured....lol. Lastly thanks for sharing the rubber belt boiling trick secret
Close to the one I own mine is a KDV200 works fine
Boiling water trick, gotta remember that one!!!
Love fixing these things
Thanks for sharing the belt trick. 90% of everything I have learned. About a quarter of them were secretive about what they knew and would make me swear not to tell anyone else, especially the dicks that usually worked for the same company we worked for.
When I learned the belt trick it was totally by accident, as Leo wouldn't share anything. It just so happened that I walked into the lunch room and the microwave was going like crazy, and I wanted to heat something so I stopped it, and took out the mug and there was a belt boiling in in. I asked him about the belt, and he said it fixes them when they slip. OK, learned something new.
Tried it myself, and it worked, and have been doing it ever since but I generally didn't tell people about it. Mainly because when I was in the business we would charge 50.00 to replace the belt. Well, technically I was replacing it right. I had to take it out, and put it back in again.
12voltvids no big secret, you’re just slightly re-vulcanizing the rubber
Yes, but it works, and I have tape decks of my own that I did this on 5 years ago and they are still working fine. It only works with some belts. If they have become really loose and the rubber is sticky don't waste your time. It works with neoprene and other synthetic rubber compounds. If you do't have access to a new belt this will quite often get you out of a bind. I am not about to spend 10.00, plus another 10.00 in freight to get a belt. Hell that would be cheap. I did order a new one for my Tascam DA40, and by the time I got it, 30.00 for a belt, but that one was a natural rubber belt and it was soft.
Wow, you got your HARLEY DAVIDSON shirt on this video.
I have a HARLEY DAVIDSON in the garage, and with the nice weather it is calling my name.
get some cheap white van speakers and blow em up with that microwave transformer that would be hilarious
Just hook em to the variac and put through AC line current and they will blow fast enough. No need for 2400 volts.
Boiling belts... you bodge artist Ha ha :-D, just leg pulling :-D.
I have been very nasty in the past, if the belt was slightly too slack and there was no chance of getting one, i would remove the motor screws and use a tiny rats tail file to elongate the holes to pull the motor back 1mm.
Nasty but it works, i always told the owner, they didn't give a dam as long as it worked.
Of course there’s a little project box just for that MP3 player on flea bay under “Clear MP3 player PCB enclosure plastic USB DIY kit 10 pcs. $9.99”; no doubt by someone in China using Google translate to produce this Chinglish keyword jargon mess. 🤪 I don’t buy anything there, but it is good for a laugh or two!
I have just the material for the case. Spare parts from a little speaker box that I converted to a stereo 2 speaker bluetooth.
The second speaker. I still have the box.
I own this deck lol
Built to last Tape decks are gold dust , there is nothing else to record music on , PCs to me is not the way do not care what they say