Salvaging old drive belts

[David Nebenzahl]

Here's a problem: my old (25 yrs.) Philips cassette deck recently
crapped out after working flawlessly since buying it new. The problem
was apparently mechanical: it just couldn't move the tape anymore,
especially trying to rewind or fast-forward near the end.

Anyhow, I opened it up and took the transport out, thinking to lube it.
Turns out the problem is simpler: the drive belt is stretched out enough
to not grab the pulleys anymore.

So since I'm pretty sure this will be hard to impossible to replace, I'm
wondering if anyone has any techniques for shrinking or rejuvenating old
belts. (It's still pretty supple and clean.) I tried heating it,
carefully, and am letting it sit to see if that might have fixed it. (I
guess another alternative is trying to harvest a belt, but I'd rather
not go on that particular hunt.)

 

[Ken]

Here's a problem: my old (25 yrs.) Philips cassette deck recently
crapped out after working flawlessly since buying it new. The problem
was apparently mechanical: it just couldn't move the tape anymore,
especially trying to rewind or fast-forward near the end.

Anyhow, I opened it up and took the transport out, thinking to lube it.
Turns out the problem is simpler: the drive belt is stretched out enough
to not grab the pulleys anymore.

So since I'm pretty sure this will be hard to impossible to replace, I'm
wondering if anyone has any techniques for shrinking or rejuvenating old
belts. (It's still pretty supple and clean.) I tried heating it,
carefully, and am letting it sit to see if that might have fixed it. (I
guess another alternative is trying to harvest a belt, but I'd rather
not go on that particular hunt.)

I doubt that they can be shrunk to an effective size, but here is
something I did even after having be chastised for suggesting it before:
I visited a hardware store and looked for "O" rings that were about
the same diameter and thickness as a good belt. It may not be the
proper tension and size, but when you have a machine that lacks only a
belt and none are available, it is worth pursuing.

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

Here's a problem: my old (25 yrs.) Philips cassette deck recently
crapped out after working flawlessly since buying it new. The problem
was apparently mechanical: it just couldn't move the tape anymore,
especially trying to rewind or fast-forward near the end.

Anyhow, I opened it up and took the transport out, thinking to lube
it. Turns out the problem is simpler: the drive belt is stretched out
enough to not grab the pulleys anymore.

So since I'm pretty sure this will be hard to impossible to replace,
I'm wondering if anyone has any techniques for shrinking or
rejuvenating old belts. (It's still pretty supple and clean.) I tried
heating it, carefully, and am letting it sit to see if that might have
fixed it. (I guess another alternative is trying to harvest a belt,
but I'd rather not go on that particular hunt.)

Generic belts are readily available from places like MCM Electronics.

You should be able to find something close enough.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
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| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

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[sofie]

David:
I keep seeing postings about how to make do with old, stretched, worn belts
because replacement belts are, according to the poster, "impossible to get"
...... not so.
Aftermarket belts are READILY available from many suppliers.
Why screw around with old, worn belts or trying to make do with
unsatisfactory, makeshift substitutions?
Do you google?
Do a google search for "tape deck belts" .... In less than a second you
will obtain hundreds of good hits and locations where you can purchase NEW
proper replacement belts.
It can be a lot of work to get to the belts in some equipment, so make the
most of your effort and install a new belt that won't fail in the near
future.
--
Best Regards,
Daniel Sofie
Electronics Supply & Repair
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


snipped:

So since I'm pretty sure this will be hard to impossible to replace, I'm
wondering if anyone has any techniques for shrinking or rejuvenating old
belts. (It's still pretty supple and clean.) I tried heating it,
carefully, and am letting it sit to see if that might have fixed it. (I
guess another alternative is trying to harvest a belt, but I'd rather
not go on that particular hunt.)

viable opposition.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

sofie spake thus:

I keep seeing postings about how to make do with old, stretched, worn belts
because replacement belts are, according to the poster, "impossible to get"
..... not so.
Aftermarket belts are READILY available from many suppliers.
Why screw around with old, worn belts or trying to make do with
unsatisfactory, makeshift substitutions?

Why, indeed?

Do you google?

Of course. Doesn't everyone? Even clueless AOLers do it.

Do a google search for "tape deck belts" .... In less than a second you
will obtain hundreds of good hits and locations where you can purchase NEW
proper replacement belts.
It can be a lot of work to get to the belts in some equipment, so make the
most of your effort and install a new belt that won't fail in the near
future.

Well, of course, I did search for just that, but the links I got were
less than useful; a lot of really badly-organized web sites with tons of
stuff on them and no way to find anything. Someone else here mentioned a
specific vendor (MCM Electronics), which I'll look up. Plus, the first
thing I did was contact Philips themselves (why not at least try?); I'm
going to call their customer service line right after this.

 

[Leonard Caillouet]

Tritronics also has an assortment of belts by type and size.

Leonard

 

[David Nebenzahl]

David Nebenzahl spake thus:

Here's a problem: my old (25 yrs.) Philips cassette deck recently
crapped out after working flawlessly since buying it new. The problem
was apparently mechanical: it just couldn't move the tape anymore,
especially trying to rewind or fast-forward near the end.

Anyhow, I opened it up and took the transport out, thinking to lube it.
Turns out the problem is simpler: the drive belt is stretched out enough
to not grab the pulleys anymore.

So since I'm pretty sure this will be hard to impossible to replace, I'm
wondering if anyone has any techniques for shrinking or rejuvenating old
belts. (It's still pretty supple and clean.) I tried heating it,
carefully, and am letting it sit to see if that might have fixed it. (I
guess another alternative is trying to harvest a belt, but I'd rather
not go on that particular hunt.)

I may have found a source for replacements. Should have thought of this
in the first place: *rely on local places FIRST*.

I called Philips, who of course don't have any parts for this, but they
referred me to a local authorized service center nearby. I called them,
and the guy kind of laughed when I told him what I wanted. But he said
he could try to find a matching belt from what he had, so I dropped the
old one off there. Should know by tomorrow if he found a match.

The moral of the story: before assuming that everything can (and should)
be found on the Almighty Internet, check local shops first.

By the way, a small piece of information I picked up from Philips: while
waiting, I asked the customer service woman how long they support
products after they're no longer made. She said that they generally keep
spares on hand for at least 5 years after something is discontinued, up
to a maximum of about 8 years.

 

[Doug]

http://www.turntablebelts.com/
http://www.srdpc.com/witt/
http://www.iglou.com/studiosound/belts.htm#TURN
www.russellind.com
http://www.kenselectronics.com/lists/belts.htm

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

http://www.turntablebelts.com/
http://www.srdpc.com/witt/
http://www.iglou.com/studiosound/belts.htm#TURN
www.russellind.com
http://www.kenselectronics.com/lists/belts.htm

And keep in mind that you probably won't find a match to your make and
model. You'll have to estimate the circumfrance and diameter from the
path the belt takes and reduce that by 5-10 percent. You might want to
order a few belts of slightly different dimensions to be sure of getting
one that is acceptable.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.