Grundig TK5 - Belts and pinch roller?

[jimmerdrummer]

Hello all!

I am brand new to this forum, and it's great to see something like this out there. I was wondering if anyone could help me on a diagnosis of sorts for a Grundig TK5 that I recently recovered from my granddad's shed. There are 3 tapes with it that have recordings on them that we would like to recover. I am in music production but by virtue of being relatively young, I haven't had much experience with reel to reel machines! Once I can get the TK5 working, I am hoping to record it digitally somehow, by either putting a mic to the speaker, or using one of the mic inputs on the back (from other threads I think there may be some kind of XLR adapter/cable).

As you can imagine, it has a fair bit of wear and tear. My uncle managed to fit a plug on the end of the cable, and while it isn't earthed, it powers on fine and I haven't been electrocuted. When I last tested it, something appeared to be turning, but the reels were not, and there was no drive on the tape. When I manually turned the reels, I could hear the recordings, but I of course couldn't get the speed consistent enough to make much of it out. It would rapidly fluctuate from Mickey Mouse to Barry White. Anyway, I opened it up, and I could see two belts in there which were split in half. Therein lies the problem of course.

So, my question is, what do I need? As the title suggests, I think I need new belts and a pinch roller. But could any experts out there clarify this for sure? Also, even if I get the parts, I would have no idea how to fit them on. If anybody could shed some light on this, I would appreciate it. I will attach some images of it so that you can see exactly what's going on.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Cheers,

James

[ben]

Have you got the pinch roller? Can't see it in the pics.
An O-ring from a hydraulic supplier will do for the belt, maybe someone here has the specs.

[jimmerdrummer]

Hi Ben,

Thanks for your reply. I don't have a pinch roller or the belts for the TK5. I know they exist, and I've seen them around, but it's just a matter of fitting them. Hopefully someone can shed some light on this!

James

[ben]

Finding a decent pinch roller is likely to be time consuming and expensive. Unless someone here has a spare - post in wanteds.

Might be easier to look on ebay and find something else locally, since getting this one going may cost more than the machine is worth - sadly these single speed, half track mono units (which only take 5.75" reels) don't have much value.

[jimmerdrummer]

Thanks Ben. I had started searching for alternatives before I came to this forum. However it sounds like finding something else will be the most viable option, economically and otherwise!

With regards to finding an alternative deck, are they fairly generic? Do I just need to worry about the reel size?

James