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Vintage Tape (Audio), Cassette, Wire and Magnetic Disc Recorders and Players Open-reel tape recorders, cassette recorders, 8-track players etc.

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Old 11th Nov 2018, 5:20 pm   #1
alberto2000
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Default Sony TC-K55II deck not closing anymore

Hi pros

My beloved Sony TC-K55II has an issue. The cassette deck does not close anymore. I've opened it and looked inside. As I understand, it's closing mechanism is purely mechanical - so the springs might have lost pulling power over the years. Also I tried lubricating the moving plastic and metal parts but to no avail.

See the video here: https://streamable.com/gmu21

Can anyone help me out here? Is it really the springs or could it be another problem? Where could I source such springs?

Thanks a lot, best
R.
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Old 15th Nov 2018, 1:42 pm   #2
Studio263
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Default Re: Sony TC-K55II deck not closing anymore

I had this problem with my TC-K81, which is one of the many other versions of this machine. Seized-up old grease was the problem, but it gets right down inside the shafts and slides of the mechanism so you have to take it all apart to clean it out properly. This is easiest with the deck removed from the rest of the machine; fortunately with these that's a fairly straightforward thing to do.
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Old 15th Nov 2018, 4:56 pm   #3
cmjones01
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Default Re: Sony TC-K55II deck not closing anymore

I also have a TC-K81 here which has an almost identical deck. It suffers from two problems: dried-up grease, and distorted or cracked plastic parts. From your video, it looks like the little L-shaped cam which should hold the door closed isn't moving freely. Perhaps carefully remove the C-clip off its shaft, withdraw it and clean its inside and the shaft to see if it frees up. You may need to add new grease.

The blue plastic moulding intertwined with the chassis of the mechanism is fragile by now and bits tend to snap off. That happened to mine so that the spring steel plate which guides the head and pinch roller assembly had fallen out. I fixed the plastic with a bit of steel and some epoxy, but now the dried-up grease means the head and pinch roller assembly doesn't slide up and down freely any more. Must re-lubricate it!

Chris
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Old 27th Aug 2019, 8:32 am   #4
alberto2000
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Unhappy Sony TC-K55II tape deck issue

Hi, my beloved TC-K55II will always stop playing and rewinding after ca. one second. Is there some kind of tape-presence checking mechanism which can't detect there's a tape inside so it stops play/rewind?

I was having an issue earlier on which was that the lid would not "click back" into closed position because of bad, sticky, old lubrication. I solved it by re-lubricating so that's fine now...

Thanks for your advice
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Old 27th Aug 2019, 3:34 pm   #5
cmjones01
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Default Re: Sony TC-K55II deck not closing anymore

If the deck stops after a second, there's probably a problem with at least one drive belt. If the take-up (right hand) reel isn't turning, the deck will stop. I think there's a drive belt to that reel. Have a look at the mechanism.

My TC-K81 developed a related problem after being moved around recently: the main flat drive belt from the capstan motor slid off to one side (it's old and rather floppy) so the mechanism didn't get in to play mode properly and wouldn't drop back in to stop mode either. It was stuck half way and it became impossible to eject the cassette. Putting the drive belt back on (I really ought to replace it) sorted it out straight away.

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Old 28th Aug 2019, 9:57 am   #6
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Default Re: Sony TC-K55II deck not closing anymore

Yes obvious from the video it's the white L shaped cam. It should spring back instantly and hold the door latch. You could try placing some light oil on the outer end of the shaft and let it sit for some hours. Turn the deck on its right side so gravity well help the oil move down into the bearing. Then manually work the cam so the oil will penetrate. Obviously as mentioned it's better to completely remove the cam, clean both the shaft and the hole in the cam, lube and reassemble.
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