Philips belts for Stella ST459 - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Welsh Anorak · 16th Sep 2016, 12:31 pm

Hi there
Just offered a friend my Stella ST459 (Philips EL3549) to copy some tapes and - surprise surprise - the belts have stretched. Trouble is Big Dave on ebay doesn't appear to be there any more, unless anyone knows different? I've had belts from Recycling Electronics in Portugal recently but they don't appear to have them. Is there another model number that uses the same deck? It's the four-speed deck with the strange rewind belt that does a figure-of-eight turn.
Thanks
Glyn

ricard · 16th Sep 2016, 2:17 pm

I think the EL3534 has the same mechanism (it's basically a stereo version of the same machine).

If the belts have just stretched a bit but are otherwise ok, you might be able to get by by shortening them by cutting off a centimetre or something like that, and gluing the remaining ends together with superglue.

The figure 8 belt is I think a fairly standard square section belt so another option might be to simply measure the length of the belt path, take of 10%-15% for the belt tension and order a generic replacement belt.

Welsh Anorak · 16th Sep 2016, 7:28 pm

I've been going through my belts and it does seem that the size is very critical - too long and it slips and too short and it doesn't allow the idler wheel to touch the spool. I may well try the superglue technique however.
It's quite a nice machine. The tape that was on it has a very posh man (Keith Fordyce perhaps?) doing a pre-Fluff Pick of the Pops. You can almost see the sober suit and tie. Del Shannon's Swiss Maid ('that Maid it to number three', he chuckles) followed by Telstar - that would be 1962 which actually predates the machine (1964).
PS Well, Wikipedia suggests it was in fact David "Hello There" Jacobs as Fluff Freeman had a break from September to December 1962.

G8UWM-MildMartin · 17th Sep 2016, 2:52 am

(That brackets when I was born.)
A friend fitted belts from CPC to an ST456 with acceptable results.

16th Sep 2016, 12:31 pm	#1
Welsh Anorak Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North Wales, UK. Posts: 6,919	Philips belts for Stella ST459 Hi there Just offered a friend my Stella ST459 (Philips EL3549) to copy some tapes and - surprise surprise - the belts have stretched. Trouble is Big Dave on ebay doesn't appear to be there any more, unless anyone knows different? I've had belts from Recycling Electronics in Portugal recently but they don't appear to have them. Is there another model number that uses the same deck? It's the four-speed deck with the strange rewind belt that does a figure-of-eight turn. Thanks Glyn

16th Sep 2016, 2:17 pm	#2
ricard Octode Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Lund, Sweden Posts: 1,632	Re: Philips belts for Stella ST459 I think the EL3534 has the same mechanism (it's basically a stereo version of the same machine). If the belts have just stretched a bit but are otherwise ok, you might be able to get by by shortening them by cutting off a centimetre or something like that, and gluing the remaining ends together with superglue. The figure 8 belt is I think a fairly standard square section belt so another option might be to simply measure the length of the belt path, take of 10%-15% for the belt tension and order a generic replacement belt.

16th Sep 2016, 7:28 pm	#3
Welsh Anorak Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: North Wales, UK. Posts: 6,919	Re: Philips belts for Stella ST459 I've been going through my belts and it does seem that the size is very critical - too long and it slips and too short and it doesn't allow the idler wheel to touch the spool. I may well try the superglue technique however. It's quite a nice machine. The tape that was on it has a very posh man (Keith Fordyce perhaps?) doing a pre-Fluff Pick of the Pops. You can almost see the sober suit and tie. Del Shannon's Swiss Maid ('that Maid it to number three', he chuckles) followed by Telstar - that would be 1962 which actually predates the machine (1964). PS Well, Wikipedia suggests it was in fact David "Hello There" Jacobs as Fluff Freeman had a break from September to December 1962. Last edited by Welsh Anorak; 16th Sep 2016 at 7:43 pm.

17th Sep 2016, 2:52 am	#4
G8UWM-MildMartin Heptode Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Stockport, Greater Manchester, UK. Posts: 827	Re: Philips belts for Stella ST459 (That brackets when I was born.) A friend fitted belts from CPC to an ST456 with acceptable results.