Grundig tk20 reel tape recorder

[terryhh]

I have my late fathers tk20 which has been in my loft for some years, and remember playing it in the past as had taped an early Beatles concert from the U.S. Have found a note from him with all the original paperwork that states that the rewind and forward are O.K. but some crackling on playback and cabinet gets hot!
Have today tried to play the tape but although turns on and sound eye shows green lights, when I turn to play tapes do not turn and get a loud noise. I have read that the belts may need replacing and head needs cleaning, but cannot even see how to remove the control knobs and plastic cover that contains info to get to the screws.
Any help would be appreciated and possibly anyone local who may be able to repair/service for me as would love to listen to the tapes again as am sure he also recorded himself and workmates. thanks
Terry Scott Burgess Hill West Sussex

[Kentode]

Welcome to the forum, Terry!

All the details you need to remove the top of the deck can be found in the service sheets available by clicking on the top right of the forum marked service-data.com.

When you get them, come back and we can help you with any other problems you hit.

Hope this helps.

[ben]

The worst thing you can do with a suspected faulty machine is try it out with irreplaceable one -off tapes! For all you know, the machine could be erasing it instead of playing it. Use a sacrificial tape or something from ebay.

As I see it you have three options:
1. Repair it yourself, using the aforementioned documentation and the guide in the stickies here.
2. Send the tape to someone else for transfer (probably best if only the one)
3. Buy a restored/ working machine (if you have quite a few tapes)

Ball's in your court!

[DMcMahon]

Very simple to remove the top cover, not sure what you mean by plastic cover ?

If the loud noise is electrical hum and cabinet is getting excessively hot would advise not to leave it switched on for any length of time.

David

[DMcMahon]

Originally Posted by DMcMahon

not sure what you mean by plastic cover ?

David

If you mean the see through plastic cover with various idents then this just lifts off once the 2 control knobs are removed, this is often missing on some machines.

David