Tandberg 12-4: What's wrong?

[Smithyhouse1]

I wonder if anyone could advise me as to what I might do about the faults on a recently purchased Tandberg 12-4. It is cosmetically in excellent condition but although it will FastForward and Rewind, it will not Play in 1+7/8 or 3+3/4. It will Playback in 7+1/2 however but it looks to me like the actual speed is 3+3/4 but then it's a long time since I have watched open reel tape spinning around! Before I try and investigate myself (I am NOT an expert) or give it to someone else to look at, I wondered if anyone had any ideas? I would like to have a go at doing it myself but it depends how complex the fix would be.
The Auto-Shut off also doesn't work but that is less of an issue.
Many thanks in advance for considering this. It is lovely to get my hands on this machine which I used extensively in my role as a music teacher in the early 1970's. It was a joy to use!
Cheers
PS. I have a copy of the service manual.

[Welsh Anorak]

Hi there and welcome!
This is a fairly simple machine as regards the speed change and I'd think it's going to be due to some solidified grease preventing the stepped idler from locating against the motor's spindle. It won't do any harm, to disconnect it from the mains, take the top cover off and look closely at what's supposed to happen - and you may see why it doesn't!
The auto shut-off is a very lightly sprung finger that gives against the tape. You should hear the click of the microswitch as it falls away. Again it's a fairly simple system.
I'd imagine the machine hasn't been used for a a while and that causes parts that should move to forget their function!
Good luck
Glyn

[ricard]

It's easy to get the auto shut-off feeler bent so that it doesn't move freely between the right hand guide pin and the curved metal plate to the left of the pin. Also, again, hardened grease could be another reason that it doesn't move.