AIWA Ad-3800 Belt Size

CountZero

Member
Just picked up this deck for five bucks at local thrift store, seems to be OK electrically but needs new belts, anyone know what size to order - being lazy here havent opened it up yet as I have 2 recievers an amp a cd changer and a walkman already open on my bench.


Thanks

CZ
 
Studio sound has belts, but you'll have to measure the old ones. I got a generic kit for my old deck. (No affiliation).
 
MY favorite cassette deck....

get an idler tire too, and felt for the back of it.

There's an AD-3700 at my local thrift.
I do not need another cass deck..I do not need another cass deck..I do not need another cass deck..I do not need another cass deck..I do not need another cass deck..
 
Hi count zero, I know this is an old thread, but perhaps you or someone else can help me. I also picked up an inexpensive 3800 and need belts. The old belts are slag and impossible to measure. Did you ever find a suitable replacement?
 
Thanks so much. I ordered the kit and am looking forward to that wonderful sensation of repairing something of quality (or the abject tragedy of failure). I never know.
 
Mine is still sitting the belts were goo. Going to Australia in a few weeks and I know a place there that has belts.

Good Luck with your deck
 
My belts arrived and I'm about to tackle this replacement job. At first look I feel this may be beyond me, but I'm going to forge ahead and see what happens. It's obvious that I don't currently have the right tools. I have no way with what I have to get to many of those tiny little screws. I'm going to take tons of pictures as I go through this process since it's perfectly evident to me that this will take days or maybe weeks. The pictures might help me remember where I was each time I'm stumped and have to create or buy a tool to move on. I certainly hope this is worth it....not of course in money...but in experience.
 
Well, I got the aiwa apart...got help from a service manual that our own count zero had downloaded to hifiengine...thanks again...and I got the belts on, I think. Looking at it open and powered, everything seems to be spinning like a top, but...it cuts out in a few seconds when I put a tape in. It appears that the take up reel isn't doing anything. All the motors seem to be operating. I put the little front belt onto the two pulleys that I spent an hour cleaning goo off of. Am I missing something that might be obvious to one of much more experience?
 
Sorry to ask so many questions. I'm learning that most of them can be answered with a few minutes of searching on the net. I now know what an idler wheel is and am pretty sure it's not supposed to be in three or four pieces. Now let's see if I can find where I can order one.
 
Back again. I didn't have much luck finding anyone with this particular idler wheel in stock. I thought I might try the hardware store and see if I could find something close enough to modify like a hard rubber washer. What I did find was an o ring that seemed to be the right size. A little wiggling and jiggling and I got it into place. I've been listening to various cassettes...Anita Baker...ZZ Top...Joe Jackson for a couple of hours now and they sound wonderful on this player. Can someone out there burst my bubble and tell me why this fix is definitely not the way to go? It can't possibly be this easy. The o ring cost twenty three cents.
 
The Nakamichi "idler tire" on ebay would prolly be better.

That is a FINE deck. It will beat 99% of other cassette decks. The W&F is particularly impressive.
 
I imagine the o ring will wear out rather swiftly and yes, this deck is definitely worth a real idler. I went ahead and ordered a small assortment that was offered at just under five bucks and shipping on the bay. One of them looks about right. We'll see. Hopefully I'll find uses for the others eventually. I have a nak 680 that's never given me any problems, and I side by sided it with this. Maybe I'm getting too old, but I couldn't hear any appreciable difference.
 
I happened to be listening to this unit and wondered how long it had been since I fixed (?) it. Evidently it's been about two and a half years. I don't play it every day, but I play it a lot. What I'm getting at is that the 22c o-ring I put in it is still going strong. I never did find the right idler, but if I have to replace the o-ring every three years it's worth it. Who'd of knowed it?
 
I happened to be listening to this unit and wondered how long it had been since I fixed (?) it. Evidently it's been about two and a half years. I don't play it every day, but I play it a lot. What I'm getting at is that the 22c o-ring I put in it is still going strong. I never did find the right idler, but if I have to replace the o-ring every three years it's worth it. Who'd of knowed it?

I have the same deck,and I once again have to replace the belts.Gee,and I only just replaced them in 1997! :)
Wonder where the heck I'll find those now.It was hard enough finding them the first time,can't imagine it'll be any easier now.

I really love this machine,probably among the best ever made.
 
Reading back through this thread, I realized that I might have missed a subtle piece of advice. DCinDC had mentioned an available NAK tire as a substitute, but I missed his meaning. I recently was servicing my two BX models..a 150 and a 300 and noticed that the idler tire seemed the correct size for the 3800. Sure enough, it's an exact match. I used one to replace the o-ring (which oddly enough seemed hardly worn) and I think I have a proper machine now. I suspect that it is psychological, but I could swear that the aiwa sounds better with an actual idler tire. Possibly wow and flutter are affected. Maybe someday this paragraph will be of help to someone. Remember to thank DCinDC.
 
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