Blueshift
New Member
I just resurrected my old machine hoping to transcribe some old tapes to the computer, but of course the drive belt has the consistency of freshly chewed liquorice and the other three belts have lost the will to be 'belty'.
So, here's how to do it. It is a bit fiddly but doesn't need special tools. It does need a bit of patience, but I got it done and reconstructed in about an hour. Make sure you keep a note of which screws go where as you undo stuff. Phone camera is ideal for this!
Just to state the bleeding obvious - unplug the machine first! ;-)
Here's the tools (you also need some cloth or kitchen roll)
1. Remove the eight screws of the top cover (six on the sides with washers).
Here's my old belts and view of interior - yours might look a bit different...
2. Remove the two smaller belts and flat main drive belt. Use nail varnish remover, Q-tips and cloth, etc to throughly clean the flywheel, motor spindle, and all the plastic drive wheels. Take time to make sure they are as clean as possible.
3. Now the tricky bit! You have to get the new drive belt in the very narrow gap between the long metal plate (running down the middle of the above picture, next to the wires). You will need to loosen, but NOT remove two screws. One is a metal one, show here:
(note the bit of wire sticking up - on my machine, that's just a cable tie holding the wires in place and obscuring the metal screw!). Loosen by a few turns.
4. Now loosen a plastic cross head screw just below and to the left:
The space is tight to get a screwdriver in, as there's a circuit board in front of it. Note: if there is some red or green glue-like stuff around the screw, using nail varnish remover and a small flat head driver to scratch it away, will make loosening it a lot easier. I used a cross head bit and plyers to reach the screw and carefully turn it anticlockwise to loosen. You need to undo it a couple of turns but don't remove it!
5. You are now able to move the metal plate holding the motor slightly away from the flywheel in order to get the flat belt in. But first, use some thin card or folded paper to move around in the gap to clean away the dust and dirt! Fold the belt in half and slide under the long spacer that the loosened metal screw sits in. Carefully push one edge of the belt in between the gap behind the flywheel (holding the plate back as you do so). Once half of it is under the flywheel it's easy to get the remainder back onto the motor spindle:
6. Now carefully put the two smaller belts back on. Of the three smaller belts in the pack, the second smallest sits on the left, and the longest on the right. Carefully retighten the plastic screw to the same position it was in before (don't overtighten it otherwise it could obstruct the flywheel). Fully retighten the metal screw. Re fit the cable tie (if appropriate):
8. Almost done! Just need to tun the machine around and fit the final belt. For this you need to remove the front cover and the plastic cover surrounding the capstans and keys. Remove all the screws top and bottom holding the front panel:
9. Pull off the front panel knobs:
10. Remove the plastic surround:
11. Remove the old belt, give everything a good clean and replace the belt:
12. Replace and covers and knobs and you're done! A bit fiddly, but quite good geeky fun in a way!
I hope this was useful.
So, here's how to do it. It is a bit fiddly but doesn't need special tools. It does need a bit of patience, but I got it done and reconstructed in about an hour. Make sure you keep a note of which screws go where as you undo stuff. Phone camera is ideal for this!
Just to state the bleeding obvious - unplug the machine first! ;-)
Here's the tools (you also need some cloth or kitchen roll)
1. Remove the eight screws of the top cover (six on the sides with washers).
Here's my old belts and view of interior - yours might look a bit different...
2. Remove the two smaller belts and flat main drive belt. Use nail varnish remover, Q-tips and cloth, etc to throughly clean the flywheel, motor spindle, and all the plastic drive wheels. Take time to make sure they are as clean as possible.
3. Now the tricky bit! You have to get the new drive belt in the very narrow gap between the long metal plate (running down the middle of the above picture, next to the wires). You will need to loosen, but NOT remove two screws. One is a metal one, show here:
(note the bit of wire sticking up - on my machine, that's just a cable tie holding the wires in place and obscuring the metal screw!). Loosen by a few turns.
4. Now loosen a plastic cross head screw just below and to the left:
The space is tight to get a screwdriver in, as there's a circuit board in front of it. Note: if there is some red or green glue-like stuff around the screw, using nail varnish remover and a small flat head driver to scratch it away, will make loosening it a lot easier. I used a cross head bit and plyers to reach the screw and carefully turn it anticlockwise to loosen. You need to undo it a couple of turns but don't remove it!
5. You are now able to move the metal plate holding the motor slightly away from the flywheel in order to get the flat belt in. But first, use some thin card or folded paper to move around in the gap to clean away the dust and dirt! Fold the belt in half and slide under the long spacer that the loosened metal screw sits in. Carefully push one edge of the belt in between the gap behind the flywheel (holding the plate back as you do so). Once half of it is under the flywheel it's easy to get the remainder back onto the motor spindle:
6. Now carefully put the two smaller belts back on. Of the three smaller belts in the pack, the second smallest sits on the left, and the longest on the right. Carefully retighten the plastic screw to the same position it was in before (don't overtighten it otherwise it could obstruct the flywheel). Fully retighten the metal screw. Re fit the cable tie (if appropriate):
8. Almost done! Just need to tun the machine around and fit the final belt. For this you need to remove the front cover and the plastic cover surrounding the capstans and keys. Remove all the screws top and bottom holding the front panel:
9. Pull off the front panel knobs:
10. Remove the plastic surround:
11. Remove the old belt, give everything a good clean and replace the belt:
12. Replace and covers and knobs and you're done! A bit fiddly, but quite good geeky fun in a way!
I hope this was useful.
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