I joined today and have a question .

I am not new to boom boxes or walk mans . I have repaired a few over the years.

I have a Panasonic RX-CT810 I got new in 1992 and used it quite a bit over the years. On X-mass I wanted to play a few cassettes we have and tried it first with no tapes loaded and it did work then it began squealing . Once that happened a few times I could not load a tape in either of the two decks . A week later I tried again and the pinch rollers dropped down as they should yet soon the squealing began . I opened the case and lifted the tape drive assembly out and was able with a lot of effort to get some light machine oil into the pulley end of the one motor . I had the belts off so as not to get oil on them . I didn't want to go to far to try to remove the dual plastic motor pulley and was able to insert a thin coated solid wire to hold the pulley up as far as the end play allowed and with then flat length of brass dipped in the oil was able to apply enough and then it was running quiet again.

I also cleaned the heads and capstan and pinch roller and tried recorded cassettes and both decks #1 and #2 worked fine . I also recorded one tape played on deck #2 and record on deck #1 which is play and record.

Everything works great except I used to be able to load 2 tapes you load one in deck #2 push play then on deck #1 push pause and the play . Once deck #2 tape ends the auto stop works yet for some reason deck #1 is supposed to come out of pause ,play is already , it won't come out of pause. You can also record doing the same except you need a blank tape with the record tab and I have quite a few .

I can't tell how this function is supposed to work or what triggers deck #1 to release pause .

Many may know how this works . I thought perhaps the auto stop on deck #2 trips the #1 deck pause . The belts don't slip and actually look great . There are 4 total . 2 flat belts from the one motor dual pulley to each capstan and 2 square belts one to each rewind spindle the fast forward is gear driven and both decks are the same except #1 records and has an erase head.

Does anyone know how that feature works ? I can live without it yet I would rather it did work . Most decks it's usually a belt issue it was on my Sony walkman model WM-FX323, I was able to get it apart with all the tiny release clips and had a belt that fix , it was a bit thicker of a square belt yet worked perfect. On the Panasonic the belts really grip well , you can't stop the capstan , even got a Q tip caught trying to clean the pinch because I had it on the wrong side and I had to hit stop of it would have pulled the cotton off.

I recently worked on a 980 with the same mech (I Think). I would say the problem is with the Logic as these are semi motorized tape heads. The play button pushes the heads up halfway and Logic contacts engages a motorized lift the rest of the way. It could be as simple as proximity switch near the pause button. I have attached the Service manual in the Manual section.

If your sure the Auto Stop is working correctly then it points towards the logic. I found the metal levers are very soft and easily bent when removing the front cover make sure these are perfectly straight. Good luck.

I think on some boxes, maybe not all, you don't need to press the pause button on 2nd deck as long as the switch is set to continuous play mode.

hopey said:

I recently worked on a 980 with the same mech (I Think). I would say the problem is with the Logic as these are semi motorized tape heads. The play button pushes the heads up halfway and Logic contacts engages a motorized lift the rest of the way. It could be as simple as proximity switch near the pause button. I have attached the Service manual in the Manual section.

If your sure the Auto Stop is working correctly then it points towards the logic. I found the metal levers are very soft and easily bent when removing the front cover make sure these are perfectly straight. Good luck.

Click to expand...

i looked at the service manual , it looks pretty much the same as mine as far as the tape decks. I did notice there is a something that moves the pinch roller up fully after you push play . You mentioned a switch off the pause . Is this switch located near the pause level of play lever? I was careful not to bent anything since at the metal levers . I removed the 5 screws and released the top first then the bottom with the two tabs and turned it over to assemble it so the plastic levers need to be up by their own weight and got the bottom in first then the top . I assume that's the proper way. I'm just a bit lost on where the switches are that activate the pinch and head to make it more up . There is only one motor like your manual states and shows.

I took the deck apart again and can't find anything wrong with the metal levers. I did notice that sometimes the pause on deck #1 sticks so you need to try twice every few times yet this is only when it's not running . While running it works every time.

I did manage to clean the volume slide switch contacts since they are fully exposed so at least now there is not crackling sound especially when it was turned down all the way or moved (ie) I could hear the left side a bit with the volume all the way down.

As far as the auto stop it works every time. I guess I can live without playing a tape in deck #2 with deck #1 set on pause with play engaged so when deck #2 ends deck #1 plays , haven't used that since maybe the early 90's when the deck was new. I can also record from a tape playing in deck #2 to deck #1 the record deck . I just get the empty tape at the beginning in #1 and cue and review deck 2 until I am at the beginning of the song I want to record. I don't recall ever using the auto sync feature to record by placing #1 on pause and record then hit play on #2 . The logic seems to work on both pause buttons as well as cue and review , each time the pinch and head drop down a bit and the take up spindle stops and cue and review with play engaged the pinch and head drop down as they should and the rewind rotates or the fast forward rotates and you can hear the sped up sound to find the beginning or end of what ever song you want.

I don't know why Panasonic even built it the synchronized editing feature it's sort of pointless especially when I always recorded as I described above. It's only useful for one who wants things easy yet you are still required to press three buttons when it's just as simple to use the pause button to hold the record deck on hold and push play on #2 /pause on #1 at the same time and off you go.

Perhaps if I used the thing more often rather than allow it to sit for years on end those features with clear up on their own . Also it has a high speed recording feature which does work fine which is really only good for making a copy of a recorded tape and you are in a hurry.

This must have been well used for the motor to squeal like that, that's the easy way to fix it, good work. I would be content with what you have achieved so far, generally if you can make your boombox play tapes again your a winner!

hopey said:

This must have been well used for the motor to squeal like that, that's the easy way to fix it, good work. I would be content with what you have achieved so far, generally if you can make your boombox play tapes again your a winner!

Click to expand...

It really doesn't have a lot of use . It didn't squeal 2 years ago . I think it was more sitting a year between use that finally allowed the motor bushing lube to dry out. I was hoping it was just the front bushing because there is no access to the rear. Plus the rear is more or less sealed from elements.

This is my Panasonic XR-CT810. I'll get a better photo since I had it sitting on the work area in a corner of this old apt we live in.
I connected the line in to my PC line out and tried taping some YT songs , worked great.

Nice work, I'm pleased you've got this box back to health. I have the RX-CT800 model and find it sounds so much better than other boxes of a similar size.