GE 3-5259A "Blockbuster" Play not engaging. FF RW Pause-Fine

[bashngu]

I'm currently working on a GPX 990 which has the EXACT same deck/mechanism AND I think I'm on to a better fix.

Hold tight cause this weekend I intend to do a better photo and write-up of this one. It appears that lots of soft-touch boomboxes use this same design.

If my repair theory holds true this will be an easy fix -cross fingers imp:

Would love to hear your "easy" and solid fix for this if its the issue with the cracked spring housing. Of the 4 out of 6 I have been successful with they took 5+ hours each at least, to disassemble/fabricate/reassemble not to mention the overnight wait for the weld to set.

But being the type A kind of perfectionist idiot I am, I also was concerned about keeping things as original as possible. i.e. running a nut and bolt or screw through things to hold the spring where it needs to be was no a viable option for me.

A miracle cure would be great for all of us since it is a trend failure with these.

Keep us posted

 

[sheddk]

I have resolved my issue with the BLOCKBUSTER after a long break to regain my sanity. k2j is showing exactly what my issue was. The spring creates tension that "pushes" the carriage into the play position. I am surprised, because of the way they designed this, it worked out of the box. A very thin molded plastic piece has the duty to retain the spring pressure. Inevitably doomed to fail. Once the spring tension is returned...and I used a combination of glue and jb weld on the original piece, the machine works as intended. Thanks for all support. Kelley

 

[monchito]

can u show a pic of the fix????

 

[k2j]

Here is the final write up. I don't guarantee that this will work for anyone else, nor do I expect it to work forever. BUT, so far so good on my beat-to-hell blockbuster! Sorry this box is dirty, its just my lab rat


This mod requires 1 zip-tie:

Next, you want to clip about 3/8" off the end:

Then clip the 3/8" piece with a slope/diagnal (see below pic) this will allow the piece to wedge in place:

Here is the piece of zip-tie ready for placement:

In this pic, I have the box laying backwards top toward me, with the cassette door and aluminum cassette deck backing plate removed. The zip-tie end will be wedged between the spring and the upper screwed in plastic guide:

Better view of the placed tie -> just before I use a screw driver and press the tie toward the right and into the hole above the spring:

There, now its wedged in place - snug

Demostration of finished deck in play position.

That's how I did it. The zip tie is softish plastic so it allows the spring to still have a bit of play.

Cheers

 

[k2j]

Hey all,

can anyone confirm if these are the correct belts for the blockbuster, scr-8 14-788 ?

SCA8.6
SCX5.1
SCY4.6

thanks

 

[baddboybill]

Hey all,

can anyone confirm if these are the correct belts for the blockbuster, scr-8 14-788 ?

SCA8.6
SCX5.1
SCY4.6

thanks

Correct

 

[lilo777]

I have just acquired "new" Realistic SCR-8. It might be new (as in "never used") but it is broken nonetheless. The problem seems to be the opposite of what many people have - the cassette carriage is stuck in lifted position (although I do not think it is lifted enough for playing). I want to take a look inside. I tried to open up the box but it's not that easy. I removed 6 screws (four screws on the outside and two in the battery compartment) and the shell opens up a little at the bottom but the upper part of the box is still being held by something. Could someone give me a hint? I believe I need to remove the front knobs. I do not see any screws on them but they won't come off easy. Should I just pull them harder or there is some tick?

 

[JustCruisin]

I have just acquired "new" Realistic SCR-8. It might be new (as in "never used") but it is broken nonetheless. The problem seems to be the opposite of what many people have - the cassette carriage is stuck in lifted position (although I do not think it is lifted enough for playing). I want to take a look inside. I tried to open up the box but it's not that easy. I removed 6 screws (four screws on the outside and two in the battery compartment) and the shell opens up a little at the bottom but the upper part of the box is still being held by something. Could someone give me a hint? I believe I need to remove the front knobs. I do not see any screws on them but they won't come off easy. Should I just pull them harder or there is some tick?

Yes, you have to remove the knobs

 

[lilo777]

I have just acquired "new" Realistic SCR-8. It might be new (as in "never used") but it is broken nonetheless. The problem seems to be the opposite of what many people have - the cassette carriage is stuck in lifted position (although I do not think it is lifted enough for playing). I want to take a look inside. I tried to open up the box but it's not that easy. I removed 6 screws (four screws on the outside and two in the battery compartment) and the shell opens up a little at the bottom but the upper part of the box is still being held by something. Could someone give me a hint? I believe I need to remove the front knobs. I do not see any screws on them but they won't come off easy. Should I just pull them harder or there is some tick?

Yes, you have to remove the knobs

How? Just pull them?

 

[JustCruisin]

yup just pull.. i noticed the ones on my blockbuster are easier to remove than my SCRATE..

 

[lilo777]

yup just pull.. i noticed the ones on my blockbuster are easier to remove than my SCRATE..

Thanks a lot. I thought there should not be any tricks there but was not sure. I pulled a little harder and it worked just fine. I was able to open up the case and get closer to the deck mechanism. The mechanism does not show any obvious damage (on the other hand, there is nothing obvious there for me for I have not dealt with deck mechanisms before ). I made a few snap shots and compared them with the ones posted by k2j. They look identical:

It does help to be able to see and compare the pictures of other boomboxes. So, now I need to figure out what is wrong. As I said, my problem was that the cassette carriage was stuck in the lifted up state. By looking at the capstan mechanism and playing with it I figured out that it is possible to lower the carriage by rotating the flywheel.

There is a gear on the flywheel shaft (#1) that is connected to the gear #2. As I understand, when I rotate flywheel this causes movement of gear #2 and this moves the cassette carriage. Without a working mechanism it's not that easy to figure out how exactly this assembly is supposed to work. Perhaps someone familiar with this mechanism (or are they all similar?) knows how it works? I wonder why the cassette carriage does not drop under its own weight. Should it? BTW, I can see that the motor is working but flywheel is not rotating. Could it be a simple case of bad belts? They look OK though. Any hints would be appreciated.

 

[bantytfv]

I have the same problem with play mode not being able to stay engaged. I have repaired the plastic piece that breaks, and the spring is definitely holding tension correctly now. Still no luck, still kicks out after a couple of seconds. Incredibly bad (or cost saving) design engineering on certain parts of these decks. Any thoughts?

 

[uawlou]

I have resolved my issue with the BLOCKBUSTER after a long break to regain my sanity. k2j is showing exactly what my issue was. The spring creates tension that "pushes" the carriage into the play position. I am surprised, because of the way they designed this, it worked out of the box. A very thin molded plastic piece has the duty to retain the spring pressure. Inevitably doomed to fail. Once the spring tension is returned...and I used a combination of glue and jb weld on the original piece, the machine works as intended. Thanks for all support. Kelley

You all have helped me understand this problem much better, thank you. Does any one have a good photo of a good, never broken spring with the original plastic piece in place? maybe that would help me to position the spring properly, because I still can't get my tape deck to play.

 

[Alberto]

It will be a great discovery, if we can find a fix for this common problem.

 

[k2j]

I have resolved my issue with the BLOCKBUSTER after a long break to regain my sanity. k2j is showing exactly what my issue was. The spring creates tension that "pushes" the carriage into the play position. I am surprised, because of the way they designed this, it worked out of the box. A very thin molded plastic piece has the duty to retain the spring pressure. Inevitably doomed to fail. Once the spring tension is returned...and I used a combination of glue and jb weld on the original piece, the machine works as intended. Thanks for all support. Kelley

You all have helped me understand this problem much better, thank you. Does any one have a good photo of a good, never broken spring with the original plastic piece in place? maybe that would help me to position the spring properly, because I still can't get my tape deck to play.

I saw your post and had the intention of pulling apart another SCR-8 that I have that worked perfectly. BUT, last week while playing a cassette the plastic piece on it BROKE, no joke. So, I tore it apart, wedged in the little zip-tie plastic piece and it works just like my blockbuster does -> perfectly.

It may be a brute force fix and plastic gears may eventually break by fixing it with this method. But, fingers crossed my blockbuster has worked flawless ever since...

 

[Alberto]

From what I've read and after looking at all the pics it looks like the problem is in the spring. It is compressed maybe from the head assembly not being used and in the down position, and that is why the piece of tywrap worked. If you take that spring out and open it up and reinstall it, it will have more pressure on the head assembly forcing it up.

 

[uawlou]

Alberto, thanks for the spring idea. Um, which spring are you talking about. Could you possibly post some photos of your fix? I am having this problem also and it has been both fun to work on and infuriating!
TIA.

 

[Alberto]

The tension spring ( wire ) in the same area and just below the nylon piece you just inserted. That nylon piece that you just added is doing what that spring is suppose to do. It has lost its force to push the play assembly up maybe because it has been in the down position so long from not being used.