JVC RC M90 - Capstan pinch roller hanging up

[Ceeker]

Hello everyone,

I'm new here and first did a search to see if anyone had encountered the problem Im having. I didn't find anything specific.
I've owned my machine since 1982 but was in storage since 1990s. I managed to get the scratchy volume and station functions
working after cleaning.

When I press play the pinch roller lifts to meet the capstan but nothing happens. It just gets stuck in this position and then
I have to massage it down after a number of attempts (of course without power). lol.

It did this before and after removing the cassette unit and cleaning lubricating etc I got it working again consistently.
But after a few days of sitting I went back to the same issue.

Could someone shed some light on this please?

thank you.

C

 

[floyd]

It sounds like loose belts to me there's not enough tension to press the head assembly all the way in place. Basically when you press play the heads lift up and are set into position if there's not enough tension from the belts there's not enough grip to hold it there.

 

[floyd]

This also applies to when you press stop because you can't fully disengage the deck once the belts are slipping bad enough.

 

[Ceeker]

Thanks for the reply; the head assembly goes into place completely. As mentioned it as working fine. PLAY FF RWD. all the functions worked.
But it started acting up after a a few days of sitting.

Are you for certain it's the belts?

 

[floyd]

I joined the forum 15 years ago because I had the same problem with the M90 and belts were the cure but I'm not sure of anything.

 

[Ceeker]

I joined the forum 15 years ago because I had the same problem with the M90 and belts were the cure but I'm not sure of anything.

LOL alright..I'll take another shot at it...I do have some new belts coming in. I'll post my findings once installed
thanks for your prompt reply. cheers!

 

[floyd]

On the M90 if play rewind in the stop and all that are working then it's probably the belts because everything else seems to be working properly. If nothing happens when you press the buttons then it means you have a bad resistor or other problems but it sounds to me like you just need some new belts on it because they get flaky just like the weather.

 

[hopey]

Belts are susceptible to duty cycle if your machine is still at least partiality working it means you have plenty of life left in the Deck once you replace the belts.

 

[Radio raheem]

also there are 3 belts that need changing, you will need to remove the innards to get to the 3rd one which is verry important as it's linked to a motion sensor

if the tape counter dosen't turn linked to this belt it will cause the issue you discribe, rewind ff may work but play wont, play will just dissingage after it has been inituated, good luck

 

[Ceeker]

well folks it was the main belt after all. The other two seem fine. I changed one but the other was the wrong length. I believe it was the rewind one that was too long. Thanks for all your input. Much appreciated.