TOSHIBA RTS-193 PARTS WANTED

[jhamburg]

hello boomboxers !

doing a massive cleanup/fix/sell of random gear that's accumulated in the studio over the years and just now doing some preliminary sussing out of an RTS-193 that someone lett in the basement years ago.. It's amazing how much stuff get's abandoned.

So after an initial digging I see that it powers up via battery, haven't ventured Into the tape path as at the very least the counter belt disintegrated. Overall it's in OK condition, a few dings here and there. Quick visual and sniff inspection of the electorlytics didn't show anything which I was VERY surprised by.

Right now I'm definitely looking for the following items.

1) one antenna (with the white plastic tips)

2) the metal tape transport protection bar.

3) most importantly the AC voltage selection switch. It's busted (will not latch) and the prongs have broken off. I verified the PS is working fine by going direct to the xFormer.

As a studio owner with a hard science background I'm a decent tech, just way slower than a pro. I can easily patch things up with varying replacements but I want to keep this as original as I can.

any thoughts as to sourcing replacements would be much appreciated

and full disclosure, I'm sure I'll foster fail with this once I invest the time and get it going

thanks so much in advance for any guidance and I really appreciate how much you guys are doing to keep the bass PUMPING !

-joel

 

[jhamburg]

found an antenna.

will post a thread on the restoration as it goes

-j

 

[jhamburg]

first things first, apologies for misnaming the model number in the thread title, it's a RTS913 (somewhat obviously I would assume)

power switch repaired. I've got some work to do on the main PCB but first will clean all switches and pots.

main belt drive is long gone so I am looking for:

symbol 45, #25755335 Belt, Drive
symbol 96, #25755387 Belt, Counter

I'm sure I can measure/guesstimate the belt size but if anyone happens to have any specs on either that would be much appreciated.

I'll search as well obviously

thanks !

 

[jhamburg]

hello,

not sure if I should start a new thread for restoration updates/questions so I'll keep this here unless instructed otherwise.

I found belts on eBay.

Didn't have much time over the past 8 weeks but stole an hour today and worked on the trasnport.

1) thoroughly cleaned easily accessible parts of the mechanism
2) cleaned the pinch roller with fancy pinch roller cleaner (have for studio gear)
3) cleaned disintegrated remnants of old drive belt from motor cushion (transfers power from motor shaft to belt)
4) replaced drive belt.

so now I can FF and REW. Play doesn't work sadly so I'll have to diagnose that.

I have two questions that if anyone is willing to answer would be much appreciated.

A) there seems to be a groove for a belt on the supply hub and it seems as if there was some old belt/mush in that groove. The service manual does not indicate any other belts besides the drive and counter belts but who knows.

Does anyone know anything about a belt that I might be missing ?


B) I only had an hour to look at this and haven't taken too close a look at the transport and exploded diagrams haven't fully searched the forum but if there any common problems that would cause the FF/REW to work but not PLAY any insight would be appreciated as well. I'm used to working on big old tape machines and cassette decks are new to me.

Thanks in advance and I'm getting excited to bang out some tunes !

-j

 

[Superduper]

Play key should trip a micro switch, make sure it’s working. When play switch activates, see if motor is getting current. If motor has current but won’t move, it’s likely toast.

 

[jhamburg]

thanks for the quick reply Superduper, much appreciated and very helpful in isolating the problem.

Motor is running when play is pressed. The capstan spins as normal. Power is transferred to the take-up/supply hubs in FF/REV as normal so there's something mechanical not being engaged.

I'll just have to take off the fly wheel so I can get a better look at how the gearing works and I should be able to figure it out. Since I have no problem transferring power in FF I'm guessing something misaligned or possibly a worn spring. My worst fear is a worn gear.

Engineering of this thing is effing amazing and now I just want to ditch work and figure it out..

 

[jhamburg]

Took a 15 minute break to check in on the transport and figured something out.

Having never really worked on cassette decks before I assumed that there was more torque applied directly to the take up reel as opposed to being mostly transferred via the idler wheel.

I hadn't looked closely and I noticed that the head and the pinch roller assembly were not fully engaging the the capstan. Light pressure made it go.

I'm going to try and clean the idler tire again but most likely will replace (one came with my belts so I may as well do it)

The mechanism still isn't fully engaging properly when in playback so I'll do some more cleaning.

I've got some various fancy lubricants coming and will see if careful application helps.

Thanks again !

 

[Superduper]

Make sure pause mechanism isn’t sticking. Old decks frequently have lots of levers, pivots and stuff that isn’t rotating or sliding correctly due to excessive friction from dry grease, corrosion and built up dust and debris.