Post #2060023

2026-05-03 04:18 UTC

In other news, I just found out why one of the belts I installed in the Aiwa AD-F770 in 2012 may have snapped. I installed those belts based on faulty information, which I passed on in my 2012 video. The two belts are slightly different in length. The shorter belt goes around the two flywheels, and the longer belt goes around the capstan motor and take-up flywheel. Some forum threads get this backwards, including the one I went by back then, unfortunately. In my 2012 video I commented on how difficult it was to get the motor belt on, and how very tight it was, and now I know why. And that was the belt that snapped. The worst part of this is knowing that I might have put undue wear on the capstan motor for 14 years. Obviously it&#39;s still working fine, and apparently it&#39;s a common style to find replacements for if I ever needed, but... damn it man. Anyway, I have the new DeckTech belts installed, and I&#39;m picking away at the power supply capacitors.

Replies (3)

@themaritimegirl@tech.lgbt 2026-05-03 20:36

Huh, I have never run into this problem ever. This is the first 0.33 uF electrolytic capacitor I've ever run across in something. You literally can't buy them on DigiKey, at least through-hole ones. Do I leave it? Replace it with a 0.47? Replace it with a ceramic equivalent? I guess I'll leave it for now and get input from the folks on Tapeheads.

Open ##2171495
@themaritimegirl@tech.lgbt 2026-05-03 14:13

@retrom Luckily I'm just after the 8 or so power supply capacitors, and only preventatively. People with experience servicing these say they're sensitive to those caps weakening because these are highly C O M P U T O R-ized decks.

Open ##2171520
@retrom@oldbytes.space 2026-05-03 13:58

@themaritimegirl@tech.lgbt That cassette deck has such great audio quality 🙂 And you've definitely got more patience than me to deal with all the capacitors in it. I have an ancient Teac C-3 I got from a friend years back, and while it does work after changing the belts, the audio has issues, which is very likely due to the bazillion capacitors in it that need to be changed, which I still haven't gotten around to doing yet 😅 That being said, I do also have a Technics RS-B207, still working perfect on its original capacitors and belts, and that deck is plenty good enough for my cassette use.

Open ##2186942