Porta 05 Flywheel (?) Not Engaging

[soyenusha]

Hi all, newbie here.

First, I did my best to search and determine if this had been answered elsewhere, and was unsuccessful. Second, I know that the best option would be to have it serviced, but 1) no places I know of near where I live to do so, and 2) I don't have the money at the moment. I'm in the middle of working on a project, and if there's a way I can fix this even temporarily so as to keep working, I would greatly appreciate the help.

I added a picture here, noting where the issue seems to be. When I press Play, the heads/pinch roller engage, and the roller/capstan pull the tape normally. The problem is that the right flywheel, (correct me if this is the wrong name), won't spin, and thus the tape bunches up within the tape case itself and jams.

Taking a look inside, I see that when Play is pressed, there is a metal plate in between both flywheels which moves upward. On the right side of this plate, it has a 'cutout' where a plastic pin is supposed to land, and if it does so correctly, the flywheel engages. I've confirmed this by manually helping the mechanism while powered on and playing. It appears that the metal plate's upward movement needs adjustment so that it moves fully up and allows the plastic pin to land in it's proper place, engaging the flywheel.

I've had a 424 Portastudio for over a decade, and had to replace the capstan belt, the 'gear C', and clean/regrease several times. I'm by no means a professional, but I'm comfortable doing basic fixes. This Porta 05 I saved from the recycling bin from someone who didn't know better, and it actually worked fine for a while, until this issue began.

Anyone able to help me out? I swear there's a millimeter of distance between 'works' and 'doesn't work' here, so I'm hoping it can be adjusted somehow.

Thanks everyone!

 

[SkywaveTDR]

These decks were lubricated with the same grease as they used in Open Reel decks. It has a base that evaporates in time and like most open reel pinch roller linkages they have to be taken apart, cleaned with denatured alcohol and then new Lubriplate 105 grease applied. It is also entirely possible that the Idler tire is worn down, shrunk or hardened which stops it from doing it's job. All these things collectively are looked at by the Technician and why some things that seem simple as changing a belt will NOT return to you a working deck- the old grease still needs to be cleaned out. I have been dealing with these decks for about 37 years now as I started working at Teac in 1982.

 

[soyenusha]

Thanks for the response!

I also have a Teac 3340S open reel deck, where the pinch roller assembly was frozen due to solidified grease. I was able to clean the old grease out, and used Deoxit to re-lubricate it, and it’s worked well ever since. Certainly not the preferred method of lubrication, but given my circumstances I need to be resourceful.

Believe me, I would so much rather take this to a technician, (and would have loved to have done the same with the 3340S and the 424), but it would mean shipping it plus repair costs, and that’s not doable for me unfortunately.

I’m in the Tampa area of Florida; if you or anyone here knows of some place nearby I could contact for repairs, please do tell! In the meantime, I’ll see if a similar relubrication is doable here. Many thanks again

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Gerhard a person I have been in communication with as far as starting a tape deck repair business down there has been doing some work already. Polk City area.
Vintage Stereo Repair and Restoration
Repairing and restoring analog audio components
Teac, NAD, dbx, Revox, B&O, Pioneer
Gerhard@TheVintageAudio.com
772-713-1506

 

[soyenusha]

Incredible, thank you! I will reach out to him today, I’ve been searching for someone local for so long!

 

[Evan Murnane]

It is also entirely possible that the Idler tire is worn down, shrunk or hardened which stops it from doing it's job.

Hi! I have this exact problem with my porta 05, the auto stop engages because the right flywheel doesn’t spin. I think my issue is the idler tire. Should the tire itself be coming into contact with the take-up reel? Mine has a 2 or so mm gap between them. I’ve read people suggest cleaning it with sandpaper but that makes no sense to me because the idler already appears to be too small... Any help would be appreciated!

 

[SkywaveTDR]

The part you are referring to is not a flywheel as that is connected to the capstan shaft but a Reel table and of course the rubber Idler make contact to the reel table or it will not spin. If the fast wind modes do not work then this is evidence that the rubber needs to be replaced. The seal I use that are harder than the original part last at least 10 years and due to hardness do not wear out. I have never had a seal fail on me since I have been using them and I have tested them with the MTT160 torque gauge to make sure they worked even before I started using them so I do indeed know that they work. The sandpaper on the outside of a seal rubbed sideways might roughen it up surface wise and I clean them off with Naphtha. The think is I don't know the actual one that goes in there as I select them from present stock in a cabinet of 6-9 different ones used in decks from Teac, Tascam or Aiwa.