414 mki belt replacement

[granto]

Hi my 414 mki works fine after almost 20 years but I'd like to be proactive and replace the belts.

Does anyone know the exact size of these belts? I see that I can get a kit online but 10 bucks for 3 belts is crazy. I own 40-130mm 1 mm square belts, but I think I'd at least need a large flat belt for the capstan.

Is this a relatively straightforward repair or are there any surprises? For instance I've had random parts fall out of cassette decks during repairs that I just couldn't guess where they go, and without a service manual it was rough.

Any other parts I should replace while I have it cracked open (and do you know the size/specs)?

 

[SkywaveTDR]

I just take the old one off and check how tight it was and measure it and maybe use a slightly smaller one but the same thickness and width as much as possible. There is a lot of stuff to be done with a product this old and just changing a belt is just wrong. I tell people all the time that their line it Just needs a Belt is created by those that do not work on these for a living and also those that know nothing about tape decks. But then you can not tell some anything and so they find out the hard way and it doesn't work right or for long. By that times I have so many repairs to do I don't have time to play games with them.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Belts of high quality are not free and they are not made for $.40 each anymore so the value of the dollar is changed so the $.50 belt will not be found unless it is some kind of rubber band. Liken the cost of the belt to a gallon of gasoline- I can remember when on my bike it was $.33 for a gallon but what is it today? $2.65/ Gallon well figure out what that means for belts- they are actually related in the rubber business.
Still Consolidated Electronics in Ohio is not bad prices. I use their belts all the time.
To help out-
http://www.ceitron.com/passive/belt.html

 

[granto]

Hi, I appreciate your thoughts!

Normally I would have this serviced by a technician (and perhaps I should!) but I planned to just replace the belts because the machine is working just fine, all the rubber I can feel seems supple enough, and I personally know this machine as I've had it since it was brand new. I only used it a few times, so it's in pretty good shape... just trying to be proactive here.

Btw I live in the mountain west where rubber tends to do pretty well, without much humidity fluctuation.

 

[Peter Lyons]

Hello! My name is Pete, this is my first post here. I started using my old 414 about 20 years ago as a kid! I believe I'm in a similar situation - tape only plays at proper speed (3.75ips) when you press down on the Play button, then when you let go it plays a lot slower. I love how recently this thread was started! Granto, did you try to replace the belts?

 

[granto]

Hey there, well, my Tascam works fine actually and doesn't have that problem. This sounds more like a problem with the button mechanism, but I'm sure others can comment.

Anyway I think it would be relatively easy (though time consuming) to change the belts, but one thing that stopped me was that I couldn't find info on which belts to get. I know you can get the variety packs, but even then I don't know the width etc. So if you find that info let me know. I did chat with a dude at a repair shop who said, basically, it's not worth the money (~$200) to pay to do it.