Was trying to listen to an old tape in my porta studio two tonight when the tape would stop and start playing on its own. Now it won't play and the tape is stuck inside. I've read that if I turn the fly wheel it should turn the tape carriage back into place but I can't get the back cover off after taking out the six screws on the back. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks .
There are some Porta Studio models that have screws in the cassette well and if a tape is stuck in there then it needs to be removed before to get those screws out. I have taken tapes out of decks over the years but I have not had a lot of work on Porta Studio units lately other than a lot of 488 Mk II. It appears that the reel tables and head stay with the lower part of the deck so there is no way to extract the top cover while the head in in the tape. If the tape has screws, you can remove the top shell and then the tape should come out. This is what happens when you do not do the required maintenance to a deck but just try and keep it working for 20-30 years. This kind of thing happens.
