Tascam Porta One Ministudio spinning to fast

[SILKS]

I am looking for some assistance with my Tascam Porta One Ministudio 4 track recorder.

When the majority of the tape is on the left side, the takeup reel on my device is spinning way too fast, even with the pitch slider centered (set to normal speed). I've captured the issue in this GIF. It's worth noting that both rewinding and fast forwarding seem to be functioning without any problems. The sound of the tape is also audibly sped up.

When the majority of the tape is spooled on the right side, the player stops automatically as if it cannot handle to pull the weight of the magnetic tape.

I've tried playback with both a power adapter and batteries, but the problem is the same.

As an amateur, I'm a bit hesitant to open the case without guidance, unless there's something relatively easy to check.

• Is there a possibility of an easy fix that I could attempt myself, or would it be wiser to seek professional technical assistance?
• If it does require technical assistance, does this look like an expensive issue (custom spare parts, a lot of working time)?
  

I appreciate any advice or guidance.

 

[shredd]

I may be the resident Village Idiot here…AND I haven’t used cassette technology since Reagan was POTUS…

But don’t tape reels turn at different rates, based on how much tape each reel is holding - the diameter determines the amount of tape that each revolution holds?
For example: in your *.gif, the “feed” reel is turning very slowly, because it’s FULL and each revolution feeds a lot of tape…while the “take-up” reel (with its much smaller diameter, being nearly empty) is turning very fast, in order to ‘keep up’ with the tape it’s being fed.
It would be the other way around if the “take-up” reel were full.
I seem to recall tape decks are designed to compensate for this.

 

[SILKS]

You might be right. I haven't worked with cassettes for many years so I am very much an amateur.

Might've been thrown off by the fact that it plays the tapes a lot faster than it's supposed to and thought the reel speed difference was the problem.

 

[shredd]

plays the tapes a lot faster than it's supposed to

Again - I’m no expert, or anything like it - but TAPE speed is a different issue than the speed of the REELS…

You don’t care about the speed of the reels, if the tape speed is OK & you’re not having any trouble with tape movement.
But if your actual tape speed isn’t right, it will affect the pitch of the tracks you record, right? Now you’re talking about a transport-control problem…

 

[shredd]

Consulted my inner Yoda (the only part of me old enough to remember working with cassettes)...

IIRC, there's a capstan/pinch roller that's speed-controlled (to give a precise and stable tape inches-per-second tape speed)...and a whole separate transport component/system that drives the reels to take-up tape at whatever speed is necessary (which, as mentioned above, varies depending on how much tape is on that reel)...

"mmmm....wizard of the studio, am I!!!"