I'm trying to restore my D3. I changed the center gear and spool gear. The capstan rubber wheel is in pretty bad shape as you can see, but I haven't replaced it yet. My current problem is that when I press the play button, the tape head slider goes most of the way, but it won't slide all the way. But if I give the slider a little push, or if I give the capstan wheel a little push, I can make the slider go all the way and playback begins. What could be the issue here? It used to work, but then I took out the capstan wheel to look at it and give it a wipe down with IPA, and also took out the motor and cleaned the rotating stud which was coated in black rubber. Both were replaced to the same position, as far as I can tell. I made a video showing the issue:
change the rubber wheel, it is not getting enough friction to move the slider. And looking at your photo of the flywheel, the rubber wheel look really worn and has a deep groove in it, looks like it is not making sufficient contact with the motor pulley.
@Yehuda Nataf I'm still waiting for the new wheel to arrive, will keep this thread updated with the result.
Hi @Yehuda Nataf The new wheel arrived yesterday. I ordered it from mihokm's ebay listing. The packaging featured fixyouraudio.com. I pulled off the old wheel and cleaned off the old adhesive. I attached the new wheel, without using any adhesive. Then I applied a bit of lubricant to the capstan shaft and hub (where it touches the metal cover), and screwed down the cover. I'm happy to report that when pressing play the slider immediately slid into place and playback sounded smooth to my ear. Problem solved.
