I received a printed replacement gear from a seller in china: https://www.ebay.com/itm/357989728696 The original instructions were to heat the gear sleeve in hot water before installing. This seemed to go fine and the gear slipped over the top and then the lip of the metal wheel seated just fine in the groove of the printed sleeve. However, when rotating it, it's not perfectly smooth. The sleeve itself has a bit variation on the angle of the teeth as it spins. The seller said it's necessary to briefly soak the entire reel in water for the printed sleeve to smooth out. I'm having a hard time believing this will fix it and also worried that it will warp the plastic reel and ruin the limited slip clutch between the plastic and metal wheels of the reel. I'm waiting for the resin printed gears from Slovakia as well but I don't think the this one from China is going to work unless it's perfectly even when rotating.
Note the clutch can be disassembled from the reel easily and re-installed after the reel assy has been soaked. In my opinion it's worth trying to soak the assy in hot water before drawing the conclusion it doesn't work. The reel itself is much thicker plastic and unlikely to change shape in any significant way. Let us know what you find and how this compares to FixYourAudio one.
Agreed. The problem with installation is that it was cooling very fast and unless already perfectly seated everywhere, it's going to cool slightly deformed unless it can be heated again and pushed flat or even just allowed to cool evenly while already seated. How do you separate the two halves? Do you remove the brass clip on the bottom or does the spindle just press out of the assembly?
Indeed the method of installing is not the easiest, but would be interesting to know how the gear works. Regarding removal of clutch, the 2 parts are pressed together you just have to pull the reel. The brass clip has nothing to do with it.
So then it will be 3 parts when disassembled? The black plastic wheel, the spindle, and the metal wheel? So just press out the spindle where it attaches on the back side or pull the spindle out by force from the top side?
Yes, it will be 3 parts: the lower part of the clutch, the reel, the reel table and the spring. 4 if we consider the spring as a different part. Found an old pic from when I repaired a gear. This is how the disassembled reel table looks like. To remove you pull the spindle by force from the top side. You can use a flat screwdriver to start it.
I would much rather push than pull if possible. In the picture I posted, does the spjndle include the smaller center part inside the ring that has the brass retainer?
No, the clutch disc (the part with brass "retainer") has a shaft that is pressed into the reel. Pulling the reel is the way to go, otherwise there's a risk of damaging something. It doesn't take much force to remove it. If you're worried about scratching the metal part of the reel table, just put tape over the screwdriver.
The plastic is 43 years old and I'm concerned that pulling might break it. Does the shaft that you're referring to go all the way through? i.e. is it this circled in red? If so, I can print a tool that will press this out rather than pulling from the other end.
Can't remember for sure (didn't disassemble this reel recently), but from memory I would say it can't be pushed from the back. Don't have any pictures with the other parts unfortunately. From what I remember the clutch disc itself has a shaft that pushes into the reel, not the other way round. If you're concerned it will break, don't do it. But don't think there's such a high risk. You'll feel by hand if it doesn't budge.
aye thats just a brass contact, it pops off pretty easily. i took one apart years ago out of curiosity but since that one is in a player i went and grabbed one of my old junker (cracked) reels i swapped out ages ago just to show real fast just stick a small tweezer tip around here and a gentle pry+lift upwards it pops right off with little hassle. you were overthinking it a smidge but also kinda looking at the wrong thing had you tried pushing the center out you might have wound up breaking something had you tried forcing it out since this piece is only for the auto-stop detection circuit (and bottom half is 1 whole plastic part). every rotation it bridges the contacts which tells the mainboard that the tape is/isnt playing the actual part holding the assembly together is the washer at the top of the take up reel, it sits around the metal shaft which mounts to the metal base-plate piece, once you remove that the 2 parts separate with the reel cap that in mind if you didnt take the reel off do that first, or if its stuck somehow without the cap in place push down on the top of the plastic rod to encourage it out but yeah valentin was on the money there ps for anyone who might be looking into this in the future- if you really dont wanna deal with all this to fix the cracked gear issue (provided its kinda like this one and not super serious, just 1 small crack) you can opt to desolder the 2 connectors on the back to disable the auto-stop instead i dont recall any playback problems coming from doing it, main thing is youll have to live with it clicking whenever it spins around the gap (and not having auto-stop obviously lol).
So I slipped off the bass thingy and under a scope, it's clear that all of this on the bottom is one solid piece. Looking at the top of the spindle, it appears that is not one piece and the spindle is pressed onto this central shaft which is attached to the bottom plastic wheel. There is a spring under the spindle pressing against the metal wheel with a washer between the spring and metal wheel acting as a limited slip clutch. So if I wanted to keep pulling pressure off the shaft, I'd have to insert a tool into the center of the spindle on the top and apply opposite pressure while lifting underneath the edge of the spindle. Alternately something that can grab and pull on the spindle while applying pressure to the center. Wondering if there's a penetrating lubricant that would make it easier to slide apart?
Whoops. Ignore my last post. I'm just now seeing this one. That's what I get for not hitting the refresh. Also, I think you're missing a washer or something?
just gotta make sure you verify things before jumpin into fiddling with stuff else you could risk breaking/damaging parts on accident, ill give some credit in that you caught yourself on your own there though. we all have our whoopsies but its all good so long as you atleast take something away from it, and eh we all have our struggles with 80s plastic to be fair lol also to remove it, i believe when i did it a little bit ago i tugged at the cap a little bit while rocking it gently till it popped off. this one was taken apart before so might be mine was a tad looser than yours is though if its real deal stuck on there id wrap some electrical tape over some tweezer tips and stick them under the bottom edge to pop it off easier (using leverage without risking damage to the plastic or metal surfaces by wrapping elec tape around the tips)
oh yeah mine was stuck on that brass contact when i took the part off so i had set it to the side with the split washer
As soon as I dipped the wheel in hot water, the printed gear split and shrunk about 6 mm. Quite surprising. When I tried installing the second backup gear, it was a pain to get on unlike the first one. I had to reheat it probably 3 times before I could get on fast enough to stretch it. After the initial install, it was way more irregular than the first one. I think I got lucky with the first one having install and eat in just a few seconds. That said, the second gear did not split when reheated. I let it sit in the cup of 90C water for about 8 seconds, took out and quickly pressed slightly firmly on a granite smooth surface (granite countertop) and let it cool. This seems to have done the trick and the gear appears perfectly even all the way around. Unfortunately during one of the attempts to install the gear, the metal wheel with the felt pad fell in the water. I believe it slightly distorted the plastic hub at the center but I'm not sure yet. Will need to do some more testing. it might just be the way I spun the wheel with the plastic wheel at the back inserted into it and then spinning on a paper clip.
ehh not sure how youd go about fixing that if it got messed up, i believe like the gear around the ring it gets injection molded around the metal platter and isnt really made to be removed. those felt clutch pads are kinda wack when it comes to how they can have random large problems scale from tiny issues, like a clutch pad i had in another player a while ago totally failed just because humidity got trapped in a sport walkman case. i used braking grease to get it somewhat-functional again -check the torque whenever you put it back in, if the clutch isnt clutching itll slip under a teensy bit of pressure. youll have to re-introduce friction to its surface somehow good luck, and id recommend checking fixyouraudio first next time around. can never trust the chinesium parts fully no matter how much id like to
