I decided to create this thread because from all the walkmans that I came across, I cannot remember a single one with a clean pinch roller. From the looks and how much oxide came off, I think most of the rollers were never cleaned. On some the oxide deposits were 0.1mm-0.2mm thick (in some cases the rollers are beyond cleaning and need replacement). I honestly don't know what the exact reason is: maybe some are afraid to clean the roller because of potential damage, others may not know what substance to use or how to clean it, while some may not even know this is a maintenance item and needs to be cleaned on a regular basis. The rule of thumb that I use is clean the roller once the oxide marks become very visible. That can be anywehere between 10 cassettes and 30 cassettes played, depending on brand, tape type and quality. Poor quality TYPE Is tend to shed the most oxide of all types; being the most popular type, there are many more poor quality TYPE Is than TYPE IIs, and TYPE IV. There are 2 methods of cleaning the roller on a DD walkman: A. This is the simplest one and can be used on any walkman that uses a tilting carriage loading mechanism Note that on some, like for example the JVC-CQ-F7K, removing the door is pretty involved and unnecessary, so this method will work the best in that scenario. You just need to immerse a cotton swab into isopropyl alcohol, put it at an angle with the roller and turn it. You must put a little force in order to create friction between the swab and the roller. Note that the roller should turn in tandem with the swab when you apply the right amount of force. B. Remove the door, put the unit in play and clean the roller as on any other walkman To remove the door, you just need to remove the 2 screws and unlatch it. When re-installing it, pay attention to the plastic hooks that need to engage with the carriage. For cleaning, use a cotton swab immersed in IPA and rub it against the roller while the unit is running. Stop when there are no oxide marks left; it shouldn't take much if this procedure is done regularly.
Thanks for sharing @Valentin . Back in the day when I was using cassettes the most, I don’t think I ever cleaned the roller or head of my micro hifi set and walkmans. I was surprised to read my Technics deck (RS-BX646) should be cleaned after 10 hours of use (playing / recording) cassettes, at least according to the user manual! 25 years ago that would be like 3 times a week or more.. because cassettes I used every day, either in walkmans or at home in the hifi set.
Very useful info, @Emiel ! I was curious myself about what a manual would say when I posted, but did not have any on hand. 10 hours seems a reasonable time to me, it means playing both sides of 10 60-min cassettes or 7 90-min ones. Pre-recorded ones are usually shorter than an hour, unfortunately those are the ones that tend to shed the most amount of oxide, especially the old ones.
I used to remove the door on my DC2’s to clean the pinch rollers, capstan and head. I no longer do this and I would also recommend people not do it either, the reason being is you risk knocking the head out of alignment by constantly removing and reattaching the door. But the choice is yours. I clean all my units every 10 – 15 hours of use or before if it looks dirty, as well as that I clean the home deck plus demagnetise the whole tape path and heads before any recording session. Else I demagnetise all units about every 20 hours of use, probably an over kill but it does not hurt.
How could removing and reattaching the door knock the head out of alignment ? I want to understand how the potential damage can occur. Are you reffering to the azimuth/tape path adjustment ? Or is it something else ?
On the DD units we are talking about here the head, pinch rollers etc are on a hinged door. This is moving all the time when you are opening and closing the unit to change cassettes, by removing and reattaching the door you are weakening that structure of the assembly that rigidly holds the parts that are meant to stay aligned. Yes I am talking about the azimuth alignment, but like I said it's your choice. I no longer do this, the only ones I clean in that way are the D6C as the head assembly is not on a hinged door and the Nakamichi CR-7, since the door is designed to come off for ease of access.
Interestingly I purchased a bottle of pinch roller cleaning and conditioning fluid some years ago which I suspect is largely isopropyl alcohol but has other constituents in it as its slightly viscous. I agree cleaning that oxide build up is important but so is keeping the pinch roller in its natural state. Rubber tends to harden with age and that together with oxide build up is what causes rollers to slip or worse crease your valuable cassette tapes.
