That’s my worst nightmare, I found that thread before starting this one and the work to replace the clutch looks very complicated and involved, I really hope this is not the case. The idler tyre slips and if I push the pinch roller into the capstan the wow and flutter disappear, so I really hope that the ferric chloride can resolve the problem. Edit: when the device is playing I don’t se any cracks on any gear or any suspicious movement (aside the idler tyre that sometimes slips)
The ferric chloride arrived this morning AND IT WORKED LIKE MAGIC!! It’s something really incredible that an easy work like this completely fixed the problem, wow! I really want to thank you all for all the help and especially @Deb64, you are a truly amazing and professional! What an amazing community!
Great news. Nice to read of a solution like this Inspirational and renews my faith in humanity. Yes really
Well today I hopped on the same boat, I read through the thread and I seem to have the exact problem OP was describing, W&F worsen when the take up spool is full and sometimes stops and tape gets eaten before it goes to auto stop, The only difference, my player worked fine after a belt replacement, but after replacing the tires the problem appears. I have to admit though, during maintenance after replacing the tires I pushed on the retaining sleeve above the top torsion spring of the auto stop mechanism, it looked like it wasn't pushed down, but it was, while doing so I felt like something moved down along the clutch assembly, I might've pushed a little bit too hard.