Aight, so last week I bought another GE, and then when I get it home, I push record on the tape and it then gets stuck. Capstan is stuck, heads in play mode, reel spinning for the entire duration that the unit is on. Got all the screws out, except for the last two, that are in the worst possible place. One spins freely, the other I can't get a grip on. Very limited on screwdrivers I can use as the hole for the screw is VERY narrow and long.. Any ideas? Both on what could be wrong with the deck (since i can't look at it ATM) and what to do with the thread-stripped screws?
One possibility is to drill the head off the screw and then replace it as suggested here http://www.stereo2go.com/forums/threads/stripped-screw-help.832/#post-6492 The worse problem I have encountered was when a plastic pillar had snapped off where in joined the case but there was a PCB in between the pillar and case back. The screw would just turn and turn but the back was firmly held by the PCB. I think I eventually managed to get a pair of thin pliers through a gap and hold the pillar but it took me ages to work out what had happened.
There is plastic and "plastic", thats for sure! And it is not always age-related. Yesterday I tried to resolder new pins for 9V Sony Discman adapter. Bought for $1 a dozen from China. Plastic shells just crumbled into dust when I touched them! Its like some plastic gears in early Philips Discmans which dissolve/melt in oil
This is exactly what I fear most. I suppose we'll see as there really isn't much left.. (that i can think of)
