Just in case you need to know...

Main Belt: FRM11.0
Drive Belt: SCX7.4

I'm pretty sure about the top two.



Counter Belt: SCY8.0 or SCX8.0

I'm not sure which one is the proper counter belt, so I ordered both. They were only $2.45 each.

You also can use SBS8.0 and could have gotten them for less than 50% of $2.45.

Did you finally get yours up and running? Was the motor actually gone?

I should have asked around before I ordered the belts, eh?

Where do you get yours? Mine come from here JTs Belt Source

I got a complete tape drive mechanism from resident cool-dude driptip as part of a cross-continental trade which also involved a small amount of cash, two of his parts boxes (the GE and GF-555) and my Panny RX-5600.

So, after looking at the parts from driptip, I was able to see exactly where the motor is and then double-checked the box. Didn't even have to open it up.

I also used the belts from that tape transport to get the measurements for new ones. And before I crack into my 9696 to spend precious time making it work, I figured I might as well have new belts on hand and do it right. Know what I mean?

Unfortunately, I don't really have an area where I can open a box and leave it disassembled for extended periods of time while I wait for parts.

And I gotta tell you, now that I have this motor, I'm chompin' at the bit to get in there and fix this bad-boy!!!

Belts ordered Sat. Nite... arrived today.

3 business days! Not bad from Colorado to Florida, I say!

Alright, now get that thing in working order! It'll definitely become a favorite of your collection.

Oh, my sources for quality belts at really cheap prices are:

http://www.ued.net

http://www.studiosoundelectronics.com

Hey Fatdog-I was just going to ask for this.
I need a belt for my Kmart radio-I know it's Kmart but it's old and very heavy duty.
All it needs is a belt for the cassette and then everything works.
By the way do you measure belts from the outer part of the spool to the other outer spool?
I would think so but let me know on this if you could.
I also need a belt for my Oritron boombox I just picked up at Goodwill today for 5.99!
Those I think are the only 2 I need now.
I'm going to tear into this Oritron tomorrow.
It's going to be shed radio for my brother's cabin.
It's just a c.d./cassette.am-fm stereo.Everything works but the cassette is dragging.Youy can hear the motor running but the cassette is not turning as fast with the motor-definately bad belt.
Thanks for the link,I'm going to be measuring these tomorrow.
Have a great week-Ghettoboom777.

quote:

Alright, now get that thing in working order! It'll definitely become a favorite of your collection.

Thanks for the encouragement... This project should have gone pretty quick, and with two tape mechanisms to choose parts from I figured I should not have a problem making one tape drive work properly. As luck would have it, the rubber capstan bushings in both units were completely trashed. In the one drive it disentegrated to sticky goo and made a big mess. In the other drive it was considerably deteriorated, but contained to a gloppy blob, not quite yet to the goo phase.

I had to leave the project to go to the dentist and afterwards I stopped by a repair shop I know of in that area. I spoke with a repair tech and showed him the capstan and described what I needed. He gave me a piece of screening spline and told me to trim the ribbing off with a razor blade as carefully as possible to make it relatively smooth and rounded. That solution ended up working like a charm!

So, I put in the new belts, transplanted the motor and put the box back together...

The first tape I put in to test sounded very low and had a LOT of hiss. I thought I had done something wrong or that maybe the head was shot. But it turns out the tape was just recorded very low. When I tried another tape with better recording levels it sounded great!!!! I couldn't be happier at this point!

My GF-9696 is now working like new!

I did take some pics along the way and will update this thread later...

JT, go find yourself an R/C model airplane shop and pick up some silicone tubing. It comes in different sizes, but you'll know which one to get when you see it. It's cheap and you can make a truck load of capstan bushings from it.

Thanks Fatdog! I will search around for one of those stores. I have a feeling I'll need some in the future.

For now, the screen spline is doing well. But it will disintigrate over time. Silicone tubing will last much longer.

All in all, the GF tape drive was not as tough to work on as I thought it would be. It was very easy to get to.

Just be thankful you weren't working on the GF-666. Oh, yeah! You got a GF-555 didn't you. You'll likely invent some new obscenities if you have to work on that tape drive.

quote:

Oh, yeah! You got a GF-555 didn't you. You'll likely invent some new obscenities if you have to work on that tape drive.

Yup, play on both tape drives does not work on that one... they FF & REW ok, but play doesn't work.

I will eventually get to that one.

After listening to the 9696 for a while, I realize that the M70 does have more bass headroom for going loud. But it does sound pretty good at normal listening volumes.

Ironically, as soon as I got the 9696 working again, I was playing a 100min tape in my m70 and noticed the take up reel was struggling as it got towards the end of the tape. I have a feeling that one requires some attention now, too! Any idea on how challenging the M70 tape drive is to overhaul?

The 9696 will be my "daily listener" for a while.