Cassette Tape Deck Problem

Dual cassette deck are often poorly built and full of problem with age. They are typically not worth repair. Get a good deck like the Tascam 122 Mk II as these can be repairs.
I have consulted with clients that have dual decks and the cost to repair will get you a Tascam 122 Mk II in restored condition and it works much much better. I should know as I have been repairing decks for 40 years so far.

Anything that eats tapes means the take-up torque is low of stopping due to bad belts or a bad Idler system or even cracked tires. The transport have to be taken out and those parts replaced and then it will work again.

The reel motor drive is independent of the head base actuator system.
You may need a new belt for the cam system or possibly a gear depending on what they used in this transport. This is a job for a Technician. I have not worked on one of those recently but have done thousands of other Teac and other brand decks over 40 years.

it sounds like your tape heads are worn they will strip your cassettes every time and give you very poor sound reproduction it can be repaired but costly to be honest you would be better off with a new deck and it will be cheaper all round.

FF and Rewind are functions of the reels, not the capstans. If the reels fail to rotate in response to capstan-driven tape motion the unit will assume a broken tape or end of tape. I think you have a mechanical reel drive system failure. Take it to a shop for evaluation and correction.

Define 'skip' in the context of your CASSETTE deck.

Poor audio is usually due to damaged media or dirty transport (heads, pinch rollers and capstan).

You can see the tape inside the cutouts of the cassette shell. It should be perfecly smooth and the edges straight. Use reflected light to evaluate it. Edge damage will affect the Left Channel most.

Dirty heads will cause loss of high frequencies first.

The transport, well, if we need to explain it to you then we KNOW it's never been cleaned.

See this helpful link.
http://www.fixitclub.com/Electronics/Cassette_Deck.shtml

Either tape is tight, run it ff the rev all the way back, or transport is failing , motor , belt , pulley etc,

check tape or try another one in deck b, how is deck a

???

Open the unit and try to turn the capstan whell with a tip to release the heads and the door locks.

Hi m522posner

There is a surprising interest in "vintage" hifi products these days. Your tape machines probably needs new belts. Check this site out. You can get spares for your tape machine here. Belt kits are $17. He does repairs also, but the transport to and from may be an issue for you. I suggest emailing Bob, he may be able to refer you to someone in CA > I could do the repairs,but I am in Australia. :)

Vintage Electronics
P.O. Box 941
1241 Conestoga Creek Rd
Florissant, Co 80816

Email: [email protected]

You could have a go at freshening up the belts yourself:)

regards
robotek

try firmly banging the cassette onto a table top(with reels flat) a few times, then ff right through and rew a couple of times. this will layer the tape more evenly and hopefully allow the mechanism to play it. the takeup reel or autostop mechanism may be failing if the deck does not have enough torque to carry the tape and may require belts replaced or dried grease removed in the transport.