Amazon Cassette Deck Belts first test in an old Citizen JRT1314

[@Thanson199415]

The Yamaha K-520 made it in safely, no damage, and runs perfect like a top! Now I can give my 3 Head a break. Thanks so much!!!!!!

[@12voltvids]

Great. I guess the post office doesn't always play football with packages despite that rumour.

[@Thanson199415]

@@12voltvids 🤣🤣🤣

[@dhpbear2]

There are signs on the market here in California that read 'DRIVE LIKE YOUR KIDS LIVE HERE'. I saw one jammed in the back of a fence where the cross-member was blocking 'LIVE HERE'!

[@dhpbear2]

Looks like it has a decent--size flywheel for a boom-box. I've seen some that were *plastic*!

[@MrChrisRP]

Brings me back to the early 80s when I had the 4 track too, but the standard cassette deck, dual, home stereo format. I would clean the heads religiously on them manually, but also had the odd cassettes to do so, too. I wasn't acutely aware of the concept of too much cleaning is a negative thing yet at such an age without instruction, but some part of me was still. So I would always be sort of "careful." heh, Cool video! Thanks for sharing. oh right, and the TI-99/4a data cassette player/recorder. Same deal, too.

[@sonyajones]

Awesome! I've had good luck with the flat wide belts from Amazon. They seem to last okay too!

[@geoffreykeane4072]

My dad was a house painter. That radio reminds me of all my dad’s radios - paint droplet all over the top 😀

[@zx8401ztv]

I was supprised that the pinch roller and motor must be in perfect condition. I expected some wobble, but none detected 😀 Perhaps the unit was used mostly for the radio.

[@tharkthax3960]

I frequently replace belts on old datacorders from the 80s. The belts off ebay a lot of the time are horrific. Warble like mad - which is no use for loading data from cassettes. Great video, will have a look on amazon for the belts you mention. Thanks 😊

[@andrew1479]

For UK based viewers - Try "Elbow Grease" degreaser great for removing old rubber mush and also old lubrication grease/oil.

[@dhpbear2]

22:20 - This unit has Fender amps beat with the sheer number of white paint spots on it! (See Uncle Doug's channel :) )

[@worldgate989]

Would a bad belt cause a deck to stop right in the middle of every casette? Mine gets half way through a tape, makes a dragging audio distortion then stops.

[@iraweiss517]

What is the exact Amazon product name and number for the belts use are using?

[@fredericlaurin9190]

If I am not mistaken, Recorder Rubber Belt 0059559 or 0594 from ‎TEANTECH.

[@blackimp4987]

Please which of WD40 products are you using ? thank you

[@waltschannel7465]

I like you are a great skeptic of this type product. Glad It appears to be working out.

[@ErikPAPATIE]

Do you know for what is have 2 condensair microphone is stéréo mic im like some old system

[@38911bytefree]

Dave, some Sonys offer FG Servo even in bottom of the line decks .... wondering if FG gives them a real advantage on W&F and long term stability. I have seen some circuits from Sony (TC-K33 for exmaple) ... it doesnt look like the servo amp is using a pll thing .... Really dont know how they are taking advantage of their FG motor.

[@12voltvids]

Fg (frequency generator) is a feedback circuit that measures the motor speed and compared it to a reference for precice speed control. If that reference is a Crystal it is a quart lock phase locked loop. Wow and flutter is generally the result of the inertia of the flywheel and how good the pinch roller is. Many Sony decks used an fg motor but still used a belt and flywheel. Others like pioneer, Technics and JVC used a direct drive capstan motor. I have a Sony reel to reel with a direct drive fg servo capstan motor. Has 15/16, 1 7/8, 3 3/4,=7 1/2 ips.

[@aurthorthing7403]

You're welcome for the belt suggestion. I think that "unit" was made by Sanyo or Sony.

[@12voltvids]

They didn't make them Korea back then. Japan.

[@theotherchannel2279]

As in the watch manufacture Citizen??? Is this rebadged I cannot think of them doing hi fi equipment.

[@12voltvids]

Citizen electronics was jutan international limited. JIL. They had many brands under their umbrella. Citizen, candle, Lloyd's, ashi, and a few others I have forgotten about. Most of their stuff was manufactured by Samsung and Goldstar. Gold star electronics merged with lucky appliance, it became known as lucky goldstar which is now just called LG or low grade, life's garbage etc.

[@bugsyjonesband]

Love for you to do - an Aiwa 808 - Same mechanisms as the Realistic deck - looks like tough access

[@jefferyb304]

I have a Tascam CC 222 that I have two noteworthy issues with. Sometimes the play head doesn't drop low enough to allow the tape to eject. I've replaced both belts to some degree of solving the issue. Oddly enough, right now, a square belt is subbing decently where a flat belt was. Flat belts are coming in a few days. Next issue is CD-R record function. Newer CD-R's will not work for recording. An old beat up Memorex branded one I found will work. CD playback sound is awesome. Cassette playback is okay. I'm not too amuzed by electronic cassette deck controls.

[@SPINNINGMYWHEELS777]

great shop unit ! - sounds pretty solid - I know those belts would work great in a 8-Track player if it works in that. The tape transport looks decent.

[@12voltvids]

Yes they probably will. Will try some more in other decks.

[@tilleytristan]

I would love a test tone tape, but how do I made one without having wow/flutter due to the recording process?

[@12voltvids]

You need a certified deck that has been calibrated. I use a quartz lock direct drive capstan to make them. The w/f is as low as it gets. Incidentally it is impossible to to 0 w/f on analog recorders. Only digital recorders have 0.

[@beosliege]

which belt set on amazon was this?

[@lesrogers7310]

That machine seems fairly decent considering it was probably sold as a budget option. I did notice the treble was right up on max though.

[@DuncanWEDD2019]

The 'Citizen Kane' of budget portable radio-cassettes

[@steveoszman8746]

Had pretty good luck with china belts rescued some older machines. The thickness of those belts I bought varies though to be audible.

[@tough213]

I got a set of belts from Amazon they are great as well I got cassette deck and reel deck belt kits 20 belts each all are great so you can get good quality cheap great job as always

[@bigalsmallengines]

Rare to see a boom unit with phono inputs and Dolby System cassette deck like that. I had one Casio unit that had actual VU meters and Dolby B with the tape formulation selector and level controls. Like yours there, had the line level in and out, but mine had no magnetic phono input. Belts are mostly the repairs I have on cassette decks other than general maintenance issues like lubrication and head alignment. A few years back I was fortunate enough to find a large collection of various belts at an estate sale. This guy must have been really into tape equipment cause I never seen so many analog recorders in one place before. I was like a kid in a toy store buying cassette decks, open reels, beta machines, belts, parts, repair kits and some factory service test equipment and alignment tapes. I even snagged a lot of blank media to boot. I had to eat bologna sandwiches for a few weeks after that adventure though....LOL I always found with belts you get what you pay for, but it is good to know that these would be good to use. Cheers to you!!! 🍻 -Al

[@12voltvids]

The biggest problem with belts were the synthetic belts that were common because they were initially through to be better as they didn't crack and break like natural rubber especially if ozone was present. Probably was they ended up turning to black goo. Natural rubber don't turn to goo but they get can get slopy and lose as they lose their elasticity.

[@bigalsmallengines]

@@12voltvids Yeah I see the black goo syndrome a lot. I never installed any of those synthetic belts for that reason. I can tell by the feel if it is a good rubber belt. But hey, operating conditions, the quality of the blank or recorded media you use, and heat inside the unit decide the life of a belt no matter what the quality. I've found machines with good cooling are ones you have long belt life with. Some of my 20 year old open reel Akai machines still have their original belts. Of course they are fairly robust in those machines. I just change them as they wear out because I just don't use my open reels as much, plus I change my set-ups time to time and I will often remove belts if I am going to store a machine for a while. Lot of turntable belts are going to go bad anyway if you store them for years no matter how good the quality I have found also. I just take them off the machines and put them in a air tight bag and put them inside the machine. Next time I use that piece a lot of times the belts are still good instead of having flat spots and being deformed or stuck to the pulleys. Works at least 70% of the time anyway. -Al 🍻

[@12voltvids]

@@bigalsmallengines If you don't want your belts to fail, turn it on and run it regularly. Exercising belts like everything else is a good way to keep them in shape. Same thing applies to your body believe it or not. I'm very active at work for my day job on my days off I go on a 4 km walk everyday just to stay active

[@bigalsmallengines]

@@12voltvids Both very good ideas indeed. 😄

[@hansu-nihon]

great retro deck, glad that it is fixed.

[@sunspot42]

What a nifty little unit. I'd imagine the speakers it came with were garbage but they sure didn't skimp on features - Dolby, support for chrome and even metal tape and a phono preamp!

[@12voltvids]

The speakers were probably good but I didn't get them.

[@codebeat4192]

I also have good results however you need to clean everything in the belt path before installing the belt and clean it again after installing to be sure there is no oil left or other dirt on path and belt. Remember that most of these decks are a long time out of service and dirt collect everywhere. The fact that the deck running slower as should can be an effect of dirt on the belt (slip) or the belt is a little too tight. Clean it again can help and also running the deck for a while can fix the problem. Mostly it is not used for a while, give it some time. If you adjust the speed to early, you will end up with a deck that runs finally too fast. At first, never adjust the speed potentiometer and give it some time to settle and see how that works out. If it not fix the problem itself after a while, than you can decide to tune the speed.

[@12voltvids]

Many if these were never properly calibrated at the factory. Btw I had it running for several minutes before adjusting the speed. The pulleys were cleaned multiple times to get all the old belt off and the oil from wd40 I used. It's not slipping and running fine. Not that it is going to used. This was more to evaulate these cheap belts to see how good they are. More to come.

[@barryjackson2351]

nice metal flywheel for low flutter

[@alinsorin5237]

Decent radio-casette deck!👍👍👍

[@stereomann83]

are any of the belts big enough to work on a turntable? and can you tell me where you bought them thanks

[@12voltvids]

Not these ones but turntable belts are available. I got them on Amazon. Just looked up 4mm wide belts and gave them a try. First one good.

[@ErikPAPATIE]

And last year im found a good dual stereo cassette Venturer model no 1438 in dump and is working fine and 3 other model

[@terencekaye9948]

Hi can you tell me where you bought your a440 speed tape ?

[@12voltvids]

I make (and sell) the speed tapes. My quartz locked direct drive recorder was certified using a Sony factory alignment tape. This deck is only used to record test tone tapes.

[@bocefusboy]

@@12voltvids How do we order speed tapes from you?

[@12voltvids]

@@bocefusboy contact my by email. It's in the about tab on home page.

[@MrMegasuperhawk]

seems like a cheap belt is less of an issue with a robust metal flywheel....sounds great!

[@12voltvids]

The thin belts sound like shit. Wait for the next one that has a thin belt in it now and it sounds terrible. I'll do one soon.

[@bugsyjonesband]

This is great! I just ordered some of these belts. seems like there's never the size I need. haven't had the opportunity to use the flat belt set - I think those are the 3 MM ones - I also ordered 4 MM flat. Haven't used them yet - so This is perfect timing. Also, I may add, I'm NEVER doing that cleanup without latex gloves on again !! YUCK !! (I'm about 8 mins in tho')

[@12voltvids]

Gloves are pain in the ass. Just use baby oil and it wipes right off.

[@stereomann83]

LA's Awesome Cleaner also works great to remove belt goo

[@dominikmichalczak4941]

There are plenty of those 4mm flat belts auctions aswell on Amazon and Aliexpress. Bought similiar set to those but the belts were too wide, almost 5mm and too thick. Bought 3mm wide flat belts with hope that they will be 4mm wide. Turned out they were almost 3mm wide :( But the thickness was correct :) Those on video looks like the belts mounted on old cassette decks. The wide and thickness is very similiar to the original units from oldies era.

[@12voltvids]

Well eBay is too expensive because it huge shipping charge. I get free Amazon prime delivery. 15 bucks delivered tax in

[@Watcher3223]

Not bad at all. Here's hoping you get more luck out of those Amazon belts.

[@crashbandicoot4everr]

Quite heavy aluminium capstan flywheel for what this unit is. Many cheap decks of this era have those nasty plastic ones with the metal ring around them.

[@12voltvids]

This is actually not a bad little unit. Soft touch tape deck mechanism Dolby and hi-bias / metal tape capability. It may have been a citizen but it looks fairly well built. I was most impressed with that belt. I didn't think it would sound very good. If you had a close look at it, it looked pretty shaby but got the job done nicely.

[@electricalgeniuses948]

Cool one.😎🔥🎆🎆🔥🎆🔥🎆

[@Raptor50aus]

You can get away with not perfect belts in a boombox but not a walkman so they should work fine :)

[@38911bytefree]

This vid looks more like one of the best tutorial of replacing belts when This unit is actually pretty nice, recording level on a portable ? .... almost unseen. Panasonic BiAmp units are pretty good, the CT and DT series. I dont think they do metal (RECORDING). To me they are similar to base of the line RSTR decks. Something Panasonic did WELL is keeping up with the Boombox segment until it finally died. Sanyo, JVC and Hitachi had interesting units too until early 90s. I ve seen a Sanyo portable where the decks (its a double deck) are DD, not even mentioned on the unit .. like they didnt even botter to do that. Shame that the rest of the system is not on the same level.

[@nycdogs]

Ha ha, I already ordered three packages weeks ago, and installed two belts, they're good for the money!

[@12voltvids]

Now to order the square belt set. Looks to be a winner.

[@shaunsiz.itsbetterbytube2858]

I found amazon belts pretty reliable

[@theoloutlaw]

I'm guessing a fail.... they looked pretty 'shabby'...

[@12voltvids]

I was not expecting what I heard.

[@mgrsdgfsdafsdgrsdgfsdg6980]

WORST MUSIC EVER

[@lesrogers7310]

Maybe but he has to use royalty free music so the choice is somewhat limited. It depends on personal tastes anyway.