Farmer Bill wrote:

Thanks Mike, I'll give that a try, assuming I can access the pinch
rollers and capstans. Somewhere else I remember reading a comment by
someone who said they had "roughed up" the pinch rollers. Is it
possible the rollers in my deck have hardened with age, and are
slipping on the capstans? Do the capstans drive the pinch rollers, or
vice versa?!


The capstan is the driven part, an it goes through a hole in the
cassette housing. The pinch roller is spring loaded on a swinging arm.
You want to clean the roller. Some of the older cleaners used "Oil of
Wintergreen" and alcohol. All i can find theses days is "Synthetic Oil
of Wintergreen", and I haven't had a chance to test it to see if it
works like the real thing. There are some rubber drive cleaners still
on the market, but the better ones appear to be long gone. My favorite
was "Friends Vita-Drive", but I ran out 15 years ago, and have not found
any since then. I bought some rubber roller cleaner from a big print
shop, but like the "Synthetic Oil of Wintergreen", I haven't tested it.
I recently picked up a few cassette decks from a thrift store to test it
on, but there is no AC in my shop, so I have to wait for cooler weather.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida