Tell me about cassette players & maintenance

[JHZR2]

I was a cassette child. While I remember record sections in stores when very young, the only record I recall being bought was Bruse Springsteen's Born in the USA as a gift once. I did get an Alf record too...

Anyway, I had cassettes, and they all worked well. I had and used them well after CDs were popular and I had gotten CD systems (mid 1990s).

CDs sound better, less fuzzy, whatever, but my cassettes always worked great.

Enter my car - 1982 Mercedes. Original radio, Becker grand Prix. Looks like this:

Works pretty well, and Im NOT going to swap it out... New radios are too gawdy. Actually my other MB has a Europa in it:

So Im not going newer than what I have. I like the sound and all... Except that Im getting clicks and clacks and thump type sounds from using a cassette adapter to my iphone. Sound quality isnt too bad for driving in a car that isnt the absolute quietest... I am happy with it, but I am sensitive to these interfering sounds.

I keep the adapter in the deck to prevent it from getting dirty/dusty. Are non-music/track sounds an indication of dirt? Do the heads on the tape player wear out? What about on an adapter? it is in use >75% of the time when Im in the car...

What is the best cleaner for a deck? Are there standard things that I should do as a "tune up" to keep the deck running and sounding optimal?

Thanks!

 

[aquariuscsm]

The heads probably need to be cleaned and demagnatized. Not sure if this stuff is even made anymore though. Two places I`d look for a head cleaner and head demagnatizer would be an audiophile store and/or Ebay.

 

[MONKEYMAN]

I still use/prefer the cassette player in my Saturn. I have a cleaning tape that I use every 50 hours. It came with a cleaner solution. I just apply a few drops to the cleaning cassette and play it a minute or so. However, those cleaners are no longer carried at larger chain stores. I also use an adapter with MP3 files with no problems. Are you sure that it is not the adapter? Are cassettes playing properly? The tape player could be wearing out if everything has distortion. Maybe try the adpater on another cassette player. If you here clicks, etc. then you isolated the problem. I used the cassette player in my Saturn so much I had to replace it with one from Ebay. I also had problems with the adapters working properly. For some reason they will just eject. They seem to be cheaply made. I guess I should not expect much for a few dollars. I used to have long q-tips dipped in Isopropyl alcohol to clean heads and pinch rollers. However, I have not found that this works very well on car stereos due to limited access to the heads. I have not used a degausser since high school.

 

[eljefino]

If you leave the cassette adaptor in all the time the guts of the deck are still turning the little wheels. At least from my walkman experience there are some belts involved that might wear out.

The q tip and alcohol thing is about all you can do. If you ran tapes, they leave black oxide in the tape path on all the other whatsamajiggers. And the black rubber wheel that pinches the tape and holds it to 1.75 inches per second can get grimy... but you don't want to dry it out.

The best cleaner is 100% alcohol; the drugstore stuff with water in it is not so good.

 

[ddrumman2004]

^^^ What eljefino said.

If the adapter is left in, the mechanism continues to run as long as the player is powered.

Also, heads do wear out and they do get really dirty over a period of time.

Only cassette player I have now is a dual JVC player/recorder that is in my home stereo system. I play it every now and then and still have tapes that were recorded back in the 70s that sound as good now as when they were made.
But they are Maxell brand.....a brand I have always considered the best.

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
If you leave the cassette adaptor in all the time the guts of the deck are still turning the little wheels. At least from my walkman experience there are some belts involved that might wear out.

The q tip and alcohol thing is about all you can do. If you ran tapes, they leave black oxide in the tape path on all the other whatsamajiggers. And the black rubber wheel that pinches the tape and holds it to 1.75 inches per second can get grimy... but you don't want to dry it out.

The best cleaner is 100% alcohol; the drugstore stuff with water in it is not so good.


Q-tips and alcohol is what needs to be used. I used to go over the parts with a dry Q-tip after the alcohol to remove any film that impurities might leave.

 

[cchase]

Glad to see cassettes still get used. I don't use anything but cassettes for music at home.

Q-tip and some high content alcohol are what's needed. Clean the capstans, pinch rollers, head, and demagnetize the deck.

Don't use the common 70-75% alcohol if you can avoid it, try to get something with 90% or better alcohol content.

 

[JHZR2]

When I say that I leave it in, nothing is engaged, it just fills the spot. I need to push it in another 1/2 inch to turn everything on.

Nothing that produces sound seems to be a moving part here either... The adapter that I use seems to just be another head, there is no tape in it.

 

[eljefino]

There's no tape but there should be gears. The spinning spindle turns the spun spindle otherwise many decks detect this as end-of-tape and autoreverse or stop.

Also there's a button battery in there somewhere, if your SQ goes down, check it.

 

[Shagger]

Originally Posted By: cchase
Glad to see cassettes still get used. I don't use anything but cassettes for music at home.

Q-tip and some high content alcohol are what's needed. Clean the capstans, pinch rollers, head, and demagnetize the deck.

Don't use the common 70-75% alcohol if you can avoid it, try to get something with 90% or better alcohol content.


Use only Isopropyl alcohol, solution is > 90% alcohol, clean the capstan, pinch rollers, and the play head.

http://www.ehow.com/how_10507_maintain-cassette-deck.html

Also make sure that you have a decent quality cassette adapter, some are awful.

 

[Papa Bear]

I heard on the news the other day that Ford wasn't doing CD players any more so a cassette deck is really obsolete ...