Is just the tape belts or is there something else wrong?

[ThatM1key]

A year ago I have gotten a Pioneer CT-W606DR because I saw a VWestlife video. I have had experience with Pioneer tape decks before, as my childhood tape deck was a Pioneer CT-W205R.

When I got, it had a few problems. I gotten a Tony Audio 3Khz Test Tape to see what might be the problems. Deck Side 1 runs 300hz below spec, regardless of pot adjustment. Deck Side 2 has some life, I set it to 3015hz because it falls back to 3000hz and the W&F is within spec. The problem is that side after 30 minutes to 1 hour, the W&F goes ham. I'm fairly certain it is the belts but I don't know much about tape deck maintenance. What love to see your guy's thoughts.

 

[Zek]

Many things about the cassette deck can be suspicious - belt, pinch roller, position (azimuth) of the tone heads , worn of the heads, etc.

 

[JeffS7444]

I'm fairly certain it is the belts but I don't know much about tape deck maintenance.

One possible reason your tape transports are either too slow or performance degrades over time is that the motors are working too hard to drive a gummed-up mechanism. Probably will want to remove the tape transports and give them a proper cleaning, lubrication, and replace any worn or degraded rubber parts. This may be kind of labor-intensive.

 

[ThatM1key]

I opened my Pioneer again because my reverse play button was stuck. I didn't notice anything gummed up and the belts seem fine although they are original due to the zip ties not being cut. I'm thinking they just have worn out motors because everything looked clean on the inside.