JVC KD-15 belt replacement question

[mcad64]

My father in law was clearing out a bunch of his old electronics so I was a dutiful son-in-law and took them off his hands. Mostly a bunch of crap, but there was a Sony turntable that is good enough for my son to use (apparently vinyl is cool again) and there was also this cassette deck. Ever since Guardians of the Galaxy apparently mixed tapes are cool again as well. I have a shit ton of mixed tapes. It is circa 1978.

So when I turned it on the tape wouldn't actually turn. I googled and figured the belts were pooched. I took it apart and lo and behold (with its innards hanging out) the play button actually causes the spindles (whatever those black things in the photo are called) to turn. Obviously I did nothing. Fast forward and rewind seem to be slow as molasses. So would replacing , what I assume are almost 40 year worn out old belts be the answer to my problem? Is it something more drastic like a motor? Also, where does one source belts for a 40 year old cassette deck?
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Deleted member 133]

Also, where does one source belts for a 40 year old cassette deck?

Any good repair shop will have all the connections they need to source them - assuming any are still available (which, strangely enough, was the case when I had my '70s era Akai deck refurbished last year.)

Thing is, after looking at the mass of parts (mechanical and electrical) that they replaced on the Akai, it's possible that belts are not the only problem. They basically ordered and replaced / installed a "service" kit (belts, capstan rollers, etc.) and "capacitor" kit - worth $140 and $80 respectively. With labour ($60) and taxes it was a $315 job. (Note how low labour was relative to parts and taxes. I could have fumbled my way through some of the mechanical side of the repair, but I still would have been left with a deck that did not work properly.)

Jeff

 

[Flint]

Yeah, there's been a resurgence for skill techs to repair these older products. What's great is that most of the repair manuals are now easier to find, thank you internet, and some of the smartest old farts who know this stuff well are coming out of retirement for a few hours a week to help the shops out. There also seems to be a perfectly fine supply of those parts which were expected to wear out or fail.

 

[mcad64]

Well part of my reason for asking was that my son was itching to take this thing apart just to see how it works (at least as much as we can ) . Obviously we don't have schematics and more importantly I am not an electrical engineer (my father in law however, is) so if it was just a case of belt replacement it could be something my son could do. Not really interested in a repair that runs into the hundreds. Might check local electronics repair shops to at least see if I can source belts for this thing. Sadly, it seems nobody fixes anything anymore. Into the garbage and buy a new one.

 

[Flint]

In a quick internet search I found multiple sources for the JVC KD15 service manual which can be downloaded for anywhere from $5 to $20. There are many revisions of the unit, so you need to know which version it is. I'd just download one of the manuals and read it before ripping it apart. The most difficult aspect of repairing these things is the mechanical stuff, like removing the parts that gain you access to the belt, not the electronics.

 

[Deleted member 133]

I tend to find a lot of owner's manuals / service manuals here: https://www.hifiengine.com/. Just takes a minute to register and everything I've downloaded has been free.

In a couple of cases I could only find what I was looking for on "pay" sites, and ended up ordering copies.

I don't recall which one, but there's one site where, because I submitted a pile of original Koss CM Speakers Series material to them, I ended up then having a membership that allowed me to download other stuff for free.

Jeff

 

[mcad64]

I tend to find a lot of owner's manuals / service manuals here: https://www.hifiengine.com/. Just takes a minute to register and everything I've downloaded has been free.

In a couple of cases I could only find what I was looking for on "pay" sites, and ended up ordering copies.

I don't recall which one, but there's one site where, because I submitted a pile of original Koss CM Speakers Series material to them, I ended up then having a membership that allowed me to download other stuff for free.

Jeff

Tried that one. No luck!!