Mitsubishi DT25 Cassette Deck

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 07/21/2021 - 14:36

My Mitsubishi DT25 Cassette Deck won't play because the tape transport is not moving the tape. That's not too surprising for a 40ish year old cassette deck that has never been serviced. Probably the belts have either stretched or snapped, which isn't uncommon for drive belts. I already replaced the cassette drive belt in my 83 Imperial, which coincidentally, uses a Mitsubishi mechanism.

After opening the case, I was surprised to find not a broken or a stretched belt, but no belt at all for the capstan drive. I did find a lot of black goo, which is the first time I've ever seen a belt turned into goo.

A fair amount of disassembly of the tape mechanism was necessary to clean the belt residue with isopropyl alcohol.

Gooey reside from the capstan drive belt.
Gooey reside from the disintegrated capstan drive belt.

 

Once cleaned up, the issue of ordering a new drive belt must be resolved. I use dental floss to measure the length of a missing drive belt. Simply wrap the dental floss around the pulleys, tie a slip knot, and pull the floss taut. Mark the knot with a marker, such as a Sharpie, then remove the dental floss. Measure the length of the floss between the ink marks to find the circumference of the needed drive belt.

Using dental floss to measure the length of the missing capstan drive belt.
Using dental floss to measure the length of the missing capstan drive belt.