I need help with an Onkyo-Integra Cassette Deck or a New(er) one

Shadowfax

Shadowfax

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Hey I'm still Analog, LOL.

I have a great 90s era Onkyo-Integra (before they split them up) TA-207 Cassette Deck. I use it mostly at Xmas time to play old tapes hard to find on CD.

Last Xmas it flaked out a little but then played OK. This year it won't play but sometimes will RW or FF briefly.I did google it and it looks to be the belts. There are 2 of them but I just called Onkyo and they are Obsolete. I found a kit in EU but it says Used.

Any ideas?

Anyone have a used Deck they would like to sell?

The most inexpensive unit I can find is the TEAC W-890R-B, $199.99 but I am sure it will sound nothing like my old Integra.
 
So far, nothing but dead ends. I contacted Steve Monte of Quest for Sound and he sent me a link to Studio Sound Electronics who sells kits with 10 most popular sizes. I emailed to see if they can tell me which kit would be the best choice.

It would be a shame to have to trash this Cassette Deck over $15 worth of belts.
 
Thanks Mike. I don't have a paypal account so I emailed them to ask about alternative payment.


Just refreshed a very old Paypal account so will most likely order this tonight.
 
Thanks Dan, I totally missed that. Now the dilemma....order it from Texas for about $33 or order it from Germany for about $15

I sure hope this is really what is wrong with the deck to begin with but makes sense and is in line with other Google hits I got for same deck.

Thanks everyone
 
If you are servicing out any older cassette deck, the tires on the take-up and supply spindles should be replaced as well as the belts, and its a good idea to replace the pinch roller on the capstan (this is the mechanism that actually draws the tape) as well.

Good Luck!

Edit: check out Russell Industries for belts, idlers, pulleys and such. They will fabricate them if they don't have them in stock. They bought out the old Projector-Recorder company back in the 90s, who made many replacement parts. www.russellind.com
 
So I did get the belt kit from germany and attempted the repair over the weekend. It took me a lot of time just figuring how to get the stuck tape ejected and then disassembled enough to get to the belts.

Turned out it is more than just the belts because there was no change in behavior. So it's off to the scrap heap and now I need to buy a cheap new or used deck in order to rip all my old tapes to PC.

If anyone has something you may want to part with, let me know.
 
@Brian, that's a shame. I still drool over the Onkyo TA-2090 3-head cassette deck which is one of the best decks ever made. The whole process of playing tapes was really fun & engaging. I miss it a bit.
 
Tom Z said:
@Brian, that's a shame. I still drool over the Onkyo TA-2090 3-head cassette deck which is one of the best decks ever made. The whole process of playing tapes was really fun & engaging. I miss it a bit.
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I still have boxes of tapes of all my old records before I foolishly gave them away or sold them. All my wife's favorite Xmas music is on cassettes and that was mainly what the deck was used for each year. It was a pretty decent deck and was before the split of Onkyo to Integra.
 
atmasphere said:
Make sure the tape counter is moving! If it isn't, the machine will automatically stop after a few seconds.
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The pulleys don't even move. The main motor driving the large belt spins for a few seconds, then the play light blinks and nothing until power is recycled. Before I got the tape stuck, it was at least Rewinding for a few seconds.

My local repair tech stopped servicing this old stuff and I have no idea what I am doing past dis-assemble, lose screws, and make things worse.

I suppose I will try and find something cheap on CL just to record the tapes to PC.
 
Sounds to me like you don't have a belt set up right, or you didn't replace the tires on the take-up and supply spindles. It sounds like its going into auto-shut off.

If you simply hit the Stop key, can you then get it to restart, or do you have to shut the unit off entirely?
 
OK. I'm not familiar with that particular deck- that could be a safety feature. You did not indicate whether the tape counter works, or does it stop before you can see any numbers change?
 
atmasphere said:
OK. I'm not familiar with that particular deck- that could be a safety feature. You did not indicate whether the tape counter works, or does it stop before you can see any numbers change?
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Nothing moves enough to move the counter from what I see. I don't have the knowledge, skill or patience for this so at this point, I am just looking for a cheap $50 deck I can use. Thanks for trying to help anyway, I do appreciate it.
 
Well just so you know- if the machine can't sense that the tape is moving, it will go into auto-stop mode. Usually the sensing is done via the tape counter. Usually the tape counter is driven by a belt, and might have a magnetic wheel and a Hall-effect sensor to sense that the wheel is moving. If that belt is loose and not moving the tape counter and its sensor, the machine will stop.

I've seen that problem at lot- before doing Atma-Sphere full time, I ran a consumer electronics repair operation.
 
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