Gday all This is my first time trying to replace a belt on a cassette player. The player is a National Panasonic RQ-316S. I need to remove the capstan bracket as shown in the photo but the screws look to be threaded - i'm not sure if you can even unscrew these even if they werent threaded? Keen to know if I'm doing something wrong here to remove the bracket so i can take out the old belt and replace it - any thoughts or ideas on how to replace the belt in this situation would be awesome! Cheers guys, love the community and really looking forward to learning more
To remove that belt from the capstan flywheel you need to get that metal bracket off the top right? It appears to be held with 2 screws... that have oddly shaped / worn Philips heads. And even star washers to help lock them down from coming loose. I would... examine to confirm the bracket will just come off if the 2 screws are removed. Then.. gulp... carefully try various screwdrivers to see what one fits best in those 2 screws holding the bracket down. Those 2 screws have somewhat weird Philips heads. But it should work... And if it does work and the 2 screws come out ok and the bracket comes off... then one should clean the path the belt was riding on. It will have some residual decomposed old rubber belt. 70% IPA (alcohol) and cotton tip stick "Q-tips". Use lots of them. Try and clean the belts path everywhere it went. And you might want to oil that capstan bearing while you are at it. But be careful. Observe the front of the cassette deck to see if that capstan has any sort of retaining washer or plastic washer at it's base there on the cassette side where the capstan emerges. And when lifting up that capstan flywheel, up up and away, one must observe for any small thin washer under there. Observe, cotton tip swab away any residual dirt and oil sludge, apply 1 drop of oil (make sure to clean the capstan end after - to remove oil - where it contacts the cassette tape!) What kind of oil? From Amazon or e-bay, synthetic liquid bearings, or similar, in applicator bottle or syringe style etc.,
