So, I just drove 45 minutes to pick up my first boombox to play some of my old cassettes, and when I got it home, the thing ate 2 of my cassettes! It is a magnavox D8443. The guy said everything worked fine but apparently not! The radio and speakers work good though. Details...when I fast forward, the right "thing" spins nice and fast, and when I rewind, the left "thing" spins fast as well. However when I click play the left one doesn't want to turn. I have to like push it along and it seems stuck, but the thing above it is turning when I push play though. I tried the q-tib/alcohol trick with no luck. I have no idea how to work on these, but I want to listen to my cassettes pretty bad. Oh, it is the left side of the tape that gets pulled in and eaten up. Any ideas? Thanks a lot for your time

-Ryan

most boxes ive bought have problems with deck, for myself i have bought a studio quallity external tape deck from the 70's, the sound is great i use analog red/white cable that go in the input on the back of my  of my boombox's

Open the box replace the belts on the deck in the first instance. if this does not resolve your issue there could be something else going on with the capstan or the pinch roller on the deck.

p.s ive drove an hr on tollpaying hyw only to find the discrition for the radio completely wrong myself sorry for your luck and better luck next time

Yeah, but wouldn't the belts be good if everything is turning fine in ff and rewind modes? It is just the play function where it has trouble turning.

Are there any idlers on this box. That`s a problem also, like on the gf777 family.

is there a sledgehammer in the house jk

yes - but i prefer to try a long screw-driver first

before re-sorting to more drastic measure's - Like a Hammer or Sledge

I bought an axe yesterday, could use that...I actually bought an axe and a pack of large hacksaw blades at the same time.  Did think of buying some rubbish bags and rubber gloves as well just for a laugh to see if the cashier looked at me strangely

Starting to wonder now if this is common for people over there to question the purchase's of other people - think I'll stay away from the uk

My D8443 had a gear problem in the tape deck. The material the gear was made from deteriorated and the capstain wouldn't play the tape but it would FF/Rev by the belt. Its a fairly common failure in this unit. Check your tape deck belts and drive gears. Good luck