How to Repair a Cassette Player

Repairing your cassette player is a helpful skill to acquire.

You may simply want to improve the sound quality of your cassette player, which has suffered from a buildup of dirt and grime. On the other hand, your cassette player may have stopped playing altogether, in which case you will need to try and repair the main components in order to get it working again. A full repair is a difficult task--and, in some cases, unachievable--but it's worth learning how to maintain and clean up your cassette player to help prevent your player breaking beyond repair.

Things You'll Need

• Anhydrous isopropyl alcohols
• Cotton swabs
• Tape head demagnetizer

Instructions

1. Dip cotton swabs in anhydrous isopropyl alcohols and gently scrub the heads--the metal fixture at the bottom of the cassette dock that reads the tapes. Dry the heads with a dry swab after.

2. Press "Play" on the deck so that the capstan--the metal spindle to the right of the tape heads--spins. Gently wipe up the capstan shaft with an anhydrous isopropyl-alcohol-dampened swab.

3. Clean the pinch roller--the black rubber roller that guides the tape--by rotating the roller with a clean, alcohol-dampened swab. Clean the stationary metal and plastic guide posts.

4. Wipe all parts dry with a clean, dry swab.

5. Plug in a switch on the demagnetizer away from any other audio equipment. Slowly move the tip of the demagnetizer toward the tape heads. Slowly move the demagnetizer back and forth over the tape heads without touching them.

6. Pull the demagnetizer slowly away from the tape heads and unplug or switch off when finished.

Tips & Warnings

• Some tape decks have two capstans and pinch rollers, so make sure you check and clean both.

• Do not use the demagentizer around any other audio equipment. Switch off your cassette player before using the demagnetizer.

References

• Fix-It Club: Cassette Deck Repair