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Where Can I Locate Rubber Bands Used in Electronics

G

Grandcheapskate

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 9, 2014
Messages
808
Location
New Jersey, USA
Hi Guys,
I just set up my stereo rack system after it has been stored for the last 8 years. I had hoped everything would work but I was leery about the turntable, cassette deck and CD player because all of those use the o-ring type rubber bands to turn wheels and I semi-expected those bands to have either turned brittle or break down. I was pleasantly surprised to see the turntable and CD player work without a problem. The cassette deck is a different story.

When the spindles in the cassette deck (it's a double deck) did not spin I opened it up to find one band on each deck had completely tied itself into knots and had become sticky. I was able to remove the bands but now I need to find replacements.

I have no idea what these are actually called and where I can find them. Can anyone help with the name of the part and the type of places which will sell them.

Thanks...Joe
 
Check with a Youtuber that goes by the name VWestlife. He does a lot of retro audio rebuilds and if you message him from his about page he likely wouldn't mind directing you to some suppliers for belts.
 
Also try to measure the diameter of the original belt. Round off to the nearest MM. You can usually get away with smaller, but not bigger.
 
What brand and model? Some people on the web (and ebay sometimes) will sell belts using brand and model. I purchased some Technics belts for a dual cassette that way in the past.
 
RussBlakeman said:
Check with a Youtuber that goes by the name VWestlife. He does a lot of retro audio rebuilds and if you message him from his about page he likely wouldn't mind directing you to some suppliers for belts.
Click to expand...
you mean... @vwestlife ?

He posts here more often than youtube videos come out.
 
You can frequently search on eBay or google for the model name of the stereo equipment and complete belt kits will be available. It's recommend that you replace all belts, as even though a belt looks good, it's likely stretched and flat spotted from age and disuse.
 
To add to the above, if you end up buying a bag of generic belts to find a good match keep in mind that apart from the diameter the thickness/width might also play an important role. I got a bag of 50 belts only to find out that all of them where 1mm wide and wouldn't clear a neighboring component or fit property in place. That's not always the case of course, just mentioning an additional parameter.
 
I used to have a Book by MCM Electronics that had Round, Square, and Flat belts for about any
audio device ever made. I don't know what ever happened to my book, but it's missing. I'm not
sure they are still in business. Nope, looks like Newark bought them out.

Here you go.....The wayback machine had the pages captured (although their old Book had lots more.)

https://web.archive.org/web/20160314163708/http://www.mcmelectronics.com/category/Belts/0000000162


Flat Belts
https://web.archive.org/web/20160406214724/http://www.mcmelectronics.com/browse/Flat/0000000163

Square Belts
https://web.archive.org/web/20160407053316/http://www.mcmelectronics.com/browse/Square/0000000165

Kits
https://web.archive.org/web/20160407103607/http://www.mcmelectronics.com/browse/Kits/0000000164



Larry
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the replies. I found a complete set of belts for my dual cassette deck (a Kenwood KX-55W) on Amazon. $30 for a set of 6 rubber bands...unbelievable. Hopefully when they arrive I can install them without problems and the deck will actually work.

There was no way to measure the size of the belts because the one which got all knotted up (on both drives) is a complete mess.

It's hard for me to believe I bought this rack system in 1987 and it's now 35 years old!

Joe
 
Sometimes you get lucky when a belt is broken and it is an easy fix. I purchased a broken Technics 110 CD changer I always wanted for a couple dollars because it was broken. It just needed a new belt for the CD mechanism and a broken solder joint in the stereo out jack. The CD player mechanism rides left to right to grab and unload CDs.
 
ldkraemer said:
I used to have a Book by MCM Electronics that had Round, Square, and Flat belts for about any
audio device ever made. I don't know what ever happened to my book, but it's missing. I'm not
sure they are still in business. Nope, looks like Newark bought them out.


Larry
Click to expand...
I used to buy a lot from MCM and Jameco especially when I was working on audio and video equipment that needed replacement heads, flybacks, belts. etc. I got out of that when it wasn't worthwhile for the average person to pay me for parts and labor when a new unit or something that replaced it (ie MP3 players) was half of my already too low labor and parts fee.
 
I have to hope spending $30 on this unit is going to be worth the cost. I haven't priced new cassette decks or even looked to see if they are still generally available. I have at least one spare deck but I want to keep this unit because it matches the rest of the components in the system. Heck, I don't even know if I'm going to be playing cassettes on this system.
 
Grandcheapskate said:
I have to hope spending $30 on this unit is going to be worth the cost. I haven't priced new cassette decks or even looked to see if they are still generally available. I have at least one spare deck but I want to keep this unit because it matches the rest of the components in the system. Heck, I don't even know if I'm going to be playing cassettes on this system.
Click to expand...
The few tape decks available new are all based on a very crappy transport mechanism, with no noise reduction. Some are not even stereo, though they claim to be! Dolby NR is not available for license any longer.

So if you want a quality cassette deck, you have to go with an older one that needs new belts and possibly capacitors. But they're usually pretty well built, if it's a quality name brand.

Techmoan has done a number of videos on what few new tape decks are available.
 
on the nose question! i have a Sony CD recorder where both trays don't come out. havent had the time to open it yet but i'm fairly certain it needs new belts.
 
RussBlakeman said:
Check with a Youtuber that goes by the name VWestlife. He does a lot of retro audio rebuilds and if you message him from his about page he likely wouldn't mind directing you to some suppliers for belts.
Click to expand...
I'm right here! I normally get belts from MarVac Electronics:

MarVac Electronics - Batteries, LED, Audio, Video, Wire Distributor

Huge selection of electronics, wire, semiconductors, relays, switches, heat shrink, rubber belts, fans, tools, supply & more! Same day shipping on orders before 4PM PST. Free local pickup in our Costa Mesa, CA store. Wholesale discounts on order quantity. Your one-stop local family electronics...
marvac.com
 
HoJoPo said:
The few tape decks available new are all based on a very crappy transport mechanism, with no noise reduction. Some are not even stereo, though they claim to be! Dolby NR is not available for license any longer.
Click to expand...
The TEAC W-1200 is a new cassette deck that is far from crappy! I have one and I'm very happy with it. It uses DNR, which works well for playing Dolby B NR-encoded tapes.

 
I see alot of tape decks at goodwills by me, but never one with soft touch controls sadly. Maybe I'll find one eventually... I have over 800 tapes that I havent used in years, minus a couple since my truck has a tape deck. Be nice to see whats on those mix tapes.
 
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