Recently I bought Philips DCC730 on Catawiki, had few original tapes and 2 used Philips blanks. Original tapes plays great, one of blanks had dropouts, other one records/plays great. Than I order 10 NOS tapes and arrived 10 Philips and one BASF. Tried 3 new Philips tapes and on A side has lots of dropouts and silence, on B side is everything OK. Than I took BASF, record/play on both sides is great. Seller claims that tapes are OK because he also use them. Is it posible that somebody messed up with head azimuth and head is too high to record on A side ? I dont have another deck to try it on them. Thanks.
The head azimuth is probably not the problem. The DCC head assembly makes sure that the tape is always perpendicular to the head, even if it’s misadjusted a little.
Most likely, the problem is that the pinch rollers are worn and/or dried out, which is a very common problem on these machines. This also explains why there’s a difference between side A and B: since the head pivots to play/record side B, a dirty head would cause problems on both sides, not one (but obviously it’s a good idea to clean the head anyway).
=== Jac
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Can you share a photo of the mechanism? You can upload pictures directly here without the use of any 3rd party service.
Have you tried the usual replacement of belts and pinch rollers as well as cleaning the head with isopropanol alcohol on a cotton swab?
I cleaned head with isopropyl. I will order new pinch rollers and replace them but I’m still confused because I have 2 tapes that works great.
Hi,
It is most likely the pinch rollers, or the tapes (Felt pad issues). The felt pads can dry out, causing problems just on one side. Even new, first generation tapes suffer from this.
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Please replace the pinch rollers first. In my opinion 100% pinch roller problem. They look very worn.
Good luck!
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Thanks for answers. I will order and replace them. Just to check dimensions … 13 x 6 x 2 mm ?
that right pinch roller looks gone.
I ordered new ones.