DCC600 Dead Head?

Hi, I recently purchased a DCC600 which had some damage to the stop button but otherwise in great condition inside and out. Unfortunately there is what seems a major issue. The deck plays analogue tapes fine but not digital. I have cleaned the head and capstan rollers thoroughly but when in test mode the results I get for all heads is a constant ‘95 95 0000’ which given that xx yy should be low it appears the head is damaged? I haven’t got round to changing the belts yet but I’m guessing this would not help given the results?

It is unlikely that a head is good enough for analog but all digital tracks are dead. If the tape speed is too far off or contains too much wow and flutter, nothing will be able to be recognized. You can either carefully listen or use an analog test tape (for a short time) and a software to measure to proof it or replace the belt and the gears right away.

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Max, thanks for the reply. It seems belts are a bit of a miracle cure for these decks! I do have a spare set so I will replace them as soon as I can. It would be good to get it working because it really is in nice condition. Thanks again, I’ll let you know the result.

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@Max, Hi, I’ve changed the belts but although the analogue tape quality is much improved I am still not getting any digital audio? Not sure where I go from Here?

Thanks.

Did anything change regarding the error rate or is it still 95 on all tracks?

@Max still showing 95 I’m afraid.

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With different tapes? You can check the gears as shown in the video: https://youtu.be/OmM2mbbz7F4

Good luck that they are indeed broken and the cause otherwise you are out of luck.

@Max ok thanks, I’ll check and let you know.