DCC600 Recording issues (and now playbak as well)

[loesberg]

Hi,

This is my first post on the forum so please point me to the proper place if this is not the place for this kind of question.

I recently reinstated my DCC600 after it was in a box in the attic for 20+ years.
I opened it and gently cleaned the head with a swab and alcohol as per the instructions I found on this site.
At first some cassettes would not play due to the stick and slip problem so I cleaned the felt pad on all cassettes.
Playing cassettes was fine after that and I enjoyed listening to my cassettes that sound great after so many years.

I wanted to try some recording and also wanted a DCC player in the living room so I bought a second player and some used cassettes (the start of the trouble).
I cleaned the heads on the new player and the felt pads on the used cassettes and played them (found some gems that are keepers).
When I made my first recording at first it looked like all was going fine, I did a recording from a Philips CDR770 to the DCC600 over digital cable.
When I made a numbering error I decided to erase the last marker and press renumber, this is where the fun stopped.
The renumbering took a long time and when it was finished there were no track numbers at all.
I then searched on how to erase a used cassette and make a proper new recording with the append function to get the track numbering right.
At this point the cassette that had been recording fine so far went into a side A → side B → tape full loop.
I tried the other DCC600 recorder and it wrote a lead in, great!
I replaced the DCC600 that did not want to record with the one that successfully wrote a lead in but alas, it went into the same side A → side B → tape full loop.
Ok, I will try a new blank tape (I bought two on eBay, still in the seal). Same result.
So the new tape also is seen as “full”?
At this point I was getting a bit upset and decided to rewind the tape and press mark erase a few times to create an empty place at the start of the tape to see if it would then be seen as a blank cassette.
To my dismay when I took out the cassette there was a bit of tape sticking out between the metal cover.
I did not trust this player anymore and switched back to the other DCC600 with the same result, not wanting to record on the new cassette (tape full) and a bit of tape sticking out when I took out the cassette.
At this point both players have trouble playing any cassettes, so the problem (whatever it is) is getting worse and is now also affecting playback.
I hope the smart minds on this forum can help me find out why recording and playback is no longer working and why sometimes (roughly 50% of the time) a cassette will have a bit of tape sticking out after removing it from the player.
May thanks in advance!

Kind regards,

Marcel

[loesberg]

This looks a lot like part my problem;

DCC 600 tape not moving, making a winding sound

Hi guys. I have a DCC 600 that is not playing tapes. It makes a winding sound in both Reverse and Forward and when you press play it tries side A then side B and stops but the tape does not move. I created a video. Is this the problem with the gear that breaks on these players? https://studio.youtube.com/video/op2p_b2PFNc/edit

I hear the same winding noises but I do not think the tape moves.
Could it be that both recorders broke a gear when I tried to make a recording?
I can almost not imagine both breaking at the same time.
Any advise would be awesome!
Kind regards,
Marcel

[Henrie]

Hi Loesberg, and welcome to the forum!

All gears will become very brittle after almost 30 years, used or not.
I think that is the problem with both DCC players.

I think you should definitely replace them or they will break in the near future. While your at it, please also replace the belts and pinch rollers.

Concerning spare parts, you can get them all at the dcc museum.

Regards,
Henrie

[ivanr]

I had the same problem and in my case all gears were brittle and broke one by one including the pinch rollers.

[pvdm]

This could be the gear that needs replacing, this could be a slack and stretched belt that needs replacing, this could be old worn pinch rollers that need replacing, this could be felt pads in the cassette that need replacing. This could be dirty capstans. This could be the tape motion sensors that do not work correctly anymore. It could also be any combination of those problems.
You got to tackle this one step at a time. First forget about recording and just make sure the tape path is flawless when playing. Getting tape sticking out of the shell when unloading is not good. You first got to fix this. Every tape where this happens is lost for any good recording or playing after that. So fix the tape path and I would suggest using the same tape over again instead of damaging more tapes.

-Philip.

[loesberg]

SInce my first post about this problem I have become a patron and ordered the gears, pinch rollers and belts for both my players. When the parts arrive I will replace them, clean the heads while I have the inside of my players exposed, and only then will I try again. I will post the results here.
I also had the privilege to talk to Ralf on the phone, his enthusiasm is intoxicating and I can hardly wait for my DCC players to be functional again.
This community is great!

[loesberg]

The spare parts arrived last week and over the last weekend I have repaired both of my DCC 600 players. Since replacing the gear I have experienced no problems whatsoever. I’m happy I found this forum and the DCC Museum. The forum and some coaching by Ralf have helped me over my fear to replace the gears myself and the result is beyond my expectation. I fully expect to get years more of enjoyment out of my DCC players.

[Fretlessfender]

That is nice!

[pvdm]

Great success!!