Hello,
now I understand better why the Philips DCC 730 is said to have a certain capriciousness. My device showed sometimes the message “cleaning head”. I then cleaned the pressure rollers (and the head) and actually removed some dirt. It wasn’t very much, however. Now the device plays with significantly fewer errors (droputs). They increase towards the end of side A. Since the rolls are almost 30 years old, i ordered new ones from the dcc museum and will wait to see if the droputs are gone after changing.
Regards
Michael
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Good luck. Regularly cleaning will certainly help with the dropouts.
Also, if you are recording, the condition of the tape matters. I have tape that records beautifully on a deck, where others do not. All have had their felt pad replaced.
It could be that the bad tapes were played on decks with dirty heads, capstans and pinch rollers, and the accumulated dirt, while the tape run across it, has damaged the tape, which is very sensitive for micro-damage. Those tapes will be lost forever, for recording anyways.
-Philip.
Thank you, Philip!
I have just received a couple of sealed DCC cassettes and will use them to try out how the deck behaves.
Before doing this, I will wait until I receive the new pinch rollers ordered from the museum.
I was thinking about buying a second deck, so I could follow up your advice whether the problem is with the deck or with the cassette.
Michael
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Here is an update:
Yesterday I received the new pinch rollers and belts and replaced the old ones today.
Using an new dcc, there are no more dropouts!
I am very happy!
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