CR3-A belt turned to goo

[jwrosenthal]

Hey Guys,

I posed over at the "other side" about this, but figured some here could lend some insight. I just took delivery of a CR3A that I won on ebay, and it was DOA (although listed in excellent working condition). The unit is esthetically clean (albeit dusty as hell), but upon opening the cover to see why it wouldn't play it appears the belt turned to goo and broke into several pieces. Where can I get a replacement belt (that is not $25 on ebay) and how easy is it to replace? If it is beyond my expertise (which is limited to what I can take apart with household tools) then it would need to go to a pro service center (which there is a old-timer Nak service center within driving distance) which would escalate the cost of this unit, hence I would need to either return it to the seller, or see if they would go in on the cost of repair. I want to avoid returning it as it seems like an otherwise fine machine, so DIY would be preferable...but I can't test the machine for functionality until I deal with the belt.

James R.

[perry]

The capstan belts are very easy to replace on the Sankyo Naks. Small & medium phlips screwddrivers. The best belts are the Marrs Communication ones on ebay. "cheaper" ones are only a few bucks less and don't work as well. The goo can be removed easliy (but be VERY careful to only use on metal) with Goo Gone. Alcohol works, but takes longer, as do the safer water based adhesive cleaners. Clean any Goo Gone residue with alcohol afterwards. "Works perfectly" in ebaynese means lights turn on. Probably also needs a counter belt too (behind the beauty plate), they are normally the first belt to go. And an idler tire,as they are normally the first of the 3 to go. You can view the idler tire when you remove the beauty plate to check the counter belt.

[Nakdoc]

Ditto. The Marrs Communications belts are exact fit and exact specs. I tested several "replacement" Nak belts 2 years ago and found most of them to be horrible. Your CR3 will sound so good you'll forget about the $25 in 5 minutes.

[Fast Forward]

It,s Deja Vu all over again,,,see some early posts and picks on my experience,s with my Teac and definitly go with Marrs