Can we talk about how long it took me to fix a speed issue on my Nakamichi deck

I picked up an old Nakamichi BX-2 at a thrift store in Dayton last month. It played fine for about a week, but then the pitch started wobbling on every tape I put in. I thought it was just a belt issue, so I replaced those in an afternoon. That didn't fix it, so I spent another week cleaning the capstan and pinch roller. Turns out the motor capacitor was bad, and swapping a $3 part took me near 15 hours of troubleshooting total. Has anyone else dealt with a similar issue where the fix was way smaller than the time you spent finding it?

2 comments

2 Comments

brookepark7d ago

That motor capacitor issue is a classic Nakamichi headache. Did you notice any other clues before the pitch wobbling started, like the deck getting warmer than usual or a faint humming sound from the transport area? I ask because on my old deck, the capacitor was bulging slightly on top, which I missed until I took the whole board out. Sometimes those cheap parts fail in ways that don't show up until you put a multimeter on them. Did you check the voltage drop across the old capacitor before swapping it?

james6617d agoMost Upvoted

Actually measuring voltage drop across an old cap isn't always useful. Those readings can fluctuate like crazy depending on the load and temperature inside the deck. I've seen perfectly fine capacitors show weird numbers just because the meter's leads weren't making great contact with the crusty solder joints. Plus if the cap was already failing the voltage drop might look normal until the motor actually tries to spin up. My experience with Nakamichi decks is that you're better off just replacing every electrolytic cap in the power supply section once they hit 20 years old instead of wasting time testing each one individually.