Any Echoplex fans/experts?

[JSett]

Ahh, yeah, that sheds a bit more light on things.

I always use Singer Machine oil (like, the sewing machines) for this sort of application. It's been the standard for 100 years

[GreenKnee]

Nice one, I'll keep an eye out for that in the future. Fortunately, 3-in-1 can be 'liberated' from the stores at my work free of charge

[JSett]

Wonderful 5 finger discount

[B.T.]

Let me know if I can help.

Hey B.T. and anyone else who may be available to advise. I've had a look online and can't find anything relating to this particular issue.

The roller in my Echoplex that has the tension spring pushing in to it (spool/tape guide I think it is called) is not turning when the Echoplex is running. The unit still sounds fine and the tape is going round no problem, but it seems odd that it isn't turning. If I take off the tension spring it rotates a little but not as quick as the tape. It is free to spin when I move it with my finger. I have removed the roller, cleaned the internal and external faces and given the middle a little bit of lubrication to try and help it but it is still struggling.

The copper tension spring is probably putting too much tension on that roller guide. Carefully bend it back a little to take some of the pressure off the roller guide.
You mentioned lube. If you don’t have some get a tube of white lithium grease take an q-tip and lightly dab the post and in the inner walls of the roller guide. That should do it.

I use this stuff for just about everything involving consumer electronics that has gears and moving parts.



Edit: Johnny’s recommendation for sewing machine oil is handy for a bunch of applications. I use it all the time. For this moving part I’d recommend the white grease. I think you’ll get more mileage before you have to do it again.

[B.T.]

Dup

[JSett]

This stuff is great. I usually keep Superlube, Singer and the Lucas in the drawer. They all seemingly last forever too. It is messy though, so wear gloves.

[GreenKnee]

Thanks B.T.
I used Superlube, similar but PTFE, on the wheel but I think the viscosity of the grease is actually a hindrance on this occasion.
What's happening is the friction on the internal side, touching the post, is higher than the friction from the tape on the external side. This means the tape slips round the guide rather than pulling it round with it. After greasing the issue was actually a bit worse because of the viscosity of the grease. Hopefully the thinner machine oil will reverse the effect and get the roller turning again. Fingers crossed!

[B.T.]

Thanks B.T.
I used Superlube, similar but PTFE, on the wheel but I think the viscosity of the grease is actually a hindrance on this occasion.
What's happening is the friction on the internal side, touching the post, is higher than the friction from the tape on the external side. This means the tape slips round the guide rather than pulling it round with it. After greasing the issue was actually a bit worse because of the viscosity of the grease. Hopefully the thinner machine oil will reverse the effect and get the roller turning again. Fingers crossed!

Gotcha, did you bend the spring a little? After my last post I wanted to mention that those modern replacements (I forget who sells them) are too thick copper and have too much felt. Together the combo puts way too much pressure on that roller guide. The originals were feather thin copper with about half that length of felt and about 1/2-2/3’s the thickness of felt shown in you photos fwiw.

[GreenKnee]

Gotcha, did you bend the spring a little? After my last post I wanted to mention that those modern replacements (I forget who sells them) are too thick copper and have too much felt. Together the combo puts way too much pressure on that roller guide. The originals were feather thin copper with about half that length of felt and about 1/2-2/3’s the thickness of felt shown in you photos fwiw.

Ding ding ding we have a winner!

After cleaning all of the Superlube off and applying 3-in-1 oil the situation was still the same. I tried bending the tension spring to put less pressure on, but the only point at which the wheel would spin was when the spring wasn't actually applying any pressure at all and would fall off

I dug out the old tension spring, cleaned off a bit of carbon build up with a soft brush, and fitted it in place of the new spring that came with the tape. Instantly, the wheel was turning as it should and the unit as a whole was running a lot quieter.

Thanks for the tips both, very pleased it's sorted