Library of Congress Pitch Shifting Tape Decks

[crochambeau]

Are the motor shafts difficult to turn by hand?

If so, you may just be fighting expired lubricant.

[Rabbit Girls]

They seemed to turn normally, maybe a bit more resistance than there should be. These have been sitting in my basement for several years now since I used them last so that may actually be the issue. Is there a cleaner or spray solution or something recommended for cleaning electric motors if they're gummed up? Can I soak them in something?

[crochambeau]

Are you able to take them apart?

Acetone works wonders dissolving gunk, but it may also melt the insulation on the motor windings. I would avoid heavy solvents (like acetone) unless you can take everything apart, solvent to clean, then very light lubrication with grease (oil may wander out in use, but it's better than nothing - use very little if grease is unavailable. A drop of WD40 goes a long way).

If unable to open them up, it's hard to say. If these were mine, and this was a last ditch effort, I would boil them a bit in distilled water, oven dry them (something like 150-180F for an hour or so) and then very lightly oil the spinning bits and hope for the best. Mind you, I'm not advising anyone do this, more like a last ditch effort before scrapping.

[Rabbit Girls]

Wow, thank you. I honestly did not get far enough to tell how easy it would be to get them out and try. I finished the belt replacement and cleaning thinking that was it, put the first one back together and found it was still toast. So I was thinking well hey at least one out of the two will work, but no. Same exact thing with the second one. I think your diagnosis makes sense because they are both having the same issue and were both stored together in not so great conditions, (my bad). I'm going to try these suggestions as a last ditch try. Fingers crossed.

[NoiseWiki]

Btw I did some searches using the part number on those motors and found some interesting threads although nothing that really suggested a solution. Apparently there may be some similar motors where you can simply swap the control board to it and have a working motor.

I haven't heard back from my friend yet but you should periodically search ebay. I did find an old auction from 2015 for some of these. Patience is a virtue.

[NoiseWiki]

Ok my buddies friend had these questions..

1. Model number and manufacturer of the Tape Deck plus approximate age (or manufacture date if known)

2. Are there any other numbers or specs on the motors themselves other than "CA35-03001-K301" and "3ECT"?

3. Can he measure the motors? If so, they will be metric dimensions. I need:
a. Motor Diameter
b. Length of motor body not including the shaft
c. Shaft diameter
d. Shaft Length

4. Are there two wires coming out of the motor or more?

5. Is there a circuit board on the bottom of the motor (the end opposite of the shaft)?

6. If you take the motor out of the deck and connect the two wires to a 1.5V battery, does the motor spin?

[Rabbit Girls]

Thanks for the help and following up on this! I had basically given up after trying to clean the motor and get it working again. My answers as best I can in red, below:

Ok my buddies friend had these questions..

1. Model number and manufacturer of the Tape Deck plus approximate age (or manufacture date if known)
Library of Congress Model # C-1, Contract # LC3008, 117v, 11watts, 60HZ, Serial # 130592

2. Are there any other numbers or specs on the motors themselves other than "CA35-03001-K301" and "3ECT"?
3ZAO

3. Can he measure the motors? If so, they will be metric dimensions. I need:
a. Motor Diameter - 1 1/2"
b. Length of motor body not including the shaft - 1 2/8"
c. Shaft diameter - 1/16"
d. Shaft Length - 1 5/8"

4. Are there two wires coming out of the motor or more?
Three wires, two white one brown

5. Is there a circuit board on the bottom of the motor (the end opposite of the shaft)?
No circuit board, this pics are the motor I have:

Viewed 897 times

6. If you take the motor out of the deck and connect the two wires to a 1.5V battery, does the motor spin?
Motor spins ok for about one second, then loses power and won't spin/very weak spin. Have tried cleaning and lubricant with no luck.