Marantz 5010b Cassette Deck Revival

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After many years the rubber belts disintegrated into a sticky gooey tar. This goo sticks to everything (especially fingers and skin) and needs to be cleaned off.

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Opening the cassette deck was super easy. Six screws on the top case and it lifts off. However, getting to the belts isn’t easy. I had to remove a bracket on the cassette player which held in the flywheel. The screws were very tight and there wasn’t much room so I used the flex extension out of my Pro Tech Toolkit. I think this is one of the only times I’ve ever used it. Eventually I got it off and started cleaning up the goo. Isopropyl alcohol works miracles on this stuff and makes cleanup super easy. You just have to use a lot of it. After I got all the goo off, placing the replacement belts onto the flywheel was easy. Finally reinstalling the bracket I tested my Christmas song cassette tape and was delighted to hear jingle bells playing clearly.

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Wear gloves when cleaning up old rubber belt tar. Seriously, this stuff was stuck under my nails for a week! Take plenty of photos and videos if you’re disassembling something for the first time. They are a great reference to look back on during reassembly or if you’re not sure where something goes.