Someone dropped this little machine in, wanting it no longer. I can remember being taken to the Ideal Home Exhibition in the late ‘60s, and one of these machines was on show. So I thought why not try and get it going. 3 speed 4 track machine with 7” spool capacity.
Plugged her in and switch on. Could hear the motor rumbling away, but no transport movement or audio. Ummm, Off with the top cover and case to see what was going on. First, could see someone had stolen the output valve, ECL86. Naughty. Popped in a replacement and we now had audio. Good. The mechanism was totally jammed solid with hard grease and schmoo, so had to do a major clean up and lubrication. Bit fiddly. The main idler wheel was quite hard, so took that out and boiled it to try and bring it back to life. With everything put back together, we now had tape movement, but very poor audio with not much treble. Cleaned and polished the replay head and demagnetised it. Now we had a really good sound. I thought I would apply a little lubrication to the motor shaft, so out with the spray can. Just as I lined up the plastic tube and pressed to button, the tube fell out and covered the idler in oil. Bugger. Took ages to clean that lot up.
Still all working nicely. Seemed a shame to lust let it go, the case was nice and had original booklet and leads etc.
Hi Seth, do you still have it? I brought one over 13 years ago and my mother in law put it outside the it rained – a lot, and killed it. I have a lot of tapes though that I can’t play. If you’ve still got it, how much would you sell it for?
Someone has asked for it, but will conform. If he does not want it, I will drop you a line and it’s yours.
Kieron,
If you are still looking for this model, I have one which you may be interested in. I am
in Essex.
If anyone is still interested in this model I have one which I am willing to part with in excellent working condition.
Hi just seen this
Do you still have it?
Where are you?
Is it this exact same model?
How much?
Thanks
Trevor