Nakamichi head cleaning

[Audioman00]

What can I use to clean and /or demagnetize my heads in a Nakamichi tape deck? It still operates and sounds fine, but it is quite a few yrs old, and I was told you're supposed to do these types of things to keep them working well and sounding good. Thanks for any help.

[ruadmaa]

What can I use to clean and /or demagnetize my heads in a Nakamichi tape deck? It still operates and sounds fine, but it is quite a few yrs old, and I was told you're supposed to do these types of things to keep them working well and sounding good. Thanks for any help.

Your Nakamichi most likely has a built in demagnetizer and should take care of itself.

You can clean the tape heads with a simple cotton swap dipped in alcohol and rub across the heads. DO NOT use alcohol on any rubber parts as it is a drying agent and will harm your rubber capstan pinch wheel.

[Chris Garrett]

You can use some Q-Tips with some alcohol on them and gently rub the metal oxides off the heads. Clean the gap on the heads, but don't jam the Q-Tip against the heads with a lot of force, just enough to clean them. Change direction and you should see the buildup being removed if there is a lot present.

I also rub the capstans, those spinning metal rods that move the tape along the pinch rollers. I clean the rollers too, but try and dry them off with the other dry end of the Q-Tip quickly. Rubber and alcohol probably shouldn't be mixed for too long.

I have a MAXELL tape head demagnatizer that is shaped like a cassette and I pop that into my Nak RX 505 for 10 seconds and it supposedly does the trick. You can get those hand held tape demagers from maybe Radio Shack? They look like an electric toothbrush and are pretty easy to use.

Good luck, Chris

[jt1stcav]

Both answers above are excellent advice (I've owned the DRAGON, BX-1, BX-125, DR-2, and now the DR-1). But none that I know of ever had a built-in demagnetizer...you're gonna need either the cassette-shaped one or the handheld unit (like an electric toothbrush). Constant maintenance, especially if you record alot) is needed if you want your deck to perform at its best.