Kenwood cassette deck bug Please Help?

[keithant]

I just received a really nice 1993 Kenwwod KX-7030 3 Head 3 Motor Dual capstan cassette deck off ebay,it works perfect exept whenever i playback or record over a tape that was made on one of my other decks it ruins the tape by putting diagnal creases in the tape but whenever i use a fresh virgin blank (XLII-S or SA-X) it's fine,records fine and plays back fine.Could one of my other decks have damaged the other tapes some how?When i look at the surface of the tape i don't see anything but when i hit play i can here the deck nibbling on it and when i pop it right out i see the diagnal crease.It's strange to me that it only does this with tapes that where recorded on other decks but fresh virgin tapes work fine..Does anybody know what can be happening here?Thanks for any help or advice anyone can give me..Oh and yes the deck has been completely cleaned..Thanks so much,Keith H.

[royphil345]

My best guess is that the older tapes don't have as much stretch left in them. Maybe don't slide as easily over the heads. Many times older tapes have "rippled" edges from being stretched over time. Maybe these "ripples" are folding over.

In any case, there is probably something wrong with the adjustment of something in the tape path. I've never had this problem, and I have some OLD tapes. I'd try to get a refund if you can. Or try to get it serviced if you think it's worth it. Hard to find a really good cassette deck mechanic these days. There are places that specialize in making and duplicating cassette tapes. (Although they probably do more CDs these days) Sometimes these places offer repairs and the techs know how to adjust a cassette deck.

The quality of eBay merchandise seems to keep getting worse. eBay seems to stress protecting the seller over protecting the buyer. (the seller pays) Can't even leave negative feedback when someone totally screws you without receiving negative feedback from the person. Why the heck do you need the seller to rate the buyer? This is stupid, and making it too easy for eBay crooks.