Alpage AL-300 Help

Quadmatrix82

New Around These Parts
Joined
Dec 23, 2024
Messages
4
#1
Hi all,

Just joined this forum, fantastic to see how much knowledge is still out there on all things cassette.

I’m currently repairing an Alpage Al300, its a lovely deck but has several issues - I’ve replaced all the belts and pinch rollers (sourced from fixyouraudio) however I’m not sure how to adjust the pinch roller (left hand side)

when i press play or rewind or fast forward it stops after a few seconds

can anyone suggest what is the procedure to adjust the left hand pinch rollers mechanism?
 

20tajk7

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Jul 26, 2011
Messages
885
Location
Absurdy, new name of France
Tagline
You never have too much tapedecks ^^
#2
Hi and welcome to Phoenix.

To adjust the left pinch roller you need an M300 gauge and a mirror cassette.
The height of the rollers is adjusted by two 5.0 or 5.5mm nuts locking to each other, it's a bit tedious to get the right alignement.

The stop problem is not related to the pinch rollers.
This might be a bad counter belt as the counter pulley has a magnetic ring who sends pulses to the autostop circuit via a reed switch (you should hear a faint clicking in play mode).
 

Quadmatrix82

New Around These Parts
Joined
Dec 23, 2024
Messages
4
#3
Hi and welcome to Phoenix.

To adjust the left pinch roller you need an M300 gauge and a mirror cassette.
The height of the rollers is adjusted by two 5.0 or 5.5mm nuts locking to each other, it's a bit tedious to get the right alignement.

The stop problem is not related to the pinch rollers.
This might be a bad counter belt as the counter pulley has a magnetic ring who sends pulses to the autostop circuit via a reed switch (you should hear a faint clicking in play mode).
Thankyou 20tajk7! I’m looking forward to learning how to get this lovely deck up and running!

I will check the counter belt, I did change it but will look it over to see if anything a miss

I have a m300 on the way which I got from aliexpress

Yet to find a mirror cassette, any suggestion where to find one? I was thinking of making my own
 
Last edited:

Quadmatrix82

New Around These Parts
Joined
Dec 23, 2024
Messages
4
#4
Hi and welcome to Phoenix.

To adjust the left pinch roller you need an M300 gauge and a mirror cassette.
The height of the rollers is adjusted by two 5.0 or 5.5mm nuts locking to each other, it's a bit tedious to get the right alignement.

The stop problem is not related to the pinch rollers.
This might be a bad counter belt as the counter pulley has a magnetic ring who sends pulses to the autostop circuit via a reed switch (you should hear a faint clicking in play mode).
Ok looping back the good news is that replacing the tape counter belt has resulted in playback working pretty good albeit a bit slow pitch but I think this is the main drive belt which I’ll change next

bigger concern is that I’m getting no rewind or ff I changed the top idler as it was relatively easy to access without dissembling the transport

I’m suspecting the remaining idler tyres are causing the rewind and ff issue - is there anything else I can check before dissembling the transport? If not what is the best way to access the idler tyres??
 

20tajk7

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Jul 26, 2011
Messages
885
Location
Absurdy, new name of France
Tagline
You never have too much tapedecks ^^
#5
Yes you should change the reel tables tires, they usually goes bad after 40 years.
To get access you'll need to disassemble the whole cassette door.
For the capstan belt it's more complicated as you need to separate the front and rear transport chassis.
Mark the position of the play solenoid and remove it's screws (heat the screw with a soldering iron to melt the glue and use a JIS screwdriver to not destroy the screw head).
You'll also need to remove the brake solenoid, the cassette switches and the head base assembly, be careful with the short and fragile wrapped wires.
 

Quadmatrix82

New Around These Parts
Joined
Dec 23, 2024
Messages
4
#6
Yes you should change the reel tables tires, they usually goes bad after 40 years.
To get access you'll need to disassemble the whole cassette door.
For the capstan belt it's more complicated as you need to separate the front and rear transport chassis.
Mark the position of the play solenoid and remove it's screws (heat the screw with a soldering iron to melt the glue and use a JIS screwdriver to not destroy the screw head).
You'll also need to remove the brake solenoid, the cassette switches and the head base assembly, be careful with the short and fragile wrapped wires.
Thankyou for the tips :) I was reading one of your old posts on dissemble looks like a big task I’ll have to digest it a bit before taking that on! Here are the idler tyres I got from eBay hope these are ok the small one seemed ok which I fitted today https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2565493...x02Krl4Q7S&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY
 
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