Japanese Tape Recorder universal lubrication kit - Akai Tascam Teac

JAPANESE TAPE RECORDER general purpose universal lubricant kit for most Akai, Teac, Tascam and many other machines that use high grade mineral based lubricants 60's, 70's & early 80's. 

This kit has OEM recommended lubricants for full lubrication of all parts of Japanese tape machines that originally were specified with mineral based special lubricants.  DO NOT just use any oil - you will be sorry! This kit is NOT suitable for machines that use synthetic lubricants for example the Otari range. Refer to specific kit for Otari and later Japanese machines that use a synthetic lubricant.

• Motors specifying Teresso 43, Mobil DTE-L, TZ255 & light spindle oil.       
• Separate capstan shaft flywheel assemblies specifying Mobil DTE-EH. This is a heavier oil. NEVER use grease!  
• General lubrication of shafts, bushes, levers, pins, pivots - anything that moves on a tape machine. (DTE-EH)
• Lubrication of thrust plates, ball ends and repacking special bearings (grease)     

This kit contains:

•  1 x special Mobil DTE extra heavy capstan lubricant 10ml for sintered capstan shafts, flywheel bearings and pinch roller arm bushes. Also good for all other general lubrication tasks. of shafts, levers, pivots etc
•  1x special Mobil DTE light (Teresso 43) lubricant  10ml for sintered bearing motors & pinch rollers 
•  1x Nagravox high quality grease for thrust plates, ball ends and repacking some special low noise roller bearings. 
•  2x Individual colour coded dropper applicator bottles for accurate placement of lubricant

Carry out  simple service lubrication and your machines, motors and moving parts will last a long long time. Most motors we have come across have never been serviced and the lubricating felts are dry. Luckily most of these old capstan motors and flywheels are really robust and can be brought back to good serviceable condition. They are relatively easy to dismantle and once upgraded / serviced will run smoother with less noise and wow / flutter. 

LUBRICATION ADVICE

• Electric motors sintered bearings should be lubricated with  Teresso 43. (Usually via lubrication tubes - eg Tascam / Teac) 
• (Separate capstan flywheel sintered bearings should be lubricated with Mobil DTE-EH usually via accessible felts / sponges.   
• Tension dampers should be cleaned and repacked with appropriate drag agent lubricant every 10 years or 2000 hours.
• Pinch roller arm bushes should be lubricated with Mobil DTH-EH.  Do not use grease!
• Solenoid cores should be cleaned and lightly coated (gently wipe dry) with DTE-EH.
• Levers, shafts, plates, unions, brake pivots & tape lift mechanisms – light application 1 drop Mobil DTH-EH.

Always use general lube oil sparingly. Just nearly saturate felts - definately not dripping. More is not better! Some lubrication systems are really simple, some more complicated requiring dismantling.  If there is a slight excess. Use a piece of absorbent paper towel to wick it up. 

'Teresso" 43 and DTE-EH are fully compatible with each other being similarly mineral based so you dont need to worry about incompatibility. 

TIP!  Be very circumspect following any advice on the WWW forums or You Tube influencers on tape recorder lubricants - most of it is dubious.

NOTE:  Reel motors are generally NOT lubricated. The bearings are sealed for life and should be changed every ~3000 hours or 1 - 3 years.  Two bearings for each motor usually.