488 MKII pinch roller cleaning

[ledhed]

Hope one of you 488 MKII owners can help me with this...in the user manual under the pinch roller cleaning section, it says, "Push up the transport protection lever as illustrated. Press the PLAY key to engage the pinch roller and capstan shaft, while holding the protection lever up." Only problem is, the only illustration on the page doesn't show anything about a "protection lever." What are they talking about and how do I engage the pinch roller?

[SN]

The "transport protection lever" is most likely the plastic sheet that covers the cassette compartment. Big words for a common part we most often never verbally label.

Just press the EJECT button, PLAY and clean away.

[ledhed]

The problem is that without a cassette in the unit, nothing happens when you press PLAY and the pinch roller doesn't engage. The "transport protection lever" needs to be pressed, but the illustration doesn't show what or where that lever is. I can't get the unit to engage without a cassette in place...so it's more than just holding the door open.

[SN]

on the 424mkII and the 424mkIII a "Cleaning Mode" can be activated to assist in cleaning.

Turn the 488 off.
Hold down STOP and RHL (rehearsal) buttons
Turn the 488 on.

Cleaning mode will be activated and when you press PLAY the transport and roller will move in position.

This is all just to make things a little easier. None of it is actually necessary to clean the Tape Heads and the Pinch Roller, or the Capstan.

[ledhed]

Dude, this worked perfectly. In fact, when I did this the unit even flashed the word "cleaning" continually across the meter display screen...cool! So this was engineered into the unit but they don't even mention it in the user manual. Thanks for the tip! Wonder if there's any other features they failed to mention in the manual...

[SN]

I suggest taking the time to download the manual for the 424mkII offered on this site. That manual is very well written, as is the manual for the 424mkIII save for a few typos and errors.