Marantz 5220 warble during playback

[1970 RS Z28]

Hello to all. I'n new here and I'm hopeing that someone here can assist me with a small issue that I'm having with a piece of vintage audio gear.

I have a Marantz 5220 cassette deck that seems to have a speed control fluctuation during playback. Does anyone know ihow this can be corrected? I've looked at the belts and they all look good. Thank you for any help that you can provide.

[sreten]

If its a well used cassette deck then its likely its on its way out.

Inspection of head wear is a good sign for cassette deck use,
if the heads are worn then the best thing to do is replace it.

But note I made a mistake once with a Denon cassette deck :
I left it powered up not realising the capstan continually rotates
and it wore out after two years, speed stability was terrible.

There are very cheap decks available second-hand if you can
identify little used examples, the high performance decks only
go for a little more than the mundane examples nowadays.

Yamaha cassette decks are very good.

sreten.

[1970 RS Z28]

Thanks sreten. Actually, this deck has had very little usage. Both the record / playback head and the erase head are in excellent condition. Upon opening the deck up awhile back, I was surprised to see very little wear on it. Even so, I still replaced all of the belts a couple of years ago. Since then I hadn't used it and it sat in storage. I pulled it from storage recently and noticed the problem. I had an original service manual for it, but that's gone now. I didn't remember if there was a pot on the board for wow and flutter adjustment or not. I was hoping someone on the forum would have that info. Thanks again.

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

There is no such thing as a wow and flutter adjustment. It may need some lubrication.

[1970 RS Z28]

Thanks Bill. I'll try that.

[sreten]

Bill beat me to it.

Try lubricating everything in sight, including the motor(s?)
as best you can. Removing the belts and inspecting each
part for ease of movement may help you find the cause.

Sewing machine oil on the capastan bearings and motor
is probably the best choice, for other parts use what
seems appropriate.

sreten.

[phase_accurate]

But take care not to lubricate things that rely on friction like pulleys, the capstan itslef, etc......

Regards

Charles

[1970 RS Z28]

I used a pen oiler and oiled everything taking care not to get oil on belts or any areas requiring friction. This has been a big help. I'll make sure that I've oiled all of the necessary points and I think that the deck will be as good as new. Even though the deck has had very little use, I know that 30-year old factory lube has probably broken down. I'll also be greasing the mechanisms that originally had grease from the factory. Thank you to all of you for you input and assistance.

[webescott]

Greetings,
Do you have the sevice manual? I was given the same deck but different problem. If you have the Service Manual maybe we could work together to solve both of our problems.

Scott

[tubee]

Some while ago, the sound of public commercial messages sounded Duck-like over the city-streets. The gear and amps for music and more was on my work(i work in a shop) I "repaired" the old programmable professional deck with a simple cleaning of rubber capstain wheel with in petrol/gasoline mostened cloth. (gas-lighter fluid will do too btw)
And after i solved this problem in this simple way, the audio mechanic stood with stunning eyes looking at me how i fixed the problem!
Most things what happen with those old cassette decks is "stiffening" of rubber from capstain roller wheel. The stiff rubber lets tape slip, and causes fast fluctuations in speed.
Good luck!