Bought this one NOS (still working on fixing it): http://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/nos-ge-silhouette-3-5157-doesnt-turn-on.5217/#post-39031 Got this other one in the mail today. It proceeded to eat a brand new (vintage) tape (see photos). Sighhhhhhhhh.
Welcome to the wonderful world of tape players. The rubber rollers and belts are wear parts and will require replacement at some time. With belts, the player will work slowly or not at all. With rollers they might work kind of good but the tape may slip or get eaten. The rollers will get hard and the tape will slip or sometimes the player is left with play pushed and the roller will get a dent in it or it wears down with use. Belts usually fail first, the rollers will last longer so it tends to be easier to diagnose. When the forum started around 2002, there was still a ton of used equipment that played fine but now most of this stuff is close to 40 years old, well beyond the lifespan of the plastics used for the wear parts. There's sources for the parts, electronics supply houses, ebay and members of the forum. If you don't have a technician, working on the equipment is the best option, most of the screws are Phillips or JIS (equipment from Japan). JIS looks like Phillips but it's more pointed, if the screws don't want to come out with a Phillips, don't force or you'll strip the +, find a JIS set. First time repairers always get frustrated by the screws, the small ones are easy to strip, JIS is designed for more torque without stripping them. https://www.motorcycle.com/ask-mo-anything/difference-between-japanese-jis-phillips.html
