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CED Player Belt Replacement Guide

Chassis Identification Table:

Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image. The end of the red line is directly above the drive pulley of the named belt.

Hitachi Chassis  Used For: - All Hitachi - GEC V5000H - Realistic 16- 301 - All Sears but 5474	RCA F/G Chassis  Used For: - All RCA F/G - Sears 5474 - Zenith VP2000	RCA J/K Chassis  Used For: - All RCA J/K - JC Penney 686- 5705	Sanyo Chassis  Used For: - Sanyo VDR3000	Toshiba Chassis  Used For: - All Toshiba - Elmo VEC- 200 - Wards GEN10301 - Zenith VP4000

Belt Specification Table:

I've heard of some instances where RCA F/G players would fail to operate when a new FR21.5 turntable drive belt was installed, but would start working again after the old belt was put back in. In another instance the player failed to operate immediately after the new belt was installed, but started working the next day. These are problems with the player and not the replacement belt per se, as the FR21.5 is nearly an exact duplicate of the belt RCA originally installed at the factory, and was PRB's recommended replacement when they used to list the SFT100 player in their cross reference guides. What has happened is the player and original belt have "grown old together" and the new, tighter fitting belt changes the dynamics of the situation to the extent that the turntable drive motor is unable to start the turntable spinning. One likely cause is lack of lubrication in the turntable drive spindle and bearings. Another factor is the decreased magnetic field strength in the turntable motor that has gradually occurred in the years since the players were manufactured.

CEDatum may have a supply of original RCA turntable drive belts (stock no. 152751) available. This is a better replacement choice than the nearly identical PRB FR21.5 belt. If no original RCA belts can be found, the FR21.5 belt can be pre-stretched prior to installation to loosen it up, but this process requires some experimentation with the duration and extent of the pre-stretching.

The PRB FRX2.0 belt for the F/G servo drive is thicker than the belt originally supplied by RCA. This means an off-the-shelf FRX2.0 will have more tension when installed in the player, and this tension may be too great to allow the servo motor to spin up from rest. The FRX2.0 belts that CED Magic provides have been pre-stretched for a period of about six months to a year to reduce their tension. When obtaining a pre-stretched belt, it should be installed immediately or stored in a stretched position. I stretch the belts for the six months to a year period by storing them on a round dowel 15/16" in diameter. If you obtain FRX2.0 belts from another source, they should be pre-stretched for a few months using such a dowel. The smooth handle of an ordinary kitchen plunger is ideal for stretching the belts. Other tension-reducing methods I've heard of include machining the belt to a smaller thickness (requires machinist tools and skills) and reducing the width of the belt (requires a spacer to prevent belt fall-off).

Note that flat belts 25 to 29 inches in circumference can be used as test-only replacements for the Elmo, Toshiba, and Wards turntable drive belt. These belts will regularly fall off the unflanged drive pulley during disc load or unload due to the narrower width compared to the OEM belt. See the Toshiba Turntable Motor Pulley Replacement Page for a permanent solution to this belt fall off issue.

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