Roberts Reel to Reel Model 1725 Restoration

While visiting my mother I came across her tape recorder that she got when she was in high school and decided that I would restore it as a side project. The challenge will be that I will have no tools or test equipment with me, I will only be able to order parts and steal what I can from my brother to do the job. The project will start with a complete disassembly and inspection. There is many years of dust and the unit is a maze to disassemble. Joining to assist in the project is my mother to provide commentary as well as Mason and Sadie to help with quality control. Inspection shows which caps will need to be swapped from the unit, an order goes our as soon as possible, also I bought some QD contact cleaner and lube from home depot. All of the pots and switches get treated. Silver polish was used to clean the headphone jacks. Each tube will be removed and carefully cleaned. Then the chassis will have the dust removed, finally the tube sockets and tube contacts get cleaned with contact cleaner. Date codes bring this recorder to around 1966. The mechanical portion of the recorder is cleaned and then completely re-lubricated. Sadie inspects everything and determines my work to be satisfactory. In the mean time, an empty reel, and a 'blank MP3' arrives for mason to inspect, also new rubber real holders were ordered. All of the outer components were cleaned to remove grime, that includes the metal and tolex. It came out surprisingly nice. Mason approved. The capacitor swap was much fun with a tiny hobby radio shack soldering iron, but I got by. eventually all of the old caps were replaced, albeit, slowly. With that Assembly started in the reverse ensuring not to damage anything with the metal clips. Also the tape heads were serviced. Smoke test was good for about 2 minutes until the 2uf cap exploded. It is non polarized........ I put the old one back in and will have to replace it. I know the old one will not last long. With the rest of reassembly done, testing begins with some simple recording. Also the tape will be played through so that it can be tensioned. Finally the big demo presentation is done as the tape is moved into the living room on the shelf reserved for this unit.