TIL the ticking noise in my dad's old answering machine was just a dried out belt, not a dead motor

Rowan Hernandez · 2026-10-20T03:25:04.146683+00:00

I picked up this 1994 answering machine from a yard sale in Spokane for 3 dollars last month and the seller said it was dead, so I figured it was a parts unit. Every time I plugged it in there was this steady tick tick tick from inside, and I was ready to swap out the little motor because that was my guess. Before I did that I opened it up and poked around, and the belt that spins the tape reel had turned hard as a cracker and was slipping on the pulley, which made the tick. A 6 dollar belt kit online and 20 minutes of work and the thing plays back messages like it's 1994 again. I almost threw it out over a piece of rubber that costs less than a coffee. How many of those dead retro gadgets out there are really just rubber and grease gone bad instead of real electronics trouble?

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TIL the ticking noise in my dad's old answering machine was just a dried out belt, not a dead motor | Classic Tech Throwbacks - Free To Speak