Panasonic 8-track RQ-830S

Google manuals and troubleshooting

Remove the 4 screws in the back, 2 of which are in the battery compartment.

Carefully separate the cover, being careful not to disengage the speaker wires.

Remove the white cap and the track number indicator.

Remove the screw next to the volume control holding the circuit board down.

Remove the screw on the opposite end of the 8-track compartment, it is the other screw helping retain the circuit board on.

Slide the circuit board assembly towards the top, this should free it to move it out of the way, again being careful not to disengage any wires.

Locate the head, there is a brass bit right next to it towards the bottom of the player, remove its retaining screw and move it out of the way.

8-tracks change tracks by the head moving up or down, in the Panasonic plunger model this is done manually by mechanical means.

Now examine the white post that the track # indicator was attached to. At the bottom of this is a two ramp system that an adjusting screw follows to move the head. As the plunger is hit it causes the ramps to turn adjusting the height of the head and thus the track that is played. Watch this screw as you use the plunger. If the screw doesn't move and thus the head doesn't move up and down with , you most likely just need to lubricate.

On the head assembly there are two adjusting screws, these most likely have a bit of reddish glue at the bottom of these, you don't want to fool with these. Look for the post that has an external circlip holding down a washer and a spring. Inspect the spring for breaks/deformities, you'll want to replace it if it does, Ace hardware would be your best bet for a replacement.

Whether it does or doesn't need replaced you now want to lubricate the post the head moves on.

First remove the circlip, the washer and the spring. Move the head as far up as you can. The head assembly is fitted around this post at the top and the bottom. Using a toothpick apply a small amount of grease on the top and bottom of where the head assembly is around the post. The kind of grease folks use for RC cars should work fine for this and can be found in most hobby shops - you only need a very small amount.

Now gently push the head to its lowest possible position, you might need to press the plunger to do this. Again use a toothpick to apply grease around the top and bottom of where the head assembly is around the post. Move the head up and down a few times, you might need to reapply grease or add more, but it should move fairly easily.

Now apply grease around the ramps on the track # indicator post where the adjusting screw connects, pay special attention to the bottom of the ramps.

Put the spring, washer and external circlip back on the post -the wide end of the spring goes down.

Plunge your player a few times around, you should now see the head moving either up or down with each plunge.

If it doesn't regrease if needed or check for some other hang up.

If everything looks good replace the brass fitting, then the circuit board.

Put a cart in and play check that the tracks change and only one track is audible at a time. If you're getting bleed through - ie two tracks playing at the same time, tighten or loosen the adjusting screw until just one track can be heard.

Remove your cart and put the track # indicator back on then the cover.

Hope this helps