Tape deck is acting funky

[stumped.]

so i got this stereo (panasonic sa-ak22) the other day, i’m not sure how old it is exactly, but i’ve used it once to make a mixtape about an hour long and it worked fine. now, however, whenever i hit “record” it’ll only record for about a second then automatically stop. i’ve rewound the tape so the magnetized part is just over the head, i’ve turned the unit on/off a couple times but the problem is persistent, how do i fix this? any suggestions?

sorry to everyone who follows/friends me on other sites and are getting spammed by me asking for help... i'd like to get this fixed up asap.

[Andrew]

New tape or are you recording over a used tape?

[stumped.]

I'm using new tapes. specifically this brand,



i'm not sure if this helps or not

[stumped.]

in the troubleshooting section of the manual it suggests i clean the heads, will that help? if so how do i do that?

[Crucified]

there is a couple things it could be, first, the heads might need to be cleaned. usually a q-tip and some alcohol will do it, but make sure. also the heads might be old and broken and need to be replaced, in which case, you are screwed.

[stumped.]

the head is the middle part in the deck right? does it have two sides or just the one to clean?

[stumped.]

i cleaned the bejesus out of the head and its still not working, any other suggestions or am i pretty much screwed?