RCA carts: There are two versions of this. One uses a rivet of sorts to keep the top halves of the cart secured. To remove this I like to use a soldering iron to heat up the rivet and pry the cart halves apart. And then once the repairs are done I use a specific type of Phillips head screw to close things back up instead of the rivet. You may need to scrape off some plastic inside the cart where the hole for the rivet is. Sometimes this deforms a bit and the cart halves don’t close properly after.
The other type of RCA cart is completely sealed. The only way to open these is to pry them open. Normally this style was pretty reliable. So unless the sensing foil has broken and the tape halves are inside the cart, or there is something indicating a tension problem, they don’t need opened. You can replace the foil and the felt without opening them. IF they do have to be opened, I like to use snap ring pliers and when necessary CAREFULLY use a box cutter along the sides of the cart. If you have to open up the sealed kind, a plastic friendly super glue works well to reseal it. A little goes a long way!
Jon
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