Technics start-up problem

[Gkar]

howdy, got a nice. clean 1500 a while back that has the problem of automatically starting up when the power is turned on and a reel is threaded up, engaging the tension arms, the machine, after about a second or two, will start playing the tape with any user actions!  Even the "record", along with the "play" light comes on, but there is no recording going on, just the tape playing.  Later on, this machine started having all kinds of tape handling issues, speed issues, etc., and so, using Rick's "shotgun" approach, I replaced all the 'lytics, and noticed that all of the 100ufd caps had leaked with green corrosion around their leads, that was an obvious issue!  Afterwards, the Technics has run perfectly with the exception of the aforementioned startup problem, the machine is still doing that, and I am guessing that is not normal.  Any ideas?  thanks

[AlexZ]

Hi,
Are all of the functions (ff, rev,stop) OK? Is it just a power on issue ? After this initial play mode,ate all working correct ?

[Gkar]

Hi, Alex, yes, everything works fine after power up, just the power-on blip...

[AlexZ]

And you power up technics with the tape on it and tension arms down from off position?

[steveidosound]

Might this machine have some sort of so called "timer record" (or play) feature wherein if the switch is in the correct position, it will go into record (or play) when AC is applied, that could be malfunctioning?
 I somehow thought it did, being a feature that became common in that era on cassette machines.  The idea was you used an external timer to turn on power to your system to record events off of, say, your FM tuner.
I was just wondering if the circuitry or switch associated with such a function might be dirty or have a bad component, thus activating it every time you power on.

[ironbut]

My money's on steveiosound's solution.
I keep meaning to get into my machine and bypass the timer and the pitch controls. Those buggers are a couple of troublemakers that nobody ever uses.

The timer switch operates by pushing it in and turning it clockwise a touch (releasing it is the opposite).
Try "working it" on and off a few times. Otherwise, you'll need to get in there and clean it. If it's broken, getting that button panel out is a major pain! (pull the capstan motor, the main control board and then you can see the screws!).

[Gkar]

you guys are FREAKING AMAZING!  That was exactly the problem, in fact, I had no idea what that timer function was and never played with it, it turns out it was engaged the whole time!  Dis-engagement and it works just right, thanks so much!  Randy