Fostex G-16S Bad Caps?

[WarmJetGuitar]

This is not accurate. 499 has no issues with SSS. I use vintage 499 exclusively and have never had an issue with it.

I might be wrong, sorry about that man. Made assumptions too quickly due to the widespread reputation of Ampex and shedding. Although sticky ones do appear, probably due to wrong storage or something The one we got with our G16C was shedding quite heavily but was probably just unlucky.


Good luck with the machine! Hope you can get it back in good shape.
BTW, make perfectly sure Dolby is off. The G16 has three Dolby positions on the backplate, one of them with Dolby only being off on channel 16 because of the syncronisation code. It does sound really great with Dolby off position for some kinds of music.

[clongo]

UPDATE: I replace the 2 100uF caps on the bad card, put it back in, and the same issue. Will continue replacing caps.

[Beck]

I also did some research and they said that although there may be reports of tapes made into the 1990s, the Ampex 456 most prone to SSS was manufactured pre-1984, that by then they had better technology to test the formulations. That sound true?

No, Ampex 456 was bad through most of 1994 and some of the worst I've seen were made in 1989-90. The problem was with a chemical binder they used, so eventually all those tapes made with that binder went bad. You may find tapes in worse condition than others, but there is no good sticky shed. I mean it's all unusable whether it's obviously shedding or just dulling the high frequencies.

[clongo]

WarmJetGuitar - Yes I tested with the Dolby switch completely off and it did the same thing. I hope it's not the Dolby chips on the card that are bad because I'll just give up at that point. Beck - I'm only throwing tape on it to test the motors and so far the tape seems fine, but yeah, it could go anytime. When (or if at this point) I get the deck running correctly I plan on throwing out the tape and selling the reels on eBAY.

[miroslav]

Do the Dolby-S boards pop off or are they soldered on.....?....I'm not sure about that.

If they pop off...find a card that has no issues, pop if the Dolby board and put it on the card that has issues. If it's good after that, then you know it's the Dolby boards gone bad.

There was some guy somewhere (?) who was fixing those, but even if you could, I think by the time you did that, and fixed all the other issues....mmmmm...how much do you think you would get back out of the deck...?

[clongo]

I posted a pic of one of the boards on Page 2 of this thread, and if it's the little riser board on the right, then unfortunately they are all soldered in. You're right miroslav, if replacing the caps doesn't do it (and I'm assuming I don't need to replace all those ceramic caps) I might just call it a day and try and sell it for parts. I have a local buyer for $400 but he won't want it if it's not in working condition. Kinda sad that something that represented such a happy time in my life may just get tossed aside for pennies.

[jpmorris]

I posted a pic of one of the boards on Page 2 of this thread, and if it's the little riser board on the right, then unfortunately they are all soldered in. You're right miroslav, if replacing the caps doesn't do it (and I'm assuming I don't need to replace all those ceramic caps) I might just call it a day and try and sell it for parts. I have a local buyer for $400 but he won't want it if it's not in working condition. Kinda sad that something that represented such a happy time in my life may just get tossed aside for pennies.

It looks like my post went unread, so I'll say it again. Does the machine work when the bad card is removed completely? It may work, or it may refuse to boot when the processor finds the card is missing.

If it does work, arrange the cards so track 15 is pulled, or maybe track 1 (edge track, prone to damage).
If you're syncing the machine with a DAW track 15 is going to be prone to crosstalk from the timecode on track 16 so using it becomes iffy anyway. You could try selling it then as a mostly-working machine, obviously explaining that track 15 is down in the description. Supply the dud card anyway, but packed separately.

That's what I'd do in this position, anyway.

[clongo]

Yes jpmorris the machine works without the card so I'll throw it in slot 15. Great idea. I've still got to get Play to work however.

[clongo]

I've replaced more caps and the meter peg issue still exists, and the play motor squeaks so I've decided to throw in the towel and just try and sell it as is on eBay. Thanks miroslav and everyone else who jumped in with suggestions, but I think it's time to let 'er go...

Chris