Akai mg614 transport issue

IronWine

Member
hey you guys
(for any AKAI MG614 users around..)

my akai mg614 is at the tech shop. the tech has no experience with this specific machine so asked me to consult other people who are familier with the transport section of the MG614.

What's happning right now is that the capstan motor starts spinning right when you turn on the machine. i know some tape machines works that way but some don't. is it normal for the MG614?

so... the capstan pulls the pinch roller but does not effect the takeup reel, therfor the tape itself get pulled out of the cassette housing.

any thoughts?

any help will be much appriciated!
 
Damn, I worked on one of these a good while ago but my memory is terrible.
Just to clarify, are you saying that the tape is getting pulled when it's not in play mode?
 
What's happning right now is that the capstan motor starts spinning right when you turn on the machine. i know some tape machines works that way but some don't. is it normal for the MG614?

Well...when it was working fine, didn't you ever notice if the capstan would spin on power-up or only after engaging play?

With my Otari MX-80 (totally different design, etc)...when I power up, nothing moves...BUT...as soon as I thread tape and the tension arms sense the pull, the capstan starts to spin, however, the pinch roller doesn't engage until I pit REC or PLAY...and the tape doesn't spool until I hit FW or RW.
So yeah...it's not unusual for the capstan to spin-up right from the start...but there should not be any movement with the tape until you select an action.
 
I'm no expert, but the manual seems to describe three motors in a somewhat odd configuration - a capstan motor, a reel motor, and a 'cam motor'. I'm not big on cassette transports, especially logic-controlled ones, but as an educated guess it's using an idler wheel to switch whether the reel motor is driving the the forward or reverse spool. Presumably the 'cam motor' both moves the idler wheel and pushes the heads in and out of the cassette shell.

If it were me, I'd suspect the idler wheel, or possibly the cam. The 4000-series reel-to-reels tended to use a cam made from some weird cheap metal that would occasionally break. Hopefully that's not the case with yours, but it's a thing to consider.

EDIT: If the machine is playing the cassette and despooling, it's possible that the idler wheel is either stuck in neutral, or it is in the correct position but a rubber tyre has deteriorated and it's no longer driving the spool.
 
May become relevant; The entire block is common to several other akai cassette decks that can still be had cheap on ebay and the likes.
Akai gx52 is one of them, I think.

Not suggesting you need to replace it but it might be useful info to someone. :)
 
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