Error 9 help ADat

[Wireneck]

I've got an Adat Xt that i bought used about 2 years ago. The unit dropped out right in the middle of a session today and started displaying error 9. The tape will rewind/fast forward, eject etc but it will not play. I did some reading online and the most common culprit for this supposebly is the idler wheel. The unit had a lot of hours on it when I bought it and Im guessing that it was about time for something to go wrong. I must admit that I haven't stayed up on maintenance like I should but that is besides the point now. Either way, I have gotten my moneys worth out of this unit.
I've located one place that can do the repairs but they charge in the neighborhood of $50-65 an hour. With that labor rate and possibly parts the unit may not be worth servicing. So here goes my question.......
If I want to check the idler wheel, what should I be looking for? I found a website that has good diagrams on how to go about replacing the wheel but it didn't show a damaged one. Also, is there somewhere online that I can find these parts if in fact it is something I may be able to repair?

thanks in advance

[Blue Bear Sound]

The Idler wheel is a regular maintenance item and should be changed every 6 months or so of regular use. It gets very dirty due to tape shedding (much like a pinch roller can) , and can cause all sorts of funky issues.

You should be able to get replacement Idlers from Ruth at AdvancedMusicalElectronics.com -- they're the company that bought all Alesis' parts stock when they went belly-up a few years ago.

[Wireneck]

Is this the tan colored wheel (in the Xt units) near the front where the tape is inserted? Is there a way to visibly see that its in need of replacement? Based on the every 6 months of use recommendation, I would imagine this thing is WELL over due being replaced.

Thanks for the info bruce. You seem to be the only dude on this forum that cares to share any knowledge about these units anymore.

[Wireneck]

btw....was that link correct?

[Blue Bear Sound]

Oops --> http://www.advancedmusical.com/

Yes - it's in front where the tape is inserted -- it will be dirty around the perimeter of the wheel.... they don't mention it much as a maintenance item in the manual, but it definitely needs regular replacement.... also, you can't just clean it!

[Wireneck]

Thanks I looked at the tech notes page and it doesn't seem like the replacement is a hard procedure. Is there anything else I should checkout with this error code being displayed? I suppose its trial and error at this point without a vast amount of Adat tech experience.

[Blue Bear Sound]

It's fairly easy to replace -- essentially, there's a little spring holding the wheel down, you simply unhook the spring (taking note of where it hooks into so that you can put it back!), remove the old idler - pop a new one it its place - then replace the spring. The spring can be a bit difficult to seat properly if you have big bear paws like I do, but a little fiddling and it should pop in!

[snatchman]

Originally Posted by Wireneck

I've got an Adat Xt that i bought used about 2 years ago. The unit dropped out right in the middle of a session today and started displaying error 9. The tape will rewind/fast forward, eject etc but it will not play. I did some reading online and the most common culprit for this supposebly is the idler wheel. The unit had a lot of hours on it when I bought it and Im guessing that it was about time for something to go wrong. I must admit that I haven't stayed up on maintenance like I should but that is besides the point now. Either way, I have gotten my moneys worth out of this unit.
I've located one place that can do the repairs but they charge in the neighborhood of $50-65 an hour. With that labor rate and possibly parts the unit may not be worth servicing. So here goes my question.......
If I want to check the idler wheel, what should I be looking for? I found a website that has good diagrams on how to go about replacing the wheel but it didn't show a damaged one. Also, is there somewhere online that I can find these parts if in fact it is something I may be able to repair?

thanks in advance

Hi Wireneck, I hate to be the bearer of possible bad news, but I had the same thing happen to one of my Adat XTs. Hopefully this isn't your problem, but after sending mine in for repair, it was found to have dropped a "headstack" (?).... This was about 4 years ago and the Adat had about 700 hrs on the head. It costed about 300.00 to repair it.. :mad... Hope you can get back going with just the idle wheel replacement though. Good luck..!

[ibleedburgundy]

i have that same problem but these days I'm just using the ADAT as a converter.