Tascam 246 Repair Help

[lyndonr]

hello all,
so I just bought a 246 on ebay and was all excited to record with it, but it was packed badly and got a bit smashed during shipping. I pieced the plastic back together (upper right corner, not too bad) and epoxied it.

now onto the real problem... when I put a tape in, it fast forwards and rewinds fine, but when I press play the assembly moves up and engages however the tape reels do not spin. it engages for a second, seems stuck, then goes back down in defeat.

so next I took the back off and saw that the larger belt was hanging off and very loose (a common problem from what I've read). so I order a new belt kit and just put it on. I had my fingers crossed when I pushed play, but same problem.

I'm trying to start with the most obvious stuff here. first thing that I notice is when play is engaged and the assembly moves up, the roller on the far right (pictured w/ and arrow) seems to be VERY tight up against the thin metal post. when I press pause, it backs off slightly to leave room for the tape to pass. doesn't that seem reversed to you?

who knows what's been done to this before I got it. all the lights work and the cosmetically is seems to be in good shape (minus the shipping damage). I'm hoping it's something simple, like the pause is wired incorrectly?

any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Lyndon.

[A Reel Person]

With a corner-drop you don't ever know for sure exactly what you're dealing with mechanically. Every drop is different. There could be chassis damage (bent frame/cracked electronics) or not. Let's presume at the outset your damage is cosmetic.

The Play and Pause functions you describe sounds correct and appears normal. To test this you've obviously found the "cassette-in-place" microswitch and depressed the tab. Correct? When you press this tab, the capstan shaft should turn CCW. If you don't have that, you have to back out and find out why. Open up the back again and determine the capstan motor and flywheel will both turn freely by hand. Make sure the belt is correctly installed & with no binding. With the back off, load a cassette into the compartment and determine if the capstan motor is energized.

Those are the most basic things to check. The capstan may be frozen, or there may be some binding. Perhaps a chassis bend could affect the way the cassette engages the "in place" microswitch.

Start there. With a corner drop you're never assured of having a 100% square mechanical alignment, but I'd not assume anything and check the basics.

The capstan spins CCW any time a cassette is inserted, and moves the tape when Play & Rec modes are engaged. The right hub spins CCW accordingly as takeup, but it's the pinchwheel contacting the capstan that's primarily responsible for tape movement in Play/Rec modes. Takeup, FF/RW modes of the hubs are driven with a separate motor than play-motion tape movement (capstan).

[lyndonr]

A Reel Person - Thanks man, didn't even see anyone had replied to this post. Let me go through your checklist and report back. Fingers crossed.

Best,
lyndonr.