fostex e-16 mechanical question

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blumediaprojekt

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So is the arm that pops up when entering into fast forward or rewind supposed to lift the tape fully off of the record/repro head? Am I not seeing a lever or switch somewhere that allows it to fully lift the tape off the head?
 
blumediaprojekt said:
So is the arm that pops up when entering into fast forward or rewind supposed to lift the tape fully off of the record/repro head? Am I not seeing a lever or switch somewhere that allows it to fully lift the tape off the head?
Click to expand...

Which arm? I'm not sure what you're asking but when in FF or REW the tape lifters push the tape off of the heads. When in play / record, the lifters retract to allow tape contact on the heads. If I'm not mistaken, there in fact is a lever, just under the heads, on the right, a 'cue lever' but don't lock it in the upward position for all recorder functions. That's not what it's for. Why are you asking? Are the tape lifters moving freely? Is there a problem?

If you need the manual, you can download it here:
http://www.fostexusa.com/index.php?file=support/documents

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The arms should fully lift away from the heads in FF RW or spool mode (Hold down FF or RW with the play buttom if you want to pack a tape away for storage without it being unevenly wound)

The small edit cue button below the heads should only be pressed in when looking for a section of music & it should spring out when released.

"On the Fostex E-16 you need to know what the second level functions are since they are not printed on the panel:

Stop. Press Stop once and the tape stops. Press it again while stopped and the reel brakes will come off, allowing you to spool the tape easily by hand, or find an edit point with the edit switch (which is just above the heads) pressed in.

Fast Forward and Rewind. If you hold either of these buttons down, the tape will spool at play speed. If you hold down either button while you press Play, the tape will spool slowly leaving a smooth tape pack for safe storage.

Record. If you press this by itself without simultaneously pressing Play then any tracks which are record enabled will switch to monitor the input signal, whether the tape is moving or stationery. This feature is used when you are rehearsing a track and setting the level before recording."
 

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yes it is supposed to. the little arm clicks in when pressed so that if you don't want the tape lifted then it isn't.
 
sorry for not getting back to this thread too quickly, i was away....

so....

Is the arm that lifts the tape away from the heads during FF/RW the one between the 2 heads, or to the left of both heads? I can see both attempting to do this job, but they just aren't lifting the tape far enough or something. Is any of this making sense to anyone?

Thanks for the help.

Adam
 
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blumediaprojekt said:
Is the arm that lifts the tape away from the heads during FF/RW the one between the 2 heads, or to the left of both heads?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if your E16 has one or two tape lifters but I know that some have only the one, sitting between the 2 heads. That's really not important 'cause the outcome is the same. Just try manually moving these via the cue lever and see if they're lifting fully up and down and you'll know where the tape lifter is located.

I can see both attempting to do this job, but they just aren't lifting the tape far enough or something.
Click to expand...

What makes you believe the tape lifters are not moving properly? Is there clearance between the tape and heads while in FF / REW modes? Are you getting sound while in FF / REW?

On many machines, it's true that sometimes the pinch roller mechanism gums up from hardened grease and / or the solenoid rubber washer deteriorates further gumming the solenoid plunger... so that has to be checked. While I'm not intimately familiar with Fostex machines, the issues above pretty much are universal to all recorders.

Actually, try this: Grab the cue lever and move it up and down several times and note if it's moving freely and easily. Press play and then try the ff / rew functions and see if the tape lifters are pushing the tape away farther. Again, check clearance.

Can you post a close up heads / tape lifters photo so that we can see it in play and then in ff / rew?

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So I finally figured out that the cue/edit lever/switch must have been bent possibly during shipping. This was not allowing the center tape lifter to fully actuate, or extend all the way. I was getting full sound during FF/RW. Once I bent the switch back, it seems to be fine about 5% of the time. The other 95% of the time, there is still a very faint level coming from the tape during FF/RW.

What do you recommend as my next step to troubleshoot this further? If I understand correctly, I shouldn't be getting ANY signal from the tape during FF/RW, not even the extremely low level I'm still getting now.

thanks again,
adam


PS: This machine has two tape lifters, one before (to the left of erase) the heads, and one between the heads. The one I think I should be concerned with is the one between the heads.
 
Is the tape making any contact with the play / rec head, the one on the right, when in FF or REW? Look very closely. If it's not making direct contact, you're fine.

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This room is so damn dark.... I finally got some light in here and found that the tape is NOT touching the head. There is definitely a space now that bent the cue/edit lever thing back to where it should be.

Do you have any idea exactly how much space there should be? The tape is definitely not touching the head anymore, but it's pretty close.
 
As long as it's not touching, be it by just a mil, don't worry about it.

Just wanted to leave you with another piece of advice.... Don't ever buy anything that you can't physically check and pick up in person, especially a tape recorder. Too much risk involved, especially shipping damage.

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This was definitely shipping damage. I just spoke with the guy I bought it from, who's been really great, and this was not an issue before I received it. It was definitely something that happened during shipping. This is not the first time this has happened with UPS for me. They completely smashed up my Powermac when I shipped it during a cross country move and bought me a new one about two years ago.

I didn't actually pay for the machine (the E-16) until I received it and checked it out. It was a craigslist buy. I just didn't realize that this was a problem until 10 days or so into the purchase. The seller was actually willing to take the machine back and refund my money if it was not shipping related damage. Now that everything seems to be working fine, all tracks sound great, I'm just gonna roll with it.

thanks for all of your help...

-adam
 
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