Tascam 244 control buttons

F

Findlay

Member
I have just bought another 244 from eBay which has I seem to have got working pretty well, but the control buttons have broken off and just lie loose. It is useable but a bit awkward - especially operating the cassette door. Does anyone know how to fix these? It would be no good glueing them to the support frame on the top panel as they need to be flexible.

Working on these machines has reminded me well made they are - and how good they sound! Has anyone measured the frequency response? Tascam claimed 40 - 14K within 3dB at 0dB recording level I think.I wonder how this changes at -10dB and -20dB? Would there be any point in running them with the speed control at max to get a little more top end and counteract some of loss of response with age or would this just be a waste of tape and cause extra head wear?
 
Actually this forum is probably a better place to post. The Tascam forum has everything including a lot of digital and not a lot of viewers.
 
I think your best bet is going to be finding a parts deck with the control buttons intact- I don't believe Tascam has these anymore and I've been down this road with mine. I tried gluing them but that really doesn't work because once the plastic is broken it's pretty much shot..
 
Thanks.I'll forget the gluing! I wondered if it would be any good perhaps laying some thin leather or somesuch over the metal pads so as to hold the buttons up a bit in the face plate slots to stop them slopping about?
 
dont use glue or epoxy, it would be worse, use some tape on all the borders and stick it all to the big plastic cover to keep the plastic piece in place, al around except where it makes contact with underneath bottons
 
Keep an eye out on craigslist and check eBay daily. I saw some knobs for a 246 the other day and parts are popping up on there more and more these days.
 
Can you put up a picture of what is broken? I'm having a hard time understanding what part is broken.
 
I've just seen your post after putting it all together again! I'll take a pick when I next take it apart - which probably won't be long! - but I think I may have fixed it.

The part that has broken is the light brown flexible plastic strip fixed to the inner side of the facia which holds the control buttons. Somebody had broken the buttons away from this so that they became loose and just sat on the metal contacts, sliding all over the place and not working properly. I've taped the top edge of buttons to the strip, so they are held in place and can move up and down. I've also laid a thin strip of leatherette over the metal contacts and this is holding them up a bit so there isn't any slop. Seems to be working!
 
I am in the middle of getting my old 244 going too. I cut some plastic off a clear blister pack into small strips and super glued them back on. Seems to have worked well but not back together yet to test it. image.webpimage.webp
 
That looks ingenious! Have you put it together again to test it? My leather pad underneath seems to have survived a fairly heavy recording session ok!
 
Yeah back together and works but has made it tight so probably need to modify it slightly. My main problem is the replacement capstan belt keeps wanting to come off and jamming! Not happy!image.webp
 
That capstan belt looks a bit slack to me. Are you sure you have the right size? I've replace belts on both my machines with belts I bought from eBay uk - they are a fairly tight fit and work perfectly.
 
I got this from a U.S. eBay seller. The belt is tight I think but isn't too difficult to put on or take off. I am waiting for a reply from them re it coming off all the time. It would be great but annoying to know if they sent me the wrong one!

The old one was in pieces and a gluey mess so didn't have a reference apart from Zee's photos of course.

Am now in Bangkok with just the tapes, trying to source a machine here but doesn't look promising so far!

All I want to do is digitize my old cassettes!! Hahaha
 
Hope you find a machine that works there! If not I could post a link to the eBay source I used, if the forum rules allow?
 
Thanks Findlay, but Thailand is 240v not 110v like the states I believe plus I don't want to have to buy another one. Not much response here in Thailand to hiring or borrowing. I'm not sure they were popular here or sold here. Thinking I'll have to try and sort out my machine somehow.

Luckily, I'm in not desperate rush as it's been at least 25 years since the last recordings haha
 
Evom said:
I am in the middle of getting my old 244 going too. I cut some plastic off a clear blister pack into small strips and super glued them back on. Seems to have worked well but not back together yet to test it.View attachment 96471View attachment 96471
Click to expand...

Huh... that actually looks pretty good. I guess how long it lasts would be the true testament... I've tried the gluing, epoxy, none of that holds because once you glue it it has no more flexibility. I ended up using electrical tape and Kapton tape (like we used to use inside the old Apple laptops to hold the connectors down) to hold the specific buttons in place but it feels strange and I know it will break again eventually...
 
This fix is still working well. Just be selective where you glue and leave a gap. The new plastic behaves ling a hinge and is quite thin so still flexible :)
 
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