Tascam Porta One Ministudio DEAD

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EZWriter

New member
I just purchased this unit on Ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3769718193&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOAB:US:6
It was sold in perfect working condition, supposedly. When I got it it would FF and rewind but would not go into record or play (or rather it would but would immediately click back out). Then after playing with it for a few minutes trying to figure out what was wrong, it just went dead in the water. Lights out.

Now I notice that it says not to use monwire headphones. So I'm not. But my mike has a monowire jack, as does my guitar. Surely this wouldn't have caused the problem? What should I do?
 
Surely this wouldn't have caused the problem?
Click to expand...
No. This would not affect the moving parts, just your ability to monitor correctly.

Basically I think you got hosed by the seller. Porta One's haven't been made in a long time, and finding used working ones is getting harder and harder. I was lucky to find one on eBay for under $50 that worked well.

EDITED TO ADD: It may be that the power jack is loose. Have you tried using batteries? Yeah, it's a ton of 'C' batteries, but may be worth a shot.
 
Tascam Porta1 Ministudio

Hello EZWriter, not sure what the power problem is, that would require some hands on testing (which I can do) but when (or if) you get past that look under the record/playback head and erase head & see if there is a plastic base they are bolted to. if so there is a spring under the "play/record head" that will crack the plastic base "right at the screw" and release just enough tension to keep the player from going into record or playback " it will go into play then shuts down quickly, ff & rewind works fine" mine did the same thing. The spring is mostly hidden under the plastic base but will be shaped something like a safty pin a long straight leg and a circle then a short leg, my spring is black, and the long leg will be visable and rests up against a white pin that moves toward the tape when play/record is pressed & back away when stop is pressed. if you need more help feel free to e-mail me. Rick "Skinny Litttle Kid Music" use the e-mail link above
 
Hey, Rick. I'm having the same exact problem you're describing, could you help me out with this malfunction step by step? it would be of so much help.
 
i have the same problem with my porta one. the question i have is " time to breakout the epoxy resin at last?".
how you fix your head base problem?
 
Ok...

Yes, but what to do about this problem? Do you get a replacement part from Tascam and do a mechanical rebuild? Do an epoxy gluing job? buy a parts machine? What?

This problem seems common. I believe I might have a couple Porta Ones or Twos that have this problem, as yet to be determined.

Thank you
:spank::eek:;)

Skinnylittlekid said:
Hello EZWriter, not sure what the power problem is, that would require some hands on testing (which I can do) but when (or if) you get past that look under the record/playback head and erase head & see if there is a plastic base they are bolted to. if so there is a spring under the "play/record head" that will crack the plastic base "right at the screw" and release just enough tension to keep the player from going into record or playback " it will go into play then shuts down quickly, ff & rewind works fine" mine did the same thing. The spring is mostly hidden under the plastic base but will be shaped something like a safty pin a long straight leg and a circle then a short leg, my spring is black, and the long leg will be visable and rests up against a white pin that moves toward the tape when play/record is pressed & back away when stop is pressed. if you need more help feel free to e-mail me. Rick "Skinny Litttle Kid Music" use the e-mail link above
Click to expand...
 
I have a Porta One that does the same thing.

Maybe it's planned obsolescence, to convince you to replace it with a reel-to-reel deck?
 
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