424mkiii PLEASE HELP

[llilka]

i noticed the silver peg in the tray where you put the tapes, near the heads, it constantly spins, the belts and everything doesn't stop spinning even if theres no tape in and its paused, is it supposed to do that non stop or did my machine break itself? also when i play my old tapes that were recorded on my 414mkii i noticed i need to slightly pitch the tape speed up when playing them on the 424 in order to hear it how it originally sounded, if i keep the pitch control centered everything is just a little pitched down, less than a half step

 

[sweetbeats]

The “silver peg” is the capstan shaft. It spins all the time when the unit is powered.

The speed issue...how much are you having to turn the pitch control knob? Is it at 1:00? 2:00?

 

[A Reel Person]

First things first.

The pitch issue on the 424mkII could be related to a stretched out capstan (main) belt. I'd replace that first.

After that, there is an internal speed adjustment, if necessary, but is only for those technically inclined to split the unit all the way open. Tech's territory.

 

[skywaveTDR]

Yes the shaft is suppose to spin all the time in this deck when powered. The speed in these decks can drift with time and often need to be reset using the MTT111 speed tape and wow and flutter meter or frequency counter. I have reset thousands of machines and when you use a motor with no crystal controlled reference then the speed can drift. In worn motors it usually drifts upward. If the speed issue is one that bothers you all the time, get a speed reference tape called a MTT111 or like and then get a computer or wow and flutter meter set up to reset the speed yourself. If the deck runs at 2X speed the correct tape would be the MXT111. I have both in my shop.
E bay has Leader LFM39A meters on sale for as low as $40 sometimes. This is the item you would use with a 3KHz tape. $40 is a deal for a $900 meter- I have 4 or 5 of them here now.