xxmangoosexx
New member
Hi guys
So my pretty much pristine 144 is no longer functioning, and I am the culprit! I bought the recorder used last year, from a guy who had basically kept it boxed up in a climate controlled environment (SoCal weather is great for that) for the past 20 years.
I had already made a number of demos on it, but wanted to make sure it was more or less 'up to spec' by changing the belts.
I ordered a belt kit, and received 4 belts, one thick belt for the flywheel, and three consecutively smaller ones. I referred to Dr. Zee's great site for how to go about this:
http://www.mzentertainment.com/studio_workshop_teac_144.html
Anyway, upon opening up the 144, i was amazed at how well the rubber had held up. There was some fraying on the reel tables mechanism belt, but it wasn't hardened and still maintained elasticity. same goes for the other belts. Of course i decided to change them anyway...and screwed something up in the process.
In my belt kit, of the three smaller belts, i couldn't find one that seemed to "match" the reel tables mechanism belt that Dr. Zee explains how to replace in his tutorial. I have one that is a little bit smaller, and less thick...If a belt is too tight, will it still function?
There are also two other smaller belts that I think control the counter, and these are quite difficult to change, in fact I'm afraid that one of them is off its spool. When I engage the tape transport, it moves for about a second, and then stops!
I annotated a copy of Dr. Zee's jpeg...i hope this is ok
So my pretty much pristine 144 is no longer functioning, and I am the culprit! I bought the recorder used last year, from a guy who had basically kept it boxed up in a climate controlled environment (SoCal weather is great for that) for the past 20 years.
I had already made a number of demos on it, but wanted to make sure it was more or less 'up to spec' by changing the belts.
I ordered a belt kit, and received 4 belts, one thick belt for the flywheel, and three consecutively smaller ones. I referred to Dr. Zee's great site for how to go about this:
http://www.mzentertainment.com/studio_workshop_teac_144.html
Anyway, upon opening up the 144, i was amazed at how well the rubber had held up. There was some fraying on the reel tables mechanism belt, but it wasn't hardened and still maintained elasticity. same goes for the other belts. Of course i decided to change them anyway...and screwed something up in the process.
In my belt kit, of the three smaller belts, i couldn't find one that seemed to "match" the reel tables mechanism belt that Dr. Zee explains how to replace in his tutorial. I have one that is a little bit smaller, and less thick...If a belt is too tight, will it still function?
There are also two other smaller belts that I think control the counter, and these are quite difficult to change, in fact I'm afraid that one of them is off its spool. When I engage the tape transport, it moves for about a second, and then stops!
I annotated a copy of Dr. Zee's jpeg...i hope this is ok