Fostex 250 4-track channel pops

MagnumPI

New member
Hi Guys,
I got this old Fostex 250 from a friend because channel 2 pops. Everything else works fine and I'd love to fix it up.
What I'm getting is what sounds like a dirty switch but with cleaning (and twisting) doesn't seem to go away. Also sometimes a few pretty loud "POPS" from out of the blue.
Any thought on what the problem might be?1.JPG
 
Yeah, this happened to me recently. I bought one of these a couple years back and it came in a Fostex road case that it had been in for most of it's life. When I first got it and used it it was working great. I neglected it for almost 9 months while recording on some other things and a couple weeks ago when I fired it up just so it didn't get jealous and it's doing the same thing.

Is the noise printing to tape? I cleaned the trim and panning pots but not sure where yr noise is coming from on the channel.

Opening the 250 is a stressful event, I'm not gonna lie. They really crammed a bunch of stuff in there. I've been inside a lot of the Tascams but the 250 is something else. I too think it might be a soldering issue or old capacitors so if that's not something you feel confident fixing (I myself don't) then maybe bring it to an electronics repair. If it's a circuitry thing then it doesn't have to be a tape tech as you don;t seem to be having transport problems. Since you got it for free it could be worth the cost.

I love the whole look and feel of the early Fostex stuff. Gray and orange!
 
Thanks Guys,
If I take it in and they say it's in need of a new Capacitor would that be an easy thing to find. Are they standard or would it be super hard to find one for this machine?
p.s. what is a Capacitor? (ha)
Thanks.
 
You ever look at a circuit board and see those little pill shaped things that are sticking up ll over the place? Those are capacitors. They are kind of like tiny batteries in a way. They are standard for the most part and the ones in the Fostex will be available to most techs who work on electronics. The channels on the 250 each have them in different varieties and the one yr having issues with will be tested and if needed, replaced.
 
I love the whole look and feel of the early Fostex stuff. Gray and orange!

Me too! I bought a 250 one time from eBay, and everything worked great except that it wouldn't erase on track 3. So it just kept piling take after take on there. I had to return it. But yeah ... the look of that thing is super cool! :)
 
Me too! I bought a 250 one time from eBay, and everything worked great except that it wouldn't erase on track 3. So it just kept piling take after take on there. I had to return it. But yeah ... the look of that thing is super cool! :)

I've never seen one that actually works. The one I got looked like it'd never been used and even that one started up with issues after a little while. Still, the old Fostex stuff has a special place in my heart. Even my A8 with 7 working tracks and no rewind.
 
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