Tascam 34B: Popping/clicking and weak signal on channel 4

lo.fi.love

lo.fi.love

Functionally obsessed.
Hello and happy new year!

My trusty 34B developed a problem a while ago. When it records on track 4, the signal going to tape is weak, it distorts a little sometimes, and there are electrical "pop" sounds. Sometimes the level fluctuates, sometimes it's more constant, but it's always weak. Tracks 1, 2, and 3 are OK. Playback is fine - when I play older recordings the signal coming out of channel 4 is clear as a bell.

The best way I can describe the popping sound would be, imagine the sound you'd hear if you were listening to AM radio and a large appliance was switched on or off. But not very loud compared to the signal that was recorded to tape.

Knowing the few things I know about electronics, I'm guessing there may be a bad capacitor somewhere in the record amplifier? Does anyone here agree? And if so, do you have any tips on fixing this? I can manage it on my own, but I thought maybe someone here (ahem sweetbeats? ;) ) might have some input.

Thanks for reading!
 
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EDIT: The first version of this post said:

Some unfortunate news: I just tried to record on the 34B, and when I record new tracks the input amplifiers distort on all channels when monitoring in sync mode. It's not my mixer, and it's not the dbx unit because I switched it out with a spare. It's not a loose / frayed cable, either.

It may be time to give the ol' 34B some TLC...
Click to expand...

I realize it's not that, it's actually a combination of tricky source material (recordings from shortwave radio), old/aging equipment, dirty pots, cheap effects units, and deferred maintenance. I've got a LOT of work to do in the coming weeks.
 
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It could be a bad cap, a bad relay or a number of other things. I would have to look at the deck to determine what the problem was. Some things are not as easy to pinpoint as some may think. I have not had a great deal of cap failures in the 34B to date and yes I have worked on a few of them as I was Lead Technician at Teac Chicago before it closed down. I apparently am one of the few still repairing this stuff with Russ in New Jersey doing it also.
 
skywaveTDR said:
It could be a bad cap, a bad relay or a number of other things. I would have to look at the deck to determine what the problem was. Some things are not as easy to pinpoint as some may think. I have not had a great deal of cap failures in the 34B to date and yes I have worked on a few of them as I was Lead Technician at Teac Chicago before it closed down. I apparently am one of the few still repairing this stuff with Russ in New Jersey doing it also.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the very useful input - it's VERY good to hear from someone who's worked with these machines, especially as a Teac tech. I hadn't considered a relay failure.

It could be something else, too, as you pointed out. I'm just doing some research before I undress my little brown friend and poke him with a multimeter ;)
 
OK, so y'all might think I'm an idiot, but it finally occurred to me last night to try my spare DBX unit. And when I did, channel four worked PERFECTLY.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and I'm hoping that a faulty NR unit is the culprit. Because I can at least continue using the spare unit until I have time to fix the other one.

I'll write back later to confirm whether this is true :)
 
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