tascam 388 playback failure

T

tfgibbon

New member
Hello, i have recently purchased this deck, it is in great condition, but a month or two ago it stopped playing. fforward and rewind still work, and with the tape off i can get the reels to spin by gently lifting the tension rollers. Might anyone be able to give me any advice? It looks to me as if it is a simple spring problem, but i really dont know much about open reels and am lost.
any help greatly appreciated
tommy
 
When you lift the tension rollers, does the capstan turn? If not, the capstan motor may be in need of attention. Don't know specifically about the 388, but I used to maintain a 38, and I'm assuming that the basic design is similar.

Don
 
well, the capstan motor is face down in the second "layer" of components that i havnt dissasembled yet, but it certainly doesnt look, feel, or sound to be turning at all... should i be able to tell its turning or is it a very very quiet motor?
 
What city are you in??

... the capstan shoudl spin counter clockwise any time the right tension arm is lifted.

... the pinchwheel and tape lifters should move upward when Play is pressed, enough to contact the pinchwheel to the capstan.

2 clues to start. More later.
 
Brooklyn, ny

Ahah,
i was confusing the capstain motor with the actual capstain. the pinch roller does contact, but the capstain is not spinning at all. How can I tell if it is the belt or the motor? I can hear a motor spinning as soon as i lift the right tension roller, but i cant tell if it is the capstain motor or something else (though i think it is the capstain motor).
 
Hello.

You're gonna be fine. It's usually a belt that's the problem, and rarely the motor. To access the belt, you'll have to:

- remove the plexiglass cover by depressing it to one side & lifting out, or just tape it down so it doesn't flop around. Either way is fine.

- either stand the 388 up on it's back end, CAREFULLY, or find some pillows or adequate padding, so that you may turn the 388 upside down, & carefully rest it on it's mixer surface, upside down.

- remove all screws on the bottom, & remove the bottom cover plate.

The belt's down there, in plain sight. I don't remember the exact size of the belt, & that would take me a short while to verify, but suffice to say, you can measure the defective belt, and source a belt that's just slightly smaller than the old belt. The old belt will be stretched out, by definition. Belts are measured in TOTAL length. I have a new 388 belt in my technical items in the garage, so it will take a while to dig it up and measure it, myself.

A suitable belt may be sourced from any good electronics supply store, or for 400% markup from Tascam Parts. Avoid the belts on Ebay, because they're inflated about 1000%. A suitable belt sourced from an electronics store should be about $3,... or $12 from Tascam & $25 on Ebay. Your choice. Heh.

When I get a chance, I'll pull my belts out & measure them for you.

In the meantime, that will give you a chance to turn the 388 over and inspect the belt yourself. Not such a hard job.

It's probably best to turn the 388 entirely upside down for this operation, because if you stand it on it's back end, the bottom panel may fall as you remove it, and it could hurt someone.

If I sound scatter brained, I need sleep very badly. :eek:

Anyway, good luck, and I'll check back after a while.
;)
 
...

The reason I ask users about their location, is that I service 388's, 38's & similar units in the Los Angeles area. I basically do it for a hobby. Thanx. ;)

PS: if you hear the motor spinning when the R-tension arm is lifted, the motor's working & it's definitely the belt. ;)
 
A Reel Person said:
You're gonna be fine. It's usually a belt that's the problem, and rarely the motor.
Click to expand...
:o Sorry for the confusion, Tommy. I assumed (silly me) that the 388 was the successor to the 38, and that it had a similar design. On the 38, the capstan was the motor spindle, IIRC -- so no belts were involved.

I will humbly bow out of this conversation and defer to my colleague A.R.P.

Don
 
Sorry!

The Tascam 38 has a similar motor/pulley/belt-drive as the 388.

If you're talking about the successor to the 38, it's the TSR-8, and I believe that may be a direct-drive capstan,... but I'd have to verify that, so take it on assumption, for what it's worth. :eek:

Cheers!! ;)
 
thanks ARP, your info has been VERY helpful. I opened the back, and the belt was simply popped off, it didnt seem to be stretched. its playing fine now.
But..... somehow in the process my counter has stopped working. Its permanently on 00.00 no matter what i do. Any ideas?
 
...

The 388's counter mechanism is activated from the "tach roller", which is the rubber covered "idler" roller that's just right of the capstan/pinchwheel. Plus, to actually activate the counter, the RH tension arm must also be lifted.

I'd first make absolutely sure that the tape is properly threaded over the tach roller, and is otherwise properly threaded through the entire 388 transport. That's usually the problem.

Beyond that, you may want to inspect the wiring in the guts that leads from the tach roller to the control board. It's not likely, but you were in the guts of the unit for the belt problem, and I suppose it's not impossible that a connector might have come off, or something like that. Check the obvious things like tape threading, before going in deep again.

If the capstan belt falls off again, it will absolutely need replacing. At some time in the near future, I'll try to get the belt size for the 388.

;)
 
fantastic, the tach roller was just upside down. Everything seems to be functioning properly now, except that i sometimes have to put gentle pressure on the tension roller to get it to begin rewinding.
thanks so much for your help, and let me know if you ever get that belt size.
 
Okay!!

You should not have to nudge the tension arm to get rewind to pick up.

Make absolutely sure your tape is as new & fresh as can be. Any of that sticky shed stuff can put a drag on tape motion.

Then, inspect the tension arms as it plays. The CENTER of each tension roller should be aligned to the exact level of the BOTTOM of the (r) idler and the (l) tach roller. Picture that, if you will, or consult the manual.

If the tension roller's are not in the physical position I've just described, then the Tension Arm Position adjustment on the Reel-Servo PCA could be slightly off. The postition of the rollers, and adjustment of the servos has an effect on the efficiency of the FF/RW functions. It's a minor adjusment to put it right.

How's that for an obscure 388 tech tip!!! :eek:

I'll get the 388 belt size, sometime soon. ;)
 
The left tension roller appears slightly low, and the right one is at least 1/8 inch low. How would i make the necessary adjustments?
 
Consult the manual, remove the top cover and make the adjusment.

There's LH & RH tension arm position adjustment on the reel-servo card. You'd adjust the position when in Play mode. I don't have the manual handy at this moment, but it's easy enough, once you verify which pots to turn.
 
Hi chiming in about 16 years later haha... I had an issue where FF wouldnt work and the counter would not work in FF or in play. So I adjusted r212 and that seemingly corrected the position of the right tension roller and cured the counter issue and the FF issue. only NOW FF is like a goddamn jet engine and is SO FAST that it's terrifying. Anyone know this new issue? I hardly hardly touched the r212, just enough to raise up the tension roller to correct position, and to see the counter working. thanks !
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top