Tascam 58--no playback from Sync on 1 track

R

Rufer

New member
Against everyone's better judgement, I recently acquired a Tascam 58 off of ebay. So far, it appears I got pretty lucky and almost everything seems to function as it should.

The only problem I am having is with Track 4. I can record to it and playback through the Repro head but NOT the Sync head.

I am sure the possibilities are endless as to what could be the problem but I was hoping there may be some ideas you guys may have or perhaps some troubleshooting tips to perhaps narrow down the source of the problem. The only things I have done are clean and visually inspect the heads and the Sync head looks fine.

The Service Manual is on its way but until then any tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
Odds are, the problems lie in the channel cards with possible bad relays, oxidized card connectors or both.

Swapping known working channel cards with not working channels can tell you if its in the channel card or not.

Good luck!

Cheers! :)
 
You can swap you channel 4 card with another card to verify that the problem follows the card (most likely relays then) or stays with the channel (some other problem)

Changing out relays is not hard (you will need 16) and not expensive. They are around 3 or 4 bucks each. The rewards of changing out relays is knowing that they are not going to be a problem in the near future.

MS16 use the same cards. You can search for both 53 and ms16 threads and find out what others use for replacement relays and about the C42 mod to allow you to bias +9 tape.

Welcome to the 58 club.

--Ethan
 
Thanks for the info and the tips.

GCalo said:
was that the one from the Seattle area?
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Nope. I got one a bit earlier than the one from WA. That one looked really nice. Mine is not as cosmetically attractive so I kind of wished I'd waited. But as mine arrived in one piece and functions pretty well, I guess I can't complain

evm1024 said:
You can swap you channel 4 card with another card to verify that the problem follows the card (most likely relays then) or stays with the channel (some other problem)

Changing out relays is not hard (you will need 16) and not expensive. They are around 3 or 4 bucks each. The rewards of changing out relays is knowing that they are not going to be a problem in the near future.

Welcome to the 58 club.

--Ethan
Click to expand...

Thanks for the details. I am glad to know that changing the relays is not too difficult. What are some other symptoms of bad relays--so I'll know what to look for if I acquire this skill if future problems arise?

Also if I pull a card, will the machine otherwise run aside from that channel?

Thanks for the 58 welcome. I had a 48 for a bit a couple of years ago and although it gave me some problems, I had pangs of regret about selling it. So I'm back.
 
You just pull the offending card and put it in another slot (swap channel 4 and 5 cards so that 5 is in 4 and 4 is in 5). The question is will the failure follow the card (and will another card work in the bad channel). Is it the card or the motherboard/wiring/selector switch etc)

Bad relays show up as failed channels, and quite often channeld that work then don't work then work again then...

REgards, Ethan
 
Ethan's advice is good.

Just take your time. The manual is laid out numerically for disassembly. So follow the numbering and card removal should not be difficult.

Number the cards 1-8 w/permanent marker pen before removing them.

Keep us posted.

Relays are most likely similar to those on 42/48.
 
Jeff's the man.

He trained for weeks to complete that project.

he was spot on but he should have replaced both relays at same time!!
 
GCalo said:
Ethan's advice is good.

Just take your time. The manual is laid out numerically for disassembly. So follow the numbering and card removal should not be difficult.

Number the cards 1-8 w/permanent marker pen before removing them.

Keep us posted.

Relays are most likely similar to those on 42/48.
Click to expand...

Good advice. Thanks. Hoping my manual arrives today.

lo.fi.love said:
I don't know how similar the 58 and 48 cards are, but in case you'd like to read my story about replacing the relays in my 48, please take a look here:

Weak/no output on Tascam 48… and solution
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Thanks for posting this. Google actually lead me to your blog yesterday and the info will certainly help me out when I get around to this project.

Don't be surprised if you see this thread disappear for a while and suddenly reemerge. I'll definitely do my best to get this problem resolved but don't know when I'll be able to get around to it.

I will post accordingly though. Thanks everyone.
 
LUNE said:
great blog!

are these relay failures more common somehow on the 48 & 58 or would they be just as common on all 80's era tascam decks? (34, 38, 388 etc.)
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I'm not sure, but one thing to note is that the 48 and 58 (and other 4X and 5X series Tascam decks, and the MS-16) use relays to switch between +4 balanced and -10 unbalanced inputs & outputs. Since the 3X series (and the 388) have only -10 unbalanced inputs, these relays aren't present in the circuitry. There may be relays in the deck for other purposes, but not for I/O switching.
 
Hello guys,

I'm a total newbie and I'm glad I found this forum and this thread. I'm having the same problem on the same machine.
I wanted to ask if the relays are the same for 48 and 58 so that I can purchase the ones lo fi love used on his fabulous blog and get started with this asap 'cause this is the central piece of my studio and I'm completely useless without it.

I'd also like to ask which calibration tape would be best to use for the 58, since I'm gonna have to do this as well.

Many thanks in advance.

alex.
 
Alex

They do not look the same and are a different P/N: 5290009400 for the 58. I can't see them clearly on the board on my copy either to advise.

The description of the 58 relay is 24V G2V-282P

I would try to search that on the Digikey site for an answer.
 
Thanks for the quick reply!

Apparently that's indeed the Relay. A guy on this forum has the same problem with the MS16 and according to the guys on that thread, they share the same relays. He changed them and it worked.
I'm trying to find some kind of sweet deal. 3 bucks is nothing, but when you wanna buy 16 is a lot of money.
 
Those relays are hard to find. I would not expect a "deal"!

If you can obtain them that's a "deal"!

$3.00 each is peanuts in scheme of things to get your unit working.
 
I agree, but the guy on the other thread bought 24 for 13 dollars. That you can call peanuts indeed.

Actually I just noticed that the relay on my card has the following description: G2VN-234P 24VDC

did you replace both relays on the card or just the one without the metal protection (I think this one is for REC only, but I'm not sure)?
 
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