TEAC/Tascam 244 - Strange Behaviour/Recording Problems

S

Sebi

New member
Hi everybody,

sorry to bother you with another 4-track recorder problem but I really have no clue what's going on with mine and I already searched the internet for hours...

I'm having a problem with my 244 and it's kind of strange as I haven't seen or read anything similar yet.

Yesterday I recorded a track which worked fine. After rewinding I could listen to it and decided to record it again but it didn't work. The first take was being erased as it should have been but there was no new take. Of course I considered some "easy" mistake like not having set the input properly and so on... But since then I'm not able to record anything!

Here's what's strange: When I set the recorder in record-ready mode (Sync + Trks or 4ch, doesn't matter) the record-ready LED is NOT blinking as usual but instead it's only "glowing" really lightly. When I hit REC+PLAY it turns off but the transport is working fine. When I hit PAUSE instead of REC+PLAY it starts to blink as it actually should have been before. When I then hit play the LED is still blinking and it's not recording either. As I said, transport RW, FF, Play, Pause, Stop... seem to work just fine. I have no clue what's wrong. Monitoring the Input singal etc. also works as usual.



I hope I was able to describe the problem, sorry no native-speaker, and I would really appreciate if someone has any idea. I'm out of conclusions...

Thanks a lot and best wishes from Hamburg!
Sebi
 
Not sure I can be of any help but I thought I'd pitch in as nobody else has yet. I haven't got the circuits to hand but I'm wondering if it could simply be a fuse or two that have blown? I only say this because I had a couple of fuses blow and lost playback from all the channels. Maybe you have lost all the record amps for the same reason. If you take off the back panel The fuses can be found on a panel towards the bottom on the left hand side as you look from the back - at least they are on the UK version. Maybe worth checking them?
 
Sure, that might be the case... As I don't have the schematics everything takes some time for me to figure out the different parts. I already found some bad solder points and fixed those but they we're obviously not the problem as nothing has changed. I'm gonne try and check out the panel you described and let you know when I find something.

Thanks so far!

Edit #1: I couldn't find any fuses in the panel you described. The ones I found were Control (A) and Control (B). Are the fuses labeled as "F" on the PCB or something else?
 
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244PowerSupplyAdd.jpg244PowerSupply.jpg

I can't remember how the fuses are labelled I'm afraid and I don't have my machine here at the moment to check. The panel is quite easy to see in my machine - they fuses all sit vertically. Maybe someone else with a 244 can take a look? Meanwhile, I have these sections of the schematic to hand which shows the fuses.
 
Thanks, that's almost perfect but I forgot to mention (and forgot to consider...) that my 244 is the Japan-Version (100V). Didn't think that there will be any big differences. Would it be possible to take another picture of the other side of the page?

Thanks for your time :)
 
Sorry - I'm away from home at the moment and don't have the schematics to photograph - I just found these by luck on my pc at my current location. I'll keep looking to see if I have any more.
 
Alright, never mind. Meanwhile I found a rectifier (got the translation from the dictionairy, hope that's what they're called) that is somehow damaged. There is no signal going to the "lowest" wire in the picture which also doesn't look very healthy...DSC_0004_edit.jpg
 
Quick Update (in case anyone is following):

- The rectifier doesn't seem to be the problem. I cleaned the corrision and soldered it new. If it was dead there would be probably a lot more issues on my console.

- Still there's the problem that it's not recording and when I arm tracks the REC led is only glowing a little bit. Maybe interesting: When I want to record on one track the led is very light but when I arm two tracks the light gets brighter, although still not much.

- Now I noticed something else which was problably there before: When I hit REC+PLAY the led turns off (as it did before) and then I hear two quiet "clicks" in the area between the L/R-fader and track 4 fader. Maybe that's a clue for someone.
 
Yeah I will. Maybe some other day this week. But I'm still a bit confused because so far I haven't found anything that looks like fuses. I expected them to be on the Power Supply/Output Ampl. board but i could be wrong. There are only several wires that seem to be bridges or jumpers and I can hardly imagine these to be the fuses.
 
Sebi said:
Yeah I will. Maybe some other day this week. But I'm still a bit confused because so far I haven't found anything that looks like fuses. I expected them to be on the Power Supply/Output Ampl. board but i could be wrong. There are only several wires that seem to be bridges or jumpers and I can hardly imagine these to be the fuses.
Click to expand...

Trace the cables from the power transformer. According to the schematic, the fuses are the very next stop. Looks like it may be on a dedicated fuse board, judging from the enclosing box on Findlay's scan.
 
I seem to remember the fuses being on a vertical panel nearest to you on the bottom left hand side as you view the 244 from the back upside down - the length of the machine down from the transformer. They are facing the plastic outer case. Sorry I can't take a pic to make things clearer but still away from home! You can replace them without any dissassembly.
 
Findlay said:
I seem to remember the fuses being on a vertical panel nearest to you on the bottom left hand side as you view the 244 from the back upside down - the length of the machine down from the transformer. They are facing the plastic outer case. Sorry I can't take a pic to make things clearer but still away from home! You can replace them without any dissassembly.
Click to expand...

Still don't seem to find these. Either they're not there or I'm having problems following your description. Or I'm just being stupid.

Here's what I'm looking at right now:


DSC_0005.JPG
 
jpmorris said:
Trace the cables from the power transformer. According to the schematic, the fuses are the very next stop. Looks like it may be on a dedicated fuse board, judging from the enclosing box on Findlay's scan.
Click to expand...

The cables from the transformers are connected directly to the power supply board. In the picture you see the red and orange ones coming straight from the transformer, next to the capacitors. I still haven't found a service manual which makes it kind of hard and I still don't know how big the differences between the different power supplies are. Mine is the Japan version with 100 V. Don't ask me why, bought it in Germany...

DSC_0007.JPG
 
I've marked in red where I remember my fuses were - I may not be able to get to the machine for 2 weeks to check for sure - but this does seem to be a different design. I hope someone with the Japanese - or even USA version can help here. It would be strange if it didn't have them. Mine blow every few weeks now. I dread to think the damage that could be caused it they aren't there.DSC_0005a.jpg
 

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Yes, I might go on trying to find the service manual somewhere... Can't find anything at the spot you marked.
But today again I discovered something new which might help to locate the problem. Or maybe not, we'll see...:
I took the cassette to a friend who has a 424 recorder just to realize that the first take I made is still on there and sounds perfectly fine! So the take was not erased when I tried to do the re-take (already with the strange led-blinking) and of course there was nothing recorded either. But I also couldn't hear anything after doing the second take, that's why I figuered the take has been erased. After hearing the track on the other recorder I tried it again on mine and heared something after putting the faders of track 1 and LR to maximum. It was still very silent and didn't sound anything like the recording. Just "chopped" off pieces of it but frequently. Like a gate that is triggered by a rhythm. Also it sounded a bit distorted. The track is actually just a bass line.
I recorded it and will attach it. Maybe it sounds familiar to someone. Never mind the noise level, since the signal was super silent I had to crank up my interface pre's to max...
Could this be caused by the head (which I cleaned before the recording) or the dbx encoder/decoder or might it just be the same cause I'm trying to figure out the whole time?

Thanks again to everybody so far!

View attachment 4Track_Troubleshooting.mp3
 
That track does sound really strange - not like anything I've experienced with faulty dbx decode or faulty heads. Looks like you've got a problem with the recording and playback circuits though, which makes things a bit difficult. Let's hope some of the bigger brains here can help and that you can locate the fuses.
 
Are you sure the head is absolutely clean? I have had a tiny piece of oxide "short out" the recording flux on standard cassette machines.

Not going to be a fuse. If the recorder gives all other indications of recording, meters etc but don't, likely a break in the record signal to the heads or a loss of bias.

With the GREATEST respect you don't seem qualified or equipped to diagnose those possible faults (need a scope) and need a tape tech.

Dave.
 
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