Another Akai MG1212.......

  • Thread starter Thread starter j.harv
  • Start date Start date
I guess you could try joining the two buttons as long as you pressed in the middle of the bar and not the side in case you trigger one and not the other.

Great job putting it all together!
 
deslog said:
I guess you could try joining the two buttons as long as you pressed in the middle of the bar and not the side in case you trigger one and not the other.

Great job putting it all together!
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Thanks for all your help. I'll try wiring it up.
 
Hey there fellas, I been reading your thread for awhile and you guys seem to have really become pros on the Akai MG line. I bought an Akai MG1212 a while back. When I fired her up all of the counter was malfunctioning as well as the track selector and pretty much all LED info on the front. I opened her up and the battery had leaked. I replaced it, hoping that was the problem. However, once I got it back together and pressed reset the counter and track functions are still malfunctioning. Seems like all the transport is working. Its just LED functions like symbols and all track selection info is malfunctioning. Any ides?
 
Hey and welcome!

Is the battery PCB mounted somewhere? If so, did the leak spread out on to the board much?
There's a chance that it's burned through some traces, if that's the case.

The old Tascam DR-88s used to do that. If the battery leaked and was left for any length of time, all sorts of things got damaged. :(
I repaired a few by manually bypassing broken traces with fine wires.
 
Hi, new to the Forum and much appreciative of the knowledge posted.Just purchased a MG1212 (Black One) all functioning except will not rewind or fast forward-will play and record though.From reading this thread I assume it could be the idler tire.If this is correct-how do access this part? I live in Pasadena so I am close to VST Services and could pick up the part (it is listed).If it is a belt issue they are out of kits so if anyone knows of where to find them other then searching Ebay I would appreciate that. Thanks in advance, Eric
 
It's likely the idler tire, assuming the motor is working. Can you hear the motor spinning when you engage FFWD or REW?
 
sweetbeats said:
It's likely the idler tire, assuming the motor is working. Can you hear the motor spinning when you engage FFWD or REW?
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Hi-yes I can,and the cassette reels advance slightly but skip back in FF and Rew.
 
Well it sure sounds like a bad idler tire. Others will have to chime in about how you get to that since I've never pulled anything apart on mine.
 
Idler Tire Replacement

sweetbeats said:
Well it sure sounds like a bad idler tire. Others will have to chime in about how you get to that since I've never pulled anything apart on mine.
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Well, I downloaded the Service manual, and i cannot find the "Idler" Does anyone know what they are calling it or on what page of the Service Manual it is pictured? Thanks, Eric
 
Go to page 48 which is titled Mecha Block. You will see a part number 1-4( It's actually called a Holder idler Part) That has the square rubber wheel around it and it is probably rock-hard. Look up to the top right of that same page and notice the pressed metal cover. It is black and you can see it under the reels. Once you remove that you can see the Holder Idler. I pulled my whole mechablock out when I was servicing which made the job easier. If I was you I would go to the trouble of finding out if the original memory battery is still in and replace it.
 
Thanks for detailed information-I see now.I have a new idler tire (I live in Pasadena close to VST Services) so I will start "digging in". Unfortunately they are out of belt kits so...Ebay wait
 
Replaced the idler...success! For those with similar problems-"ff and rew not working or skipping"-this is the fix if you can hear the motor running when trying those functions.Care must be taken when fitting the new "tire" in the wheel channel-it is a tight fit,I used a little water to lubricate.Make sure there is no left over residue from removing the old tire-mine was dried and hardened with some rubber that had annealed to the inner grooves of the tire holder.There are 4 clips and 2 allen screws that hold the cassette tray-you can remove those and swing the tray out of the way(it is still connected by a contact wire)-then there are 3 phillips screws holding the bottom tray cover-under this is the idler roller mechanism held on a post with 1 clip.Be careful removing and reassembling the cassette tray to the holder arms-there are 5 arms in all-4 held on by the clips(2 on each side) and 1 that is slotted to fit on the fixed post on the side of the tray.I forgot to position the slotted arm and upon trying it out the cassette tray would still open and close but it would not seat properly and nothing would work!
 
could anyone tell me from experience if the proprietary Mk20j tapes suffer from "sticky shed" as often as you would find with reel tapes of same age? i have been researching the mk20j awhile and so far i haven't found any direct reference to someone experiencing "sticky shed" with them.
 
shadowplaymoon said:
could anyone tell me from experience if the proprietary Mk20j tapes suffer from "sticky shed" as often as you would find with reel tapes of same age? i have been researching the mk20j awhile and so far i haven't found any direct reference to someone experiencing "sticky shed" with them.
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I believe it does. I have 3 new old stock tapes. I recently opened one and tried it and it was leaving a lot of residue all over the transport. Rew/ffw was very sluggish with this tape too.

I have a few used tapes that don't have this problem and they work fine. I'm thinking the other 2 new tapes are gonna have the same problem because I bought them all together.
 
Oh wow this sucks. I was thinking they were like the Maxell EE tapes which seem to be non-sticky-prone, but maybe not...I have 10 NOS NIP MK20J tapes.

Keep in mind ANY tape can go sticky if it's been in the wrong environment...maybe your NOS tapes were improperly stored (he asks hopefully)...? I know you don't know how they were stored so that's a rhetorical question. Just hoping maybe your experience is an anomaly.
 
I've heard of them being being spooled up with good tape. Don't know much about how, or what tape is used, just heard of it being done.
 
j.harv said:
I believe it does. I have 3 new old stock tapes. I recently opened one and tried it and it was leaving a lot of residue all over the transport. Rew/ffw was very sluggish with this tape too.

I have a few used tapes that don't have this problem and they work fine. I'm thinking the other 2 new tapes are gonna have the same problem because I bought them all together.
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ahh thats unfortunate, i was hoping that these proprietary cassette shells were giving them a little extra shielding against going sticky, may be wishful thinking, but then again yours is the first case of sticky shed i have found on the mk20j so maybe it is more rare with them.

i have been really on the fence about purchasing an mg1212, i have been offered an mg1212 for sale from a local studio that has had it in storage and it has the idler tire replacement need symptoms, i even bought the service manual online to determine if i could replace the idler tire fairly easily however it seems pretty extensive just to get down to the idler tire to replace it, and the service manual is a little unclear, with my hobbyist level experience with electronics repair i thought it might be a bit too daunting. in your experience how easy was it to replace the idler tire? anything outside of the service manual i would need to know maybe?
 
shadowplaymoon said:
ahh thats unfortunate, i was hoping that these proprietary cassette shells were giving them a little extra shielding against going sticky, may be wishful thinking, but then again yours is the first case of sticky shed i have found on the mk20j so maybe it is more rare with them.

i have been really on the fence about purchasing an mg1212, i have been offered an mg1212 for sale from a local studio that has had it in storage and it has the idler tire replacement need symptoms, i even bought the service manual online to determine if i could replace the idler tire fairly easily however it seems pretty extensive just to get down to the idler tire to replace it, and the service manual is a little unclear, with my hobbyist level experience with electronics repair i thought it might be a bit too daunting. in your experience how easy was it to replace the idler tire? anything outside of the service manual i would need to know maybe?
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I just finished using another new tape that I just unwrapped today and it worked great. No shed, not even a spec of oxide on the heads. So that's a good thing. Maybe the first one was just a bad one. I have used all my used tapes and they are all good.

As for the idler. It's not too difficult to get to. Just go through the manual again. There are instructions on taking it apart. Also take pictures as you are taking it apart.
 
shadowplaymoon said:
ahh thats unfortunate, i was hoping that these proprietary cassette shells were giving them a little extra shielding against going sticky, may be wishful thinking, but then again yours is the first case of sticky shed i have found on the mk20j so maybe it is more rare with them.

i have been really on the fence about purchasing an mg1212, i have been offered an mg1212 for sale from a local studio that has had it in storage and it has the idler tire replacement need symptoms, i even bought the service manual online to determine if i could replace the idler tire fairly easily however it seems pretty extensive just to get down to the idler tire to replace it, and the service manual is a little unclear, with my hobbyist level experience with electronics repair i thought it might be a bit too daunting. in your experience how easy was it to replace the idler tire? anything outside of the service manual i would need to know maybe?
Click to expand...

Don't know if you're in my geographic region or not, but I think I have two MG1212 units I'd like to unload for a good price.
 
RFR said:
I've heard of them being being spooled up with good tape. Don't know much about how, or what tape is used, just heard of it being done.
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You can reload them with any 1/2" tape you like, but the trick is it is unclear with what thickness tape the original MK20J tapes were loaded, and what is the bias equivalency. So if you loaded the shell with SM911, for instance, would there need to be tension adjustments, and how would you set the bias? This is the problem. Since the MG series machines used proprietary cassettes the service manual is relatively silent to these things and you'd have to resort to setting the bias using LF distortion monitoring and setting tension using HF drop-off or something...and even at that you'd be shooting in the dark a little. That's why I'm biting my knuckle a bit over j.harv's shedding discovery.
 
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