488mkII power issue

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p3t3r

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Hi,

I ran into an issue with my 488mkII after pulling it out of a 2 year slumber. At first I noticed that the startup routine took longer to initiate after hitting the power switch - by "startup" I mean the scrolling logo, followed by the usual track/time/volume display. The wait time increased to the point where it never started at all. I could still hear the motor and have it respond to the pitch control knob.
I took it apart hoping to find a blown fuse or something, but I'm not familiar with the power setup.
As I am writing this, the unit powers on again normally - and with no wait time. Does anyone know what's causing this? I might be looking to sell the unit soon and don't want to hide any weird issues.
 
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I know on the 246 the head-carriage up/down motion is belt driven, and the unit will not initialize until the belt has rotated the head mechanism all the way down into the "home" position.

I'm not sure if the 488mkII is belt or gear driven in this section, but maybe it was a little stiff and hesitant to get the heads all the way down to the home position. Put a tape in it, play, rewind, fwd & stop it a number of times to make sure all the mechanics are moving freely and doing what they are supposed to be doing.

:spank::eek:;)
 
That might be it. I forgot to mention the "click" sound that always precedes the startup routine. Normally this sound is drowned out by the simultaneous pressing-in of the power button, but during the delay issue it could be heard alone.

I wouldn't have thought to see this any other way than an electrical problem. Thank you for that.
Everything seems fine now - I'll just have to keep an eye on it.
 
Also noticing a fair amount of wow and flutter on old tapes and new. I bought a replacement capstan belt and installed it but the W&F is still there. The main heads and the roller have been cleaned too.

Before I open this up again, is there anything I should zero in on that's not easily accessible from the tape compartment? I read somewhere that there is a second belt to drive the heads - would this affect the playback if worn?

I thought of creating a new thread but continued here in case the problems are somehow connected.
 
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