Back into tape!!!

[mamm7215]

Years ago I had a TSR-8 that I had integrated into my DAW setup. I loved that thing. I didn't use it all the time but I was just glad I had it. Ex wife used to prod about getting rid of it for taking space, maintenance cost, etc. and there were some good points since I didn't "need" it to record. Still, after I sold it I wished I never had. For years. FFW to now, just picked up another one. Price was right and it does need a bit of work but I'm happy to have one again. Weird. Pinch roller was complete goo when I got it, so that got replaced first. There's unusable wow and flutter when I record so capstan belt is next. Also the take-up hub table bushing is shot, wobbles way too much. Bushing is on the way, too. Heads in good shape, electronics seem good, counter counts, DBX works, record/playback/erase all good. Seller was a proxy for a music customer of his and said it was used in a recording studio until he thought a motor was going bad. Then it sat. I'm pretty sure the "motor" issue was the capstan belt/pinch roller/bushing problem. Motors are fine. In any case, it's a fun project to have back. Also grabbing a cheap local Soundcraft M8 to interface to it. Fun times again

 

[mamm7215]

Oops, sorry for the huge pic...

 

[RFR]

Oops, sorry for the huge pic...

No worries. We like big pics.

Get that baby up and running!

 

[Slouching Raymond]

Oops, sorry for the huge pic...

The bigger the better.

 

[sweetbeats]

Congrats.

it’s common for the rubber components to disintegrate and revert to their constituent components…turn into a tar-like substance.

What did you use to replace it?

 

[mamm7215]

I bought a pinch roller tire and capstan belt off of ebay. Not sure how oem they are but the roller tire seems to be fine. I haven't put the belt on yet. I also noticed that the counter roller tire is cracked in a few places. Not goo but just old rubber. Not sure if I should try something like rubber renue or just try to find another one. There's a guy in the UK who makes them as well as reel table bushings. I definitely need a bushing for the take up reel table. I did a recording last night just on channel 1 and 2 and still a bit of wow and flutter. When I had the cover off the existing belt seemed ok for not being gooey but didn't seem to be very snug around the roller so I guess I'll do that next. There's also a bit of crackling and more noise on the recording than there should be I think but I'll do more recording on the other channels tonight. I may have had the levels high and I haven't got an MRL tape yet to set biases.

 

[RFR]

My experiences with rubber ‘reconditioners’ hasn’t been favorable. New rubber is the way to go.

 

[mamm7215]

Yeah that's what I'll do. Also I got the new capstan belt on, old one was definitely stretched. I don't have pops/clicks but I still have the pulsing wow/flutter/flanging sound after a while. It seems the new pinch roller tire I got wants to walk to the front and press up against the screw on cap holder and it causes the take up roller to pulse because of drag. If I stop and undo the cap, push the tire back on the roll it solves it but I only get a couple of minutes before it does it again. The instructions said to try glue stick glue to hold it so I'll try that next. Fun times! Recorded sound seems good also!

 

[sweetbeats]

I am 100% not a fan of replacement tires. Either get a new roller from Athan or have Terry Witt of Terry’s Rubber Rollers rebuild your roller. The tires are a sham. Period.

 

[mamm7215]

I agree with your assessment. It's not useable at this point unless I try to glue it in place so it doesn't slip. I'm ordering from Athan, I may have Terry do my counter roller, since a new one is more expensive. I've also noticed that none of the rollers - take up, tension, pinch, counter or idler have washers under the caps. Seemed to me watching all the TSR-8 videos that they're supposed to. I guess it's possible whoever was trying to clean or check it out lost them? Looking into sourcing those now, too.

 

[mamm7215]

Bit of an update, I went to put a bit of glue on the pinch roller to hold it from slipping but I went to play some tape a bit to just see again how much it was moving on the roll and it stayed. Rewound and tried a few times and then did a bunch of recording from daw to tape on all channels and the pinch roller tire didn’t shift on the roller at all so maybe it needed to seat or something. I’m not usually a believer in things fixing themselves so I’ll keep an eye on it but it’s fine for now. All record levels and playback are good as well but the rca input jack on channel 1 (or 8? not sure what end is 1 or 8 ) must have a cracked solder join. I have to manipulate it a bit before it connects to pass sound. Otherwise so far so good. New counter roller incoming as well but can live with the existing one for now.

 

[sweetbeats]

The problem with the replacement tire type pinch rollers is they are the worst of the worst for not meeting spec for wow and flutter and such…you absolutely get what you pay for with a pinch roller. It’s a critical component of the tape path. If using a slip-on donut was acceptable they’d have done from the factory and this was done never.

Your roller washers…you should have a service manual. It’s all in there.

Tach roller:

Tension arm rollers:

Guide roller assembly:

The washers can be nylon. I think in some cases the originals were teflon coated. But I think straight nylon works.