Fostex A4 behaving strangely

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WarmJetGuitar

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I tried to fix my mates Fostex A4. It needed a new belt which is now in place with help from another friend. But here comes the strange part:
When in edit mode the capstain is running smoothly, when in normal mode nothing is happening.
EDIT: Sometimes it starts running, however the take up reel doesn't take up anything. Next time I try the pinch roller goes up but nothing else is happening.

A few notable things:
1. The very small plastic things behind the tension rollers is missing, however it rolls as it should.
2. The pinch roller protection thing is broke. Could this be the reason that the machine ain't running? In case yes, anyone wants to sell us one? Should be the same as on the more common A2 or A8.

So please help, I'm in deep shit regarding how to save this sweet sounding and rather rare machine.
 
Sorry to bother you again but I'm in trouble about this:
I changed all three belts in the A4 but still got two problems:
The take up reel can't take up the tape like it should. Got better after the belt change but not good enough.
When fast forwarding it runs no faster than the 15. ips setting and there's an unpleasant sound. It can't rewind at all.

What can be wrong? I'd really appreciate some help here. Just hope that the PCB-cards is allright.
 
Have you checked the brakes? I would also recommend running the machine with the front panel removed to see if you can spot the cause of the sound and/or problem.
 
You're right again! When I move the breaks by hand it is fast forwarding and rewinding perfectly. So now I just need to figure how to adjust them. Anyone knows how to fix this? The break system looks very much like that on the Tascam 38.
 
You've done the hard bit finding out what the problem was. Now just take a look at the mechanism. Operate the brake by hand and see what's happening.
Is it operated by a solenoid or what?

If you put it in fast forward and manually release the brake, will the brake snap back into place or will it remain disengaged?


If it remains disengaged, it could be as simple as cleaning mechanisms to free them up, and if it snaps back it come down to a spring that's stretched out over the years or something. See if there's anything that can be adjusted manually,idk.


Post up some pics, or try to suss it out as above. :)
 
There was a thing (don't know what its called) related to the brakes that wasn't set properly, but its fixed by now and FF and rewind is fine. However it is running half speed in play mode. Weird but probably an easy fix. Thanks for your advice. I'll probably be back in a couple of days searching for advice on how to fix the speed issues but the coming days will be used recording a great band with our "new" Fostex R8 we got for really cheap. First hand impression so far is that it's a nice machine despite of the plastic parts.
 
Does it do the half-speed thing at both speeds? i.e. is it now running at 3.75 and 7.5 instead of 7.5 and 15?
 
Yeah, it's really close to running 3,75 and 7,5 ips actually. Keep my fingers crossed that it ain't a capstain motor past its prime.
 
Now I have time to look at it.
Any suggestions on how to fix this?
 
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