H
hot air balloon
New member
I bought this Fostex Model 80 8-track 1/2 inch reel to reel recorder with the matching mixer about a year ago. It worked perfect for as long as I used it...it then sat for maybe 2 weeks unused and the next time I wanted to record I loaded a new reel, powered it up and pressed play to cue the tape....except nothing happened. The reel jumped for a second and then paused. Nothing. It appeared as if the motor(s) for the reels were not working, but everything else powered up fine. I opened up the back and found a fuse had blew. I changed the fuse and powered it up, but the new fuse blew when I turned it on. I went through 4 fuses making sure it wasn't a bum fuse. I then tried a higher gauge fuse that had a solid core (which is a dumb idea I know), and it didn't blow on powerup. For about 30 seconds, this appeared to solve the problem and the reels worked and everything seemed to have been fixed untill a faint burning plastic smell appeared and some whisps of smoke started coming from the machine. I powered it off immediately and decided to close it all up. Is this familiar to anyone? Is there anything I can personally do to fix this (great) unit? If not, would it be worth it to repair? Anyone know of any reel-to-reel repair in the San Fernando Valley/Los Angeles area? I at least want to give it a shot before I invest in a new unit.