Four Track Recorder doesn't rewind or fastforward

[lemonseronade]

I have a tascam porta two . . . not the new one but the old school model, with the VU meters and six inputs ! the ff and rewind functions no longer work, and i am wondering why... does anyone out there think a good head cleaning will do the trick? otherwise what could be going on? an electrical thing? a mechanical Thang?

g r a d z i e,
C o S m O***~

 

[lemonseronade]

okay... just thought about it and it probably ain't the heads. could be the motor??? not the best situational four track mess . . . no rewind or fastforward.

?

 

[vox]

It's probably a rubber belt that has either gone slack or burst. I'm not familiar with the porta two, but cassette players usually have a belt drive system. My guess would be that if you replace the belt it'll be ok.

 

[Dom Franco]

Try this at home....

Carefully remove the small phillips screws that hold the unit together.
Slowly separate the top and bottom pieces, being careful of the knobs and switch covers etc.

find the drive motor and you will probably see that the rubber belt has fallen off a pulley, or is broken. Take the old belt to an electronics repair place locally and have them match it up.

While you are at it clean up the inside of the unit, and replace the other belts if it has one.

A Slightly smaller and tighter belt is better than a loose one!

Re-install the belts and re-assemble the recorder.

Dom Franco

 

[RWhite]

I had the same thing happen to a Fostex porta (the cheap model) that I bought $40 second hand. It was a broken belt, and I was literally able to replace it with a rubber band. Kept it another 2 years (and one more rubber band) before it really died. Not recomending you do this, just saying it might be possible.