Head Cleaning

  • Thread starter Thread starter sheise
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sheise

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I just bought a Tascam 388 and I'm having some trouble getting a strong signal to record on track 8. I am going to try cleaing the heads hoping that this will fix the problem. My question is what do I clean the heads with? Is there something I can buy at Radio Shack? Thanks for your help.
 
sheise said:
I just bought a Tascam 388 and I'm having some trouble getting a strong signal to record on track 8. I am going to try cleaing the heads hoping that this will fix the problem. My question is what do I clean the heads with? Is there something I can buy at Radio Shack? Thanks for your help.
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Clean with %95 or higher Iso Alchohol found in the drugstores. Use new or known good tape. Don't use q-tips but use cotton buds and swipe in the direction of tape travel (not up and down). If the unit has high hours, then a head alignment is in order as a consistantly low track can be a head that has azimuth alignment problems. Head re-lapping is next in order. Don't be surprised if track 1 starts to have the same problem. When the heads wear, the first to go are the outside tracks. If cleaning does not fix the track, then take it to a tech and find out if the heads are bad.
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Hint: Every 388 I have seen that had track 8 problems were head re-lap candidates. I hope that a cleaning is all you need but track 8 or 1 problems usually tell a different tale.

Good Luck with it and keep us up to date.
 
are you sure the track#8 defeat switch isn't on.its on the back of the unit
 
Well, I cleaned the heads and am still having the problem. I also noticed while doing so that on the record head there does seems to be a little bit of wear on the last track(closest to the machine) which I assume is track 8 (but I guess could be track 1). This could be the source of the problem.

I will check the defeat button as soon as I get home but I am a little worried that it is the head.

I may have to have a little talk with the guy who sold this to me as it was supposedly in "perfect" condition.

Oh yeah, what exactly is the defeat switch all about?

thanks guys
 
the deafeat button is incase you want to put a sync trank on track 8
 
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