Head wear life remaining assessment for Teac A3440 -

[addy]

Hi,
I hope this photo is attached.
What % of life left/expired do you estimate?
What is the head wear width in mm before gaps appear?
Thanks

 

[addy]

Oops.....sry, here it is.............


I tried to swap pics. :0(

 

[mdainsd]

Judging heads from a photo or even in person using visual is a bit iffy. However, those heads (particularly the record and playback) have some serious miles on them IMHO. Looks like the whole machine too, what with the wear on the guides and lifts.

Start watching eBay for some NOS replacements, they are out there.

 

[briank]

There's some wear there for sure. For a definitive answer you could contact John Austin at Sprague Magnetics or John French at JRF Magnetics, they could tell you whether they do those heads and weather it's worth sending them in for eval/contouring.

 

[addy]

Hi, It's all academic now but useful to know for future ref. Some guy in the know on here stated that up to a third of an inch is maximum acceptable. No gaps showing round the poles on these though. I bid £126 on this but it fetched £175, collection only. However, it would not play, just FF/RW. Thanks

 

[ecc83]

Ooooo! MUST have a look at the heads on my 3440! Can't se them atmo because the machine is vertical and this old back is NOT going to flip it just for a flipping varder!

Anyone know of a source of spares? I would like a spare pinch roller and a set of belts and the remote plug.

Dave.

 

[James K]

How about these?

 

[fgonza2]

one good way to take pictures of heads is to use a white sheet of paper on top and put the light on the other side, so the light is diffused and there is much less glare. That way you can get close and see better. The glare on these pictures makes it hard to see.

The only thing that you can really see is if there are no visible gaps, other than that there is no way to know as the depth of the gap is not visible until it opens. A good indicator is the wear on the guides, how deep are the flat spots.