my tascam 388 lost that lovin feeling

  • Thread starter Thread starter bridgetfondue
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B

bridgetfondue

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hey guys,
i bought a tascam 388 last summer from a small studio in so cal. it has very low hours on it. i can't find any dirt or cosmetic flaws anywhere on the machine. it looks new. when i got it home(pick up not shipped) it worked good except for the rewind was a little slow. then it got real slow. so instead of burning out a drive motor or something i covered and stood it upright for the last few months untill i got arround to fooling with it. in the last week i placed it back up on a flat desk and tried to listen to something on the one of my tapes. when i hit any transport command both tensioners drop imediatly and the tape goes loose. neather of the motors move at all during play,FF,or RW even when the tensioners are held up to trick the machine into thinking it has tape tension
all fuses are good(tested)
i removed and replaced all circut cards in the back
i cleaned all rollers and heads(all rubber in great shape)


if anyone has any thoughts on what the cause of this might be please post them. im stumped at the moment. thanks alot
-G
 
When you move the tensioners up....

does the capstan start turning? If not it's probably just a drive belt. Most belts stretch out or turn to tar after awhile. If you move the tensioners up and the capstan doesn't turn, try to listen if you can hear the motor turn on. Chances are it's the drive belt and those are easily changeable. Good Luck!!
 
Sorry I didn't work up a reply sooner.

You said in email that you've checked all the fuses, but I'd make double-certain that they're all good, before moving on.

As our friend above said, determine if the capstan is spinning, by loading a tape or holding up the right tension arm.

Having that particular symptom reminds me of when I had a blown motor driver transistor on the transistor deck. In my case, it went out during normal use from an unusually high static discharge, when I touched it.

Having been stood on it's ass-end for months leads me to want to focus on the transistor deck,... again. It was standing on it's transistor deck all that time,... and the symptom is reason enough to believe there might be a problem with the motor drive transistors. I'd start in that area by determining if all 4 motor drive transistors are connected properly, & there are no cold or broken connections. The next part leads to troubleshooting the motor drive transistors with a meter. There's a particular way to test transistors with an ohm meter, and I'd suggest becoming familiar with it.

Good luck.

/DA
 
thanks a lot guys, i will look into the conections for the motor driver transistors. no motors turn at all at the moment so i would guess that it was a belt or transistor. unless the motor that drives the belt is perfectly silent i would say that there is no motor sound or buzz when the machine is in play,FF or RW mode. i will check on this stuff and let you know what i find. thanks again for your input.
-G
 
My first inclination would be the fuses.

Then work up from there.

Since the reel motor drive and capstan drive are separate, I'd look for a more common cause. Those old (original) fuses may be old enough to just break without notice. Fuses should be tested to an absolute certainty.;)
 
another question about my 388

hey guys, thanks again for your suggestions. i was noticing that on my 246 four track the capstan turns any time the power is turned on. should this be the same on the 388? if so, it seems there may be a bad conection or circut allong the way that is not giving it power. i was also wondering if both reel motors turn in any of the transport functions? neither of them turn at all at the moment. thanks
-spencer
 
...

On the 388, the capstan spins when the right tension arm is lifted. Likewise for the reel motors, they'll only spin when the right tension arm is lifted. The right tension arm is lifted when a tape is loaded on the transport. :eek: ;)
 
yes. if i lift the right tension arm it allows the transport buttons to work but the capstan does not turn and the reel motors do not turn. i would guess that all 3 of these motors were controlled by differen't systems but the fact that none of them function now is confusing. i have tested the fuses by multimeter and by bypassing them each individually with an alligator clip and then trying to play the machine with the right tension arm up. the only thing that happens is the individual transport light will light up and all the solenoids will function(releasing the brakes from the reels and pushing the tape roller into place) thanks for the fast response.
_spencer
 
Do you at least hear the capstan motor working while you lift the right tension arm ? Did you check the capstan belt ? If it slipped then you will hear the motor going but the capstan not turning.
 
i have the bottom access plate off the unit. the capstan belt is in good condition but the motor does not turn at all. even with the tension arm up. ???
-spencer
 
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