VESSEL2020
Somewhere in Space
I've got a Tascam 488 mkII that is practically mint,...
and only used sparingly to the point of rotation to keep it intact.
Well,...This is a "first" for me in 20+ years of cassette recording...
Last night, before I was leaving the house to go to band practice, I decided to take one of my 488 mkII's out for some practice/scratch recordings with the band since we are workin' on some new songs. I usually use one of my 424 mkII's, or a 564 at the practice spot for this reason,...but decided to put a 488 mkII in rotation.
I cleaned, and demagnetized it last summer before storing it away in it's original box in the closet...(it worked perfect)
I get to the practice spot, and take out my TEAC head cleaner, and rubber cleaner, clean the rubber pinch roller, and then proceed to clean the heads and capstan after.
Well, I'm sure this has happened to quite a few of us before...
While cleaning the capstan (in cleaning mode- pressing stop,play,& turning the unit on)...I usually turn off the cleaning mode off after the rubber pinch roller is cleaned, and then proceed to clean the capstan with the motor off,...but did not do that this time,...and now it's time to pay the price. The q-tip that I was cleaning the capstan pin with, got wrapped around the pin.
Now, I proceed to ever so gently pull the wrapped cotton off the pin (machine is off now) and as I'm pulling the cotton off the pin, I pulled the capstan pin right out of it's socket!
The weird thing is,..I was NOT even pulling that hard. (but, I guess I was)
Now, I'm very upset...and transferred all the mics I had set up in the 488 to my 424 and proceed to practice with the other 2 band members, and start scratch recording on the old faithful 424 mkII. I kinda felt sorry for my drum kit, as I took out all my anger, and frustration on it, and now have to buy two tom heads as a result of literally beating the piss outta them.
I woke up today (no work today) and still feel a bit depressed as I felt last night due to this episode. I decided to operate. (not recommended, when feeling a bit overwhelmed)
I now have the 488 mkII opened up, and the motor seems to be running fine, but the pin is pulled out at least an 1/8th of an inch (estimate) and will not connect to it's base in which the belt wraps around. I tried to gently push the pin back in, but I'm havin' no luck at all doing so.
My question is...
Has anyone ever run into this problem before, and how did they rectify it?
Is it possible to maybe pull the casing apart, and set the capstan pin back into place?
Maybe I should just try to order the part from Tascam, and replace it?
I did get the pin to move a little while holding the sensors with the machine on, though it is not moving quite as fast as it should. It seems as if something is blocking the pin from setting in the casing the right way. I can clearly see the "clean" part that was down in the casing, versus the part that rolls the tape, and it needs to be pushed down a bit further.
Should I proceed to try something like a C-clamp to push it back down, or just try to order the part from Tascam "IF" it's even available? It seems as if this CAN be fixed, and I'd like to try to fix it without having to order the new capstan.
Any suggestions?
Appreciate any help at all.
P.s.- You don't have to tell me how much of an idiot I am for leaving the motor on while cleaning,...I already feel bad enough, and I acknowledge that I AM an idiot.
and only used sparingly to the point of rotation to keep it intact.
Well,...This is a "first" for me in 20+ years of cassette recording...
Last night, before I was leaving the house to go to band practice, I decided to take one of my 488 mkII's out for some practice/scratch recordings with the band since we are workin' on some new songs. I usually use one of my 424 mkII's, or a 564 at the practice spot for this reason,...but decided to put a 488 mkII in rotation.
I cleaned, and demagnetized it last summer before storing it away in it's original box in the closet...(it worked perfect)
I get to the practice spot, and take out my TEAC head cleaner, and rubber cleaner, clean the rubber pinch roller, and then proceed to clean the heads and capstan after.
Well, I'm sure this has happened to quite a few of us before...
While cleaning the capstan (in cleaning mode- pressing stop,play,& turning the unit on)...I usually turn off the cleaning mode off after the rubber pinch roller is cleaned, and then proceed to clean the capstan with the motor off,...but did not do that this time,...and now it's time to pay the price. The q-tip that I was cleaning the capstan pin with, got wrapped around the pin.
Now, I proceed to ever so gently pull the wrapped cotton off the pin (machine is off now) and as I'm pulling the cotton off the pin, I pulled the capstan pin right out of it's socket!The weird thing is,..I was NOT even pulling that hard. (but, I guess I was)
Now, I'm very upset...and transferred all the mics I had set up in the 488 to my 424 and proceed to practice with the other 2 band members, and start scratch recording on the old faithful 424 mkII. I kinda felt sorry for my drum kit, as I took out all my anger, and frustration on it, and now have to buy two tom heads as a result of literally beating the piss outta them.
I woke up today (no work today) and still feel a bit depressed as I felt last night due to this episode. I decided to operate. (not recommended, when feeling a bit overwhelmed)
I now have the 488 mkII opened up, and the motor seems to be running fine, but the pin is pulled out at least an 1/8th of an inch (estimate) and will not connect to it's base in which the belt wraps around. I tried to gently push the pin back in, but I'm havin' no luck at all doing so.
My question is...
Has anyone ever run into this problem before, and how did they rectify it?
Is it possible to maybe pull the casing apart, and set the capstan pin back into place?
Maybe I should just try to order the part from Tascam, and replace it?
I did get the pin to move a little while holding the sensors with the machine on, though it is not moving quite as fast as it should. It seems as if something is blocking the pin from setting in the casing the right way. I can clearly see the "clean" part that was down in the casing, versus the part that rolls the tape, and it needs to be pushed down a bit further.
Should I proceed to try something like a C-clamp to push it back down, or just try to order the part from Tascam "IF" it's even available? It seems as if this CAN be fixed, and I'd like to try to fix it without having to order the new capstan.
Any suggestions?
Appreciate any help at all.
P.s.- You don't have to tell me how much of an idiot I am for leaving the motor on while cleaning,...I already feel bad enough, and I acknowledge that I AM an idiot.
