Otari mx5050 tape lifters...not lifting tape off heads during rewind/ff

moogmymellotron

moogmymellotron

New member
hi, i have a question regarding this otari unit.

ive been steadily rebuilding this machine, sorting out all old cabling, caps, blown stuff, pinch rollers etc. the pinch roller/tape lifter assembly was terribly gunked to the point where the roller was frozen in place...i managed to the free the arm but the tape lifters do not seem to move at all. the tape drags across the heads during rewind and fast forward! :eek:

ive opened the inside of the machine and do not see anything broken in the rocking assembly...it seems that when i push the pinch roller down manually it falls enough to engage the play mode and move the tape, could something perhaps need some tightening? i see theres an arm w a spring that shoots the pinch roller down when engaged, any ideas?

does anyone have any experince w these machines? id greatly appreciate it!

thanks!
 
Hi, I have no experience with the Otari but... on most machines there are Solonoids that move / engage the lifter mechanism... Are the Solonoids doing anything when you hit FF or RW? do you hear a clacking noise when you hit FF or Rw?
 
My guess would be a selonoid not engageing or not sending the electrical current to the tape lifters.Be careful poking around in da back of da macchine with a screwdriver.I did that to my reel to reel and it cost me 200 bucks to get it fixed and I had the service manuel for the tech.
 
hi digidoon and jpmorris

i believe the solenoid is working okaaay i do hear the clicking noise it makes when i engage it. however, i believe the assembly that the solenoid engages is loose...theres a hex nut holding the pinch roller arm from the inside that is reaally wacky, feels possibly broken. The pinch roller arm slips OFF the tape lifters from the inside and fails to complete the whole gear sequence which lifts the tape off the heads.

i removed the capstan motor but now im having trouble removing the solenoid in order to reach the rocker assembly since all the bloody screws are stripped! :(

the pinch roller engages...kinda...its definately falling at a downward angle and tape wows pretty badly, however it does move across the heads. ive included some pictures of what i believe to be the issue/s.


this is the hex nut i believe is loose/broken. its behind the arm, kinda hard to see due to flash :/
1.jpg


this is the bottom of the assembly as it rests on the tape lifters...doesnt move them since its on the outside track...
2.jpg


and finally, when i rest the arm on the inside as where i believe it belongs, the lifters work and roller falls evenly...
3.jpg




any ideas on what lies behind the hex nut? im having a hell of a time removing the stripped screws on the solenoid. any ideas of what else it might be? thanks alot!



digidoon said:
Hi, I have no experience with the Otari but... on most machines there are Solonoids that move / engage the lifter mechanism... Are the Solonoids doing anything when you hit FF or RW? do you hear a clacking noise when you hit FF or Rw?
Click to expand...
 
THat´s a tough one without having an exploded view. Just a guess here... should the arm in the last pic be sitting on the larger pin , darker metal pin right below it in the pic. Kind of like an elbow joint.. look at the pic below

just an idea 3.jpg
 
Last edited:
Definatly...someones been in the machine that didn't know what they were doing with all these stripped screws.There should still be parts available for the machine. Again GOOGLE will be your friend in locating parts.Sounds like your going to have to invest in a tapping kit to retap those screws.Then file the old screws in the trash can.
 
hey guys thanks for all the input, i THINK i mightve figured a possible solution to the problem. Looks like the previous owner broke the screw holding the pinch roller arm in place. it was limp and hanging on by its springs. i replaced the screw and its firmly in place now, rocking the tape lifters and dropping the pinch roller firmly into place. took me several HOURS in removing all those stripped screws there that mightve been SUPERGLUED in....ridiculous.

i hope i solved the situation.

does anyone have any experience w these units? are they worth the work? this particular machine seems well besides all the obvious user malpractice. thanks again!!
 
Otari didn't make any JUNK!!!! The 5050 was one of their best selling machines so yes if you want a good analog reel to reel it's definatly worth restoring.I was in radio broadcasting for many years.The Otari 5050 was in many production studios I worked in and was a workhorse in broadcasting.I still have a Teac A-7300 reel to reel that takes the 10" reels.Though it's not used much and everythings gone digital,I have alot of stuff still on reels of tape I intend putting on CD's.Would'nt take anything for my reel to reel.Good luck getting your machine back up and running.You will definatly enjoy it once you have all the bugs out of it
 
awesome!

i finished rebuilding the amp section of the unit today, so far so good. totally quiet, no scratchy pots. Good times.

the machine seems to be okay now but...ill have to give it a go for a few days to see how it responds. im going to begin calibrating it later today.

one question though, i see it has an adjustable tape speed, does this mean the otari is syncable? i have the otari mx5050 8 shd model. I cant find a manual for the machine so im not sure if possible or not.

thanks again!
 
If your talking about a variable pitch knob,this is to speed the machine up or slow it a bit to get say a 28 second radio commercial to fit and be a 30 second spot,or,a 33 second spot by speeding up the machine a bit to fit into 30 seconds.Whether it can be synced to another machine or not maybe someone else knows about that.Manuels should be available online by doing a google search.You should also be able to find the tech manuals for your machines online.
 
ive encountered yet another problem. Ive reassembled my entire unit, everything thoroughly cleaned out and blown caps etc replaced.

i played a reel of good tape w a recording on my otari, and it played back wonderfully...i tried to record a new signal...and nothing, i hear the faint new recording playing back but...i dont know understand what the issue might be...bad record head? not setting up the machine properly to record? ive read some discusion about pin 3 being hot, although plenty of confusion amongst forums regarding that issue. any ideas what might be wrong w my machine? any way to test a record head? thank you
 
hey digidoon

i managed to find out what was wrong...its kind of funny. when i first acquired the machine i noticed the heads WERE dirty but just did not fully inspect the degree of the issue. they were dark and visible gunk was on the heads...the heads shared this uniform dark black color so i just assumed that probably just 'looked that way'

well...i decided to thoroughyl clean the heads, spent about an hour or so...and was hellishly surprised to find that the heads were actually just under a huge thick layer of grime. peeled off like a sticker...so gross.

i fired her up and boom...recording great. all i gotta do now is track down my friend for his mrl and calibrate the beast. :)

as for the manual or schematic...ive had absolutely no luck. all i find are manuals for the newer 5050s, not my unit. :/

any ideas? thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top