R8 Reel Table belt problem

[Psycho Clown]

Hi everyone.

I just joined the forum to see if anyone can point me in the right direction to get this slight problem sorted with my Fostex R8.

It's been boxed up and unused for about 8 years (since space in my house became an issue).
So this week I took a trip down memory lane and got it out along with the Studiomaster mixing desk (it's all set up in my living room and although fun, not practical) and loaded one of my old tape reels.

To cut a long story short, it strained as it played and it wouldn't rewind, so I took it apart to discover that the supply reel (left hand side reel) belt and the plastic wheel on the motor spindle had come off. Easy enough to put back on I did that and put it all back together again. It played fine, FF fine but again when I started to rewind, the same problem.
I took it apart again and put it back on and with the front off and the machine in a horizontal position, I ran some tests to see if I could determine what was causing the wheel to come off it's spindle (at the motor end).

It seems to rewind fine, but when you hit the 'Stop' button, the belt seems to go out of line on the reel table wheel and pull the plastic wheel off the motor spindle.

I hope I'm explaining this clearly enough... I can take pictures if anyone needs them.

Any ideas?
I shouldn't need to adjust the reel table wheel, but could it be the tension of the belt that needs adjusting due to it being sat all that time?

I did download an R8 service manual off the internet earlier today and have looked through it, but there's no mention of this specific problem.

 

[p_wats]

I've got an R8 as well and it had the same problem after a while.

Some searching I did revealed that there might have been an adhesive there at one point to hold everything in place, but it has since failed. I was able to get mine going again problem free (for the last year now) with a bit of crazy glue in the right spot, but 2 things:

1) I didn't pay much for mine (with the Fostex 812 mixing board, snakes to connect and tape) so I didn't mind experimenting

2) Be very careful---it's not for the faint of heart, as if you adhere a non-moving part to a moving part then you are sunk. Consult a pro if you know anyone in the area who can double check for you.

Here's another thread about the issue (not mine) with pictures:

Fostex R8 – Rewind Stopped Working | Plate 0′ Shrimp

It's a common problem with these over time, unfortunately. I still love mine though!

 

[Psycho Clown]

Thanks for the reply.

I did wonder about glue, but thought it best to ask people who may know before I tried that.
The only problem I can see is that if the wheel then ever needs to come off for maintenance or anything, it's not going to be an easy job.
When you say "Crazy Glue" is that what I would call Super Glue?

No need to worry about "faint of heart" - I've glued more expensive stuff and hammered my fair share of screws in over the years.

I love mine too. There is something ultimately satisfying about sitting in front of a mixing desk with tape going round and having to rewind it. All those little LEDs lighting up and knobs to twiddle.
Digital recording is smaller, easier, quicker, but it lacks a certain 'hands on' something.

 

[p_wats]

Thanks for the reply.

I did wonder about glue, but thought it best to ask people who may know before I tried that.
The only problem I can see is that if the wheel then ever needs to come off for maintenance or anything, it's not going to be an easy job.
When you say "Crazy Glue" is that what I would call Super Glue?

No need to worry about "faint of heart" - I've glued more expensive stuff and hammered my fair share of screws in over the years.

I love mine too. There is something ultimately satisfying about sitting in front of a mixing desk with tape going round and having to rewind it. All those little LEDs lighting up and knobs to twiddle.
Digital recording is smaller, easier, quicker, but it lacks a certain 'hands on' something.

Yeah, maintenance down the road could be an issue, I suppose! That said, there was probably an adhesive there anyway, so a new dose can't be that bad...I hope! It'll get it working for the time being at least!

I think my crazy glue = your super glue. Any strong adhesive should work in the right spot.


I haven't actually used mine for more than a reel or two of demos, but I bought some new tape for it a while back and am hoping to do a lot more in the future. I had an M80 for a while before this, but a lot of the monitoring LEDs had died and weren't something I could fix easily. I haven't seen that problem as often with the R8...though I've heard the RCA jacks can be fickle over time!

Good luck!

 

[Blue Jinn]

Take a look at this site: well documented repair of a common fault with the R8:

MZE-Electroarts Entertainment - MZEntertainment.com: Dr. ZEE WORKSHOP FOSTEX R8 Analog Reel-To-Reel multi-track Tape Recorder

Look especially here: It sounds like this could be your problem:

http://www.mzentertainment.com/pics/fostex_r8/dr_zee_workshop_fostex_r8_project_part_3.jpg

 

[Psycho Clown]

Thanks Jim (and p_wats)... That would be the problem (though I couldn't see a crack in the wheel).

All fixed now as I got Super Glue this morning and applied it sparingly and carefully to wheel in question.

A little tip if using liquid Superglue. Put the wheel in place and put a small droplet of Superglue on the top of the metal spindle.
Then quickly pull the plastic wheel up about 5mm and immediately press it back down.
This action is enough to transfer some glue to the inside of the plastic wheel and pushing it back down then distributes the Superglue down the metal spindle without it dripping out of the bottom and potentially into the motor part. It worked for me anyway. I also let it set properly for an hour before operating the Reels.

Since then I've been Playing, FFing and Rewinding, Locating Zero and all the other functions.
Great to see that that little problem was the only thing wrong with it after so many years of not being used.
Well the only thing I haven't tried yet is recording, so maybe tomorrow, I'll check what shape the recording heads are in.

So tonight I've had some of my old tapes out and have been transferring the recordings, track by track (2 at a time) on to my Mac, into Garage Band. One day the R8 will break, I'm sure of that. So it'll be nice to have all my early 8 Track recordings in a digital format too.
Not that they're much good, but still, it's only by hearing how crap we were that we can gauge how much we've come on over the years.