Reel motors in Tascam 34b grind to a halt

[lo.fi.love]

Hey folks,

I'm restoring a 'parts deck'. One thing that's wrong with it is that the reel motors slow down when I FF, RW, or play a tape.

It's not the tape itself, so there's no SSS going on here.

I'm inclined to remove the reel motors to open and inspect them. My experience with bicycles lends me to believe that the motors just need to be cleaned out and the bearings repacked with grease. Does this sound right to anyone?

If so, what kind of grease should I use? Lithium grease?

I'll really appreciate your help! Thanks!

 

[The Ghost of FM]

30 series decks are a bit notorious for developing early motor death syndrome so yeah, a good cleaning or replacement is usually the ticket to that issue.

I'm not sure on what type of grease they use inside of them though. But seeing as they are not designed to be lubed during their service life, I would imagine that would reduce the list of likely candidates for the right type of oil/grease.

Cheers!

 

[sweetbeats]

The bearings are sealed cartridge type so no lubing can be done. As they get old they'll get sloppy, too loose actually. My experience is that it is an issue with the commutator getting dirty...the commutator is comprised of sections upon which the brushes ride. Here's a closeup of a dirty commutator from a 58 motor:

The bearing is there on the right. Those bearings are readily available for cheap. They are cemented to the motor shaft but I made a puller out of a modified flat washer and Chevy steering wheel puller:

I used an old toothbrush, iso alcohol, an exacto knife and canned air to clean up the commutator:

You *must* ensure that the brushes are reinstalled in the same orientation and location from which they were removed. I made this mistake on my first attempt and didn't pay attention to it. You see, those brushes have to break in and set into a wear pattern. You put them into a new spot and a new wear pattern gets set and the commutator gaps get loaded up with crud in a hurry. Here's a brush that was put back in wrong. You can see two wear patterns in it...see the vertical line down the middle?

Anyway, after replacing the bearings, properly cleaning the commutator and properly disassembling and reassembling the motors in the 58, they were a completely different animal...weak, noisy and sluggish before, snappy, smooth and strong after, and neat-o sounding.

 

[gerard]

What he said

Had the same problem with one of the motors on my MSR-16 and the above fixed the "sluggish" problem. Cory, I need new brushes for the motors, do you have source to order then from? I plan on doing a compleat motor rebuild (both) soon. Thanks!

Jerry

 

[sweetbeats]

Jerry, I never had a need to pursue getting new brushes...how much is left on yours?

You might try a local electric motor service shop...you could bring it in and show them the brush. At the very least it may give you some leads.

 

[lo.fi.love]

Cory, thank you for the detailed post. I'm going to look into this this weekend.

I've seen that type of bearing at my local Ace hardware. Good to know!

 

[lo.fi.love]

I pulled the motors from the 34B and cleaned the commutator with swabs and DeoxIT. A lot of black crap came off of them. I blew everything clean with canned air.

I just hope I put everything back together correctly...

 

[sweetbeats]

Jeff, the real key is getting the stuff out from in between the commutator sections. That's where the exacto knofe came in handy because that stuff gets packed in there.

 

[lo.fi.love]

I'm having an extremely difficult time finding a bearing puller. I've looked at everything from sink handle pullers to bicycle bottom bracket pullers to auto bearing pullers, but nothing is small enough to fit.

Can anyone help? I'm stuck (and so are the bearings)

Augh... mired in little details.

 

[korger]

Tascam 34B Play action is sluggish and then stops

Hi
I hope you can help me. I was wondering if you could comment on the problem I have with my old and " not used for a long time" 34B. When I load it with tape on 10" reels the FWD and REW motor fuction work OK and the motors rip at a fair speed in either direction as I think they should but when I press PLAY the motor starts and runs for a very short time only (just seconds really) and then grinds to a stop.
Do you think this might be the same problem as described here of a dirty commutator? It would be the right hand motor for PLAY - yes? But if this is the case how does the right hand motor then work for a FWD command?
I'm not keen on trying to replace the bearings but fell quite confident to take the motor assembly apart for cleaning.
Many thanks in advance.
JohnM

 

[lo.fi.love]

Hi
I hope you can help me. I was wondering if you could comment on the problem I have with my old and " not used for a long time" 34B. When I load it with tape on 10" reels the FWD and REW motor fuction work OK and the motors rip at a fair speed in either direction as I think they should but when I press PLAY the motor starts and runs for a very short time only (just seconds really) and then grinds to a stop.
Do you think this might be the same problem as described here of a dirty commutator? It would be the right hand motor for PLAY - yes? But if this is the case how does the right hand motor then work for a FWD command?
I'm not keen on trying to replace the bearings but fell quite confident to take the motor assembly apart for cleaning.
Many thanks in advance.
JohnM

You may want to check the belt before digging deeper to solve this problem.

My 34b reel motors are still on the workbench because I can't find the right tool to remove the bearings.

 

[cjacek]

Yup, capstan belt and bad sticky tape are the most common problem.

 

[sweetbeats]

Goodness, Jeff...totally missed your January post. I have a puller that I fabricated out of a Chevy steering wheel puller and some hardware I found in the shop.

PM me. I've pulled bearings in 3 Tascam motors and one Ampex motor.

 

[gabrielbecheanu]

Hi
I own a Tascam 32 and I would like to clean the reel motors. I try to remove the reel table after I remove all the screw but is blocked I can’t pull out the reel table. It is another procedure to take it out? I remove in total five screws, two from the motor shaft and three from the front of the reel table.
Some one can put some pictures or send me to my email gabi@cosmoit.ro
Best regards