Replacing Capstan Belt on Tascam 488 Mk II

  • Thread starter Thread starter fozzy1987
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fozzy1987

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Hi, I've looked on the forum elsewhere but am still having difficulty replacing the capstan belt on my Tascam 488. As someone with very little experience doing a DIY job on recording equipment in general, I'm confronted by a mass of wires when I get the front case off which is making it difficult to actually get to the motor and capstan belt itself.

It's a case of knowing (roughly speaking) how to get the belt replaced once I can get to it, but finding a number of hurdles standing in the way. I don't want to run the risk of breaking any vital connections on the circuit board - as I don't have the know-how to correct my mistakes - but at the moment can't get the leverage to lift the front casing and make the task manageable. I've heard that the back case (the metallic section in the top right) should be removed instead of trying to get at the motor from the front and wonder if that is indeed the case or whether the best tactic is to disconnect the wiring and remove the motor unit altogether.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated!

fozzy1987
 
I recently replaced all the rubber in my Tascam 244. The belts and idler assembly were accessible after removing the bottom half of the case. Removing the motor should not be necessary.
 
I have a Tascam 488 not the MK series - however I have replaced the belt - on the top of the unit if you open the cassette lid as if you are going to insert a cassette you'll see two little scews on either end - they have to be removed (don't worry when you put the top back on they line up just fine) then flip the unit on it's face and remove all those scews - the unit should just lift off - replacing the belt is tedious but it is accessable- there's a little shield over the belt casing - take the screws out - and (I used tweezers) slip the belt around the two hubs.- everything on my unit lined up easily when i went to get it all back together
Hope this helps
 
Thanks for your replies, both of which proved to be of great help. I managed to replace the belt, cleaned up the heads and am in the process of recording some material - pretty happy to have it all working again (without wow, finally!).
 
thunderstation said:
I have a Tascam 488 not the MK series - however I have replaced the belt - on the top of the unit if you open the cassette lid as if you are going to insert a cassette you'll see two little scews on either end - they have to be removed (don't worry when you put the top back on they line up just fine) then flip the unit on it's face and remove all those scews - the unit should just lift off - replacing the belt is tedious but it is accessable- there's a little shield over the belt casing - take the screws out - and (I used tweezers) slip the belt around the two hubs.- everything on my unit lined up easily when i went to get it all back together
Hope this helps
Click to expand...

Sorry to necropost but I am of course in the same situation. I had no problem getting inside. I discovered the two silver screws before reading this even and and getting inside found two pieces of belt as I suspected! :)

I'm now just wondering how the new belt will go back on there. There is a big silver hub is that one of the places for the belt to go? I'm not sure at all where the other hube is yet. It doesn't seem like the silver hub has a notch in it to hold the little belt in place?

I'm also wondering if this is the only rubber belt in use in this machine. If so that would be a good feature as it is kinda hard to get in there and replace it!

Lastly where are you guys finding your replacement belts?

Any tips welcome! :)

Freya
 
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