Slow on Take Up

SteveM

SteveM

New member
I had one of these "tape death spill overs" on my Ampex 440. The 440a transports have no auto tape lift when you hit stop while rewinding, you have to shuttle it to a stand still, and then hit stop. WELL, I hit stop! The tape got caught up inside the flanges of the reel, stretched it to shit and nothings been the same since.

After that incident it started playing back the tape at the wrong speed, and had a slow take up. So I swapped out that transport for a 440B I have. It seems to play back at the right speed but the take up is still slow. It does one of those things where the take up arm falls back for a second then springs back, making it wow. And then sometimes it's just slow taking off. Which is kind of what the other one was doing. Any suggestions? I did have to use the pinch roller from the other transport, I'm wondering if that's what it is. I also reconditioned the pinch roller and it seems to be sufficiently tacky. Before this incident it play beautifully. Can't figure out what's going on.
 
Pinch roller should NOT be "tacky".

Have you adjusted the brakes?

Do the reels spin freely without obstruction in EDIT mode?
 
sweetbeats said:
Pinch roller should NOT be "tacky".

Have you adjusted the brakes?

Do the reels spin freely without obstruction in EDIT mode?
Click to expand...

I haven't checked the brakes. I've just noticed now though that there's a pause before take up reel takes up. So the left reel starts to move before the take up. Do you think it's the brakes.
I'll have to go check out the edit mode.
The pinch roller seems right. It's not overly tacky. I just mean it's not slippery and dried out.
 
Can you look at the back of the transport when you put it into PLAY and see if there is a delay in the brake solenoids releasing? Not sure if your transport has the rubber/fiberboard/rubber cushions in the brake linkages but they can get tacky...maybe the linkage is hanging for a second. It should be an instantaneous *chunk* for the solenoid actuation when you put it into PLAY.
 
Yes, I can tilt it up. Good idea, I'll check that out.

On a side note, having to do with the other transport: I've now got a capstan motor that has the 30ips sleeve on it that I think has crapped out. This is from the "a" transport. Strange that it crapped out right after the tape spill incident. :confused: I'm not even sure if it's no good or not. I wonder if it's fixable or sellable.
sweetbeats said:
Can you look at the back of the transport when you put it into PLAY and see if there is a delay in the brake solenoids releasing? Not sure if your transport has the rubber/fiberboard/rubber cushions in the brake linkages but they can get tacky...maybe the linkage is hanging for a second. It should be an instantaneous *chunk* for the solenoid actuation when you put it into PLAY.
Click to expand...
 
Why do you think the motor is bad? Pull the "bad" motor and plug it into the control box of your other 440 and see if it works. Those motors don't really go "bad" or just all of the sudden quit...the tail bearing can certainly wear out and usually is by this time, but since they are brushless AC motors there aren't brushes or armatures to wear out of get dirty.
 
Those rubber washers do degrade on the brake and the capstan solenoids.

I find tons of black goop inside the solenoids when I break down units. I clean everything with isopropyl alcohol.

You may want to remove all the rotating parts on the top, clean well w/alcohol, and relube. That lube ages and causes probs.

That includes the tape roller assemb, the tensioner roller assembs, and the pinch roller.

You might also want to check the bearing in the capstan pinch roller
 
Thanks for those ideas GCalo. What do you recommend for oils?

sweetbeats said:
Why do you think the motor is bad? Pull the "bad" motor and plug it into the control box of your other 440 and see if it works. Those motors don't really go "bad" or just all of the sudden quit...the tail bearing can certainly wear out and usually is by this time, but since they are brushless AC motors there aren't brushes or armatures to wear out of get dirty.
Click to expand...

I have no idea what happened. I did try that though. I tried out the sleeved capstan on the 2nd transport and it was acting real weird again, slowing down. I have no idea how it could have suddenly gone bad. This machine worked perfectly before that. I'm thinking you're probably right though, that the capstan itself is fine, and maybe something else is going on.

As long as the capstan on the 2nd transport is fine I'll use that. I don't really need 30ips. I'm still trying to work out some things with the whole thing though.

I actually went as far as putting the two reel motors into this 2nd transport. It's great how easy you can work on these, but I've decided I'm getting sick of working on these things and just want to record. :(
 
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