Tascam 244 playing FAST!

  • Thread starter Thread starter burdette
  • Start date Start date
B

burdette

New member
Hi guys..

Just got a pretty 'used' Tascam 244 for nearly no money.
The tape action is weird - it forwards faster than it rewinds, AND it plays just as fast as it forwards.
I can record stuff on Track 1 and it sounds weird and wobbly (due to the speed?), Track 2 and Track 3 wouldn't record anything (but OL blinked when I gained high) and Track 4 sounded almost normal and worked fine.

I guess I need to change both belts? But do any of you know if this thing with the speeds being off is the reason why I can't record on Track 2 and 3? Is it worth spending money on time on?
Any opinions and help are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
 
Wow!

That's a lot of problems packed into one small unit! :D

Sounds like the capstan and pinch roller are not engaging and the tape is being pulled at fast wind speed in the play and record modes. So there might be rubber issues including belts, cam drive wheels and the pinch roller. There may be other issues at play here too and without seeing the machine in person, its unlikely anyone could give you the exact solution unless their own 244 suffered the exact same problem and they know what was done to fix it.

As to the mixer issues, we need to first rule out even the slightest trace of user error. That means having the manual and ensuring you've read it, understood it and are setting the unit correctly before we can talk about what might be at fault with it electrically. Have you done that? Are the access send/receive jumpers in place on the rear panel apron?

Cheers! :)
 
Ok...

The belts can cause the speed issues, mainly the capstan drive belt, but perhaps the control belt if it's not moving the pinch wheel all the way up to the capstan.

I've seen where tracks go dead on 244s because of either faulty head wires or a burned out head element, but before I'd go there I'd make sure all the channel's ACCESS SND/RCV patch points are jumpered together.

:spank::eek:;)
 
Thanks for your replys, guys. I have the manual, but must confess I haven't gotten to the part about the send/receive jumpers - I'll check that first thing in the morning.. Is this related to the issue about Track 2 and 3 not answering?

On audioproz.com it's possible to get a new capstan belt, pinch roller and the the other belt and it's not too expensive - Does it sound like I need to replace more than these? Is it even possible to get other parts than these?

Thanks for your help..
 
Yes, the jumpers are related to the problem you mentioned on tracks 2 and 3.

Regarding the rubber parts; If one of them is gone, its likely the others are also degraded and about to go soon as well. So while you're in there mucking about, might as well change them all and ensure some future reliability. Sort of like doing a tune up on your car, you don't change one spark plug. You change all of them.

Cheers! :)
 
So I checked for the jumpers as you guys mentioned. AHA! There was only two of them, and guess what -only in Track 1 and Track 4. I tried switching them and it turned out all 4 tracks are working. YES!

So now it seems I just need to replace belts and rupper parts, right? What other rubber parts than the pinch roller needs replacing, do you think?

Once again, thanks so much for your help.. I'd buy you guys a beer if I could..
 
The other rubber part is the cam drive wheel, which is a white colored plastic wheel that has a rubberized edge to it and depending on whether you're in a forward or reverse transport mode, this wheel gets shunted left or right against the reel table drive cams to pull the tape. Once the rubber gets iffy on that cam wheel, tape movement can become compromised.

Cheers! :)
 
SO, I finally got to open my 244 up. The two belts were badly damaged, so I changed those of course. Both the pinch roller and the idler tires looked perfectly OK, so I didn't bother to replace those - maybe a mistake? Well I can always open it up again, I guess.
After the belts were replaced the unit seemed to play at correct speed but it still forwards faster than it rewinds (?). I spent some hours with it last night and it recorded everything fine, but when I played the stuff I'd recorded on loudspeakers I noticed that the music sounded a bit strange - It was like it was going up and down sometimes, not in volume, but in speed or presence, like a wave or something. I don't know if this is what's called 'breathing'? The tape I used was brand new and high quality.

Can anybody help?

Thanks!
 
Type II tape?

Look at the tape for any waviness or puckering, which might indicate a sticky pinch roller, which might be cleaned and restored, but may require replacement. Judging that both belts were badly deteriorated, you might assume the pinch roller and idler tires to be similarly deteriorated. This might also affect the RW speed being different from the FF speed. There may be other causes, as yet undetermined.

Sight unseen the sound anomaly could also be "pumping" of the dbx NR. That problem would be program and level dependent.

Not to overlook basic cleaning and demagging of the head.

:spank::eek:;)
 
Thanks so much for you answer.. Yeah, I guess it was too good to be true. I will open the machine up again in the next couple of days and change the idler tires and pinch roller. I also just realized that I forgot to demag, I've only cleaned it. That will be done too, of course.
I don't think the sound is caused by dbx (too high levels, right?), because I didn't record that hot. But a quick question: If you push the levels really hard on the 244, will the dbx distort the sound in weird ways? Will it do that if you record in the red?

Thanks! I absolutely love this site.
 
Okay, so I popped this little thing up once again, cleaned it thoroughly, demagged it and cleaned the heads again. I changed the pinch roller, but I couldn't manage to change the idler tires, the new ones seemed to somehow be too thick. Anyways, the once already on it looked perfectly okay without any dents or bumps.
This time I noticed somthing though, pretty sure this hadn't happened the last time I had it opened. Well, one of the black plastic things that hold the tape in place is broken - that sucks! Pretty sure that has to do with the sound being warped, don't you think?

Here's a photo of it: OOPS, see next post.

It's just a small black plastic part and the top is broken off, you can see it down the left corner of the picture. Pretty sure no one sells those.
So here's my big plea to you people: Does anyone have a battered-up 244 with these plastic things intact or maybe own these as parts intact and could mail me one or two? It would be endlessly grateful and of course pay for shipping and also some extra dollars if required? I'm crossing my fingers that someone has one.
Thanks!
-Kristoffer
 
Well, I have to have made 10 or more posts to insert links to other URLs, so SORRY admins for the double post - Hope it's okay. I really love this forum, I can't tell you how much it has helped me with knowledge about my various gear.
Here's the photo:

IMG_5069.jpg
 
That broken piece could cause your problems.

Don't know for sure, but it can't be good. You address the most obvious things first.
I might have a 244 for salvage, but I'd be hard pressed to dig it up at the moment.
I'm not sure of your timeframe, but if you PM me we could discuss it. Thx.
:spank::eek:;)
 
Reel Person, thanks so much, could be endlessly great if you could dig up that plastic part.
I sent you a PM..
 
Tascam 244 belt length?

Hi

what is the correct length of these belts? anyone know?

thanks
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top