tascam 244 problems: what is it??

  • Thread starter Thread starter christiandaelemans
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christiandaelemans

christiandaelemans

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my tascam 244 was working fine for weeks, until i started hearing some squeaking from the transport. it didn’t effect anything for another several weeks, until very recently while doing a take of vocals, the pitch just completely dropped and went wuhhhhhh. i was freaked the eff out, and put in a cassette i didn’t care about and let it play for 20 minutes. i only heard it happen 1 more time.

after that, it was mostly fine. on the only recorded track i did after that incident, there was some audible bzzzz in the recorded track. but that’s okay, i’m digitizing now.

but just 20 minutes ago, while digitizing the 4th song i’ve done, i heard the playback pitch intermittently dropping and sagging. no tape is being eaten, it’s just squeaks and playback errors. is it idler tires??? i’ve made a request with a local repair shop, but if anyone lives around southern maryland and is willing to take a look, you can be my guest. cough cough with payment obviously.
 
also when i look up “tascam 244 pitch variation” or “pitch errors”, i don’t see anyone asking about why their unit is changing the pitch on playback. maybe it’s too obvious what the issue is to warrant a thread LOL
 
update: the pitch control basically doesn’t recognize where i am. i’ll set up highest possible, and it’ll lag, and then after a little electronic twitch sound paired with a mechanical “brrr” from the transport, it goes up in pitch a little. on the lowest speed, it’s consistent. anything above that, and it either doesn’t recognize where it is, or it keeps wanting to slow down. i wonder if it’s a mechanical problem with the transport, or a problem with the tape speed pot.
 
Does it make any difference with different cassettes?

My hunch is it’s time for new rubber; capstan and control belts, reel table drive tires and pinch roller. And it may be the particular cassette you are using is a bit tighter as far as how easy it is for the tape to move in the cassette, and temperature and where the tape pack is at can impact things when the service life of the rubber parts in the tape path are on edge.
 
sweetbeats said:
Does it make any difference with different cassettes?

My hunch is it’s time for new rubber; capstan and control belts, reel table drive tires and pinch roller. And it may be the particular cassette you are using is a bit tighter as far as how easy it is for the tape to move in the cassette, and temperature and where the tape pack is at can impact things when the service life of the rubber parts in the tape path are on edge.
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every cassette has the same issue. now tell me, i’m thinking of recording vocals over the slowed down instrumental because the slowest setting is the only setting with consistent pitch, and i recorded it at max speed so it doesn’t seem unbearably slow and pitched down. am i at greater risk of eating tape right now? it’ll be more lofi with vocals but that’s okay, because this project is kinda falling apart now that i’ve only gotten 3/6 digitized and the pitch is busted. but that will affect my decision to try to enter recording mode again for this project.
 
I’m not sure I totally understand your question, but without knowing exactly what the problem is with your machine, there’s no way for me to predict what will happen or what your heightened risks are by recording with the pitch control at minimum…no 244 crystal ball here. What I will say is, if your 244 has all original rubber, based on the symptoms you describe, I’d say that’s the cause of your problem. All rubber components are due for replacement. And furthermore I don’t typically see tape getting “eaten” by a 244 in need of new rubber components. The symptoms are failure to fast-wind appropriately in one or both directions either at proper speed or at all, or failure to move tape appropriately in PLAY or REC/PLAY modes…tape speed is inconsistent or it won’t move at all…and lastly failure of the headblock assembly to fully engage the tape and/or clear the cassette in STOP can also be a problem. But none of what I’m saying is any guarantee of what might happen with your continued use of the machine in its current state. It’s just my opinion about what’s causing your issues, what the proper resolution is, and what the typical symptoms are that stem from failed rubber components.
 
100% what Cory said. The rubber components are the usual suspects. Start there. Get yourself the service manual (available for free online), go to the sections on disassembly and carefully follow the guides. The bottom and top covers must come off, in sequence, to access belts and also idlers / pinch roller. Do these things very slow and carefully. Use the correct tools. Take your time. Start here and ask questions as you proceed. It's best to learn how to do your own servicing. Failing that, try to find and vet a local tech who knows these things.
 
update: so… about 19-18 hours later this morning, the pitch is working right now. i’m digitizing ASAP but…. maybe there won’t be as much stress in getting this stuff fixed as i thought??
 
cjacek said:
100% what Cory said. The rubber components are the usual suspects. Start there. Get yourself the service manual (available for free online), go to the sections on disassembly and carefully follow the guides. The bottom and top covers must come off, in sequence, to access belts and also idlers / pinch roller. Do these things very slow and carefully. Use the correct tools. Take your time. Start here and ask questions as you proceed. It's best to learn how to do your own servicing. Failing that, try to find and vet a local tech who knows these things.
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It’s been a minute since replaced all the rubber parts in a 244, but IIRC it just requires removal of the bottom cover, and that gives access to the transport assembly which is removed (after some stuff is unplugged and the mounting screws are removed of course) from the bottom. That’s from memory though. Am I forgetting something?
 
sweetbeats said:
It’s been a minute since replaced all the rubber parts in a 244, but IIRC it just requires removal of the bottom cover, and that gives access to the transport assembly which is removed (after some stuff is unplugged and the mounting screws are removed of course) from the bottom. That’s from memory though. Am I forgetting something?
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Yes absolutely Cory it can be done that way too but I have found maybe by the force of habit that I always did it by removing the bottom and top covers to gain access to the transport. I should probably try it the other way too someday. :D
 
like to revive this thread to give an update: replaced the 2 most easily accessible belts. the head belt and capstan motor belt. still haven’t gone inside to get the other 2 rubber bands. but when me and my dad went inside, we found that the capstan motor squeaks like hell and also wobbles when pressed. i ordered a new motor (hasn’t been put in yet), and this was all a week ago, and now i’m sitting down watching and seeing what’s happening and the motor doesn’t even appear to move when the belt is rolling since it’s just pushed to its own side.

here’s the problem that happens: speed is now lower than it should be, no matter the speed, and after playing long enough, it’ll slow slow slooow way down, and won’t stop but instead coast at that speed or go up in a speed little bit.

should i get inside and replace those 2 smaller rubber bands, which forgive me for not knowing the actual name of them, or should i wait until the replacement motor arrives and fit it and see what happens?
 
update 2: replaced 1 of the idler tires, have no clue how you get to the other one. still speed issues.
 
That sounds to me like someone was in there prior to or the machine sustained some kind of shipping damage. Too many questions than answers. As to the idler tires, there's a tiny retaining clip up top the idler assembly that needs to be removed and then you can easily remove each piece (idler A and idler B) to then fit on the rubber tires to the plastic wheels.
 
Can you post a video of the issue, including the motor area etc..?
 
I'm also wondering if something wasn't disassembled or reassembled right when trying to service to cause the issue that you're experiencing with the motor, or what was done in the area prior to you obtaining the machine.
 
... cause I never heard of these symptoms as a result of even shipping damage. Were there screws missing which mount the motor? A video would help to at least diagnose further.
 
I hope you didn't try to unscrew the thrust adjustment screw in the middle where the metal bracket is where the large capstan wheel is located underneath while trying to slip the belt on, and then when you tried to screw it back in, you might have over tightened it, as this would cause problems. There is no need to touch that plastic screw.
 
cjacek said:
I hope you didn't try to unscrew the thrust adjustment screw in the middle where the metal bracket is where the large capstan wheel is located underneath while trying to slip the belt on, and then when you tried to screw it back in, you might have over tightened it, as this would cause problems. There is no need to touch that plastic screw.
Click to expand...
nope. how it started: loud squeaking, then after a few days eventually it’s first pitch drop. then it was fine after for a day or two, until it started getting noticably wobbly and then an hour or two later the speed just became completely unreliable. i took the back off, replaced the 2 belts. yesterday, i tested it and yup, still plays slow and barely reacts to pitch adjustment. so i carefully took off the transport by unplugging a few connections carefully, replacing the one idler tire, put it all back together carefully and still wasn’t working. i have yet to put in that second idler tire. they were just a bit hard, but nothing was obviously wrong with them. if i can fix this, i’m questioning if i’d rather sell it than try to get it serviced.
 
i was able to replace all the idler tires, put it back together, but now when i press play, it only plays for 3 seconds before the heads go back down and it stops playing. also, the tape count is going backwards extremely extremely slowly.
 
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