Tascam 246 doesn't play or record, only FF and rewind

[bennoo]

Hi, new here!

I bought a Tascam 246 on eBay, it arrived yesterday. Seemed to be good condition, and despite a loud-ish hum whenever I inserted a tape into the deck, everything seemed to be working fine. Recording, playing, all sorts. Then today I was messing with the pitch control while recording, and suddenly it stopped recording. Now, whenever I press play or record, the pinch roller comes up for a few seconds, then goes back down again. It just refuses to play. It FFs and rewinds just fine.

Does anyone know what might be up? Will this be a difficult fix? I'm completely new with tapes so I'm hoping it's nothing too difficult...

Cheers!
B

 

[A Reel Person]

...

You probably just lost the capstan belt. Not too hard of a fix.

 

[bennoo]

I hope it's not too hard to fix, because the same thing has just happened to the 244 I bought for £30 to play with while waiting for the 246 to get fixed! Working fine all day, and now it's doing the same thing as the 246! Could this be something to do with dodgy electrics in my house? I don't understand what's going on!

EDIT: I found this post, hopefully it will be easy to fix...

https://homerecording.com/bbs/user-...astudio-ffwd-works-but-play-not-works-125851/

 

[A Reel Person]

...

It's typical for older units like this.
You should take the bottom cover & take a look.
It will usually be obvious. Usually an easy fix.

 

[bennoo]

Thanks, I had a look inside and found the capstan belt fallen off! Should be easy, thanks for pointing me in the right direction!