Tascam 464 belt change suprise

Trovador98

Trovador98

New member
So before I got my Tascam 246, I found a 464 on Craigslist for a fair price. Everything seemed to be working fine, but the unit was pretty filthy and the capstan seemed to be making more noise than normal. I figured I'd be able to clean it up and replace the belt even though I'd never attempted such work.

When I got it home I gave the external bits a good cleaning and was able to play 20 year old master tapes at both 1x and 2x speeds. I used to record jam sessions at slow speed to preserve tape. It was a lot of fun but I really wanted to find a 246 unit like I had originally used. The 464 seemed cheap in comparison.

I had noticed a lot of speed warble however and the smell of burnt rubber after playing with it for a few hours. I figured the belt was toast and ordered one from eBay along with Deoxit D5 for some scratchy pots and F5 for sticky faders.

Opening the box was easy but I could already tell somebody had gotten into it before as there were some missing and mismatched screws. Pulling it open made me nervous because of all the delicate looking wires I had to disconnect...thankfully all of the clips pulled apart without breaking. Removing the tape transport system revealed the first clue...blue rubber shavings all over the place.

IMG_7156_zps9jjczd2m.jpg
 
Last edited:
Removing two metal side brackets allowed me to get to the flywheel and motor assembly and this mess is what I found.

IMG_7158_zpsnhmx46dw.jpg


IMG_7161_zpsiztimxhl.jpg


It was totally gummed up and I was able to clean it up using 100% isopropyl alcohol. Not fun!
 
Last edited:
Yuck! Whats with the blue? Looks like someone used a rubber band??
Good on your success!
 
RFR said:
Yuck! Whats with the blue? Looks like someone used a rubber band??
Good on your success!
Click to expand...

Yeah dude I was just getting there...a totally shredded ordinary blue rubber band next to the official replacement belt! Yuck is right. I'm surprised the thing worked at all.

IMG_7157_zpsum9royuv.jpg
 
Next I dug into the other half of the unit to get at those pots and faders.

IMG_7162_zpsfxobdfcp.jpg


IMG_7164_zpskdozkfse.jpg


IMG_7166_zpsokltbfyd.jpg



Amazingly I got the thing back together and it worked great! The new belt totally solved my main issue and now it's as quiet as can be without the excessive flutter. No more scratchy pots however the faders only improved slightly after really working this Deoxit F5 in . Any recommendations for me?

Thanks!
Brian
 
Nice work. The 424s, 464, 488 etc. are tougher to repair than the older units from the 80's like the 244 and 246. Those 1990's units aren't really designed to be repaired once they break down. Not to say you can't do it and have great working machine if you do fix one of them but I feel like Tascam wanted the public to just buy the next model up instead of bringing it to the shop or taking it apart and trying to fix it yrself.

As for the faders, RFR is right. I had to clean a couple faders 3 times until they finally stopped scratching.

I still have my little Porta 3 that hasn't worked in over 10 years. I've never attempted to fix any 4-track except my 244, and 246 because of the reson I stated above. I've been getting more experience though and seeing this post has got me thinking of opening it up and getting in there to see whats what.
 
I generally take the faders apart and gently wipe down the elements with a sot lint-free cloth and using DeoxIT F5, assuming they are a carbon-type element.
 
sweetbeats said:
By the way, nice job on the belt issue. ;)
Click to expand...

Thank you! I sort of ignorantly assumed that I'd just have to open the case up and the belt would be staring me in the face. Taking pictures along the way really helped me put it back together properly. It helped that the clips were color coded so it really wasn't so bad. I also used painters tape to catch all and label all of the little screws I was pulling out.

Now we know what happens if you try and use an ordinary rubber band to drive these things. That was a horrible sticky mess.

I haven't hit the faders with any more of the Deoxit F5, but they've continued to improve over the past couple of days. At first there seemed like almost no improvement, but I've been playing with it and they've loosened up. I'm not certain if I could have pulled these faders completely apart (see images above)...I certainly don't want to try now that it's all together. I'll hit it with a little more of the deoxit and see if it doesn't get a little better. The unit was pretty filthy so I'm sure there's a bunch of crud down in there that could use a proper dis-assembly.
 
Yes, they can be desoldered from the main board and disassembled, but I'm sure I'm in the minority of people that would go to that trouble. But it *does* get them clean. :D

Alternatively, yes, do what you are doing. If you are still having trouble, tip the 464 on to its front edge (like tip the back up so the unit is vertical with the front edge on the work surface), and liberally jet the DeoxIT into the fader. Then exercise the fader...jet again...and leave the unit tipped up for a day to drain/dry.
 
sweetbeats said:
Yes, they can be desoldered from the main board and disassembled, but I'm sure I'm in the minority of people that would go to that trouble. But it *does* get them clean. :D
Click to expand...

I've read through that thread where you completely deconstruct your 388. You are indeed in the elite minority when it comes to breaking down and rebuilding stuff like this. I wouldn't attempt soldering anything considering I haven't touched an iron since my 6th grade science fair project. It would be fun to practice on something...maybe a little kit.

Alternatively, yes, do what you are doing. If you are still having trouble, tip the 464 on to its front edge (like tip the back up so the unit is vertical with the front edge on the work surface), and liberally jet the DeoxIT into the fader. Then exercise the fader...jet again...and leave the unit tipped up for a day to drain/dry.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea! What if I sprayed liberally and allowed it to drain upside down...maybe that crud would drip out?

When I was using the Deoxit D5 on the pots, I was a little worried that I was spraying too much and it was getting on other components of the board. I figured I wouldn't kill anything with it.
 
You don't want to use D5 on the pots. Those pots are also carbon element. So F5 there too. D5 is for metal-to-metal contacts.
 
sweetbeats said:
You don't want to use D5 on the pots. Those pots are also carbon element. So F5 there too. D5 is for metal-to-metal contacts.
Click to expand...

Really? Damn...wasn't that cleared to me when I was reading other posts online. The D5 certainly cleaned up the crackly pan knobs...do you think it might dry out or something?
 
the belts and motors are not great quality (on the 464 machines), of all of them, ive had more 464's on the bench then any of the others.
I had a brand new 464 bought it in 1992 or 93, it was in the shop less than a year later. they replaced the motor, got it back, only a few months later the belt went bad and that had just been replaced. so I traded it in for a 488 (I still have till this day) just recently replaced the motor and belt.

the 424's and 488's (grey ones) were build very nicely. the 464 was too, but there is just something about the drive train (motor and shaft, band) I don't like. I believe it is almost exactly the same as the 424 in many ways, but there are some diff's (I do have the original manual and service manual for the 464) if I get a chance I will scan it and try to post the service manual.
 
Trovador98 said:
Really? Damn...wasn't that cleared to me when I was reading other posts online. The D5 certainly cleaned up the crackly pan knobs...do you think it might dry out or something?
Click to expand...

On second thought it is more of a concern to use F5 on metal-to-metal contacts than it is to use D5 on the carbon elements. Ideally you would be using F5 on the pots, but I doubt it will cause harm, and if it is helping that is good. The F5 has a lubricant in it you don't want on the metal contacts as it can impede connectivity in that case. Sorry if I caused you any concern.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top