Tascam 488 mkII issue

T

tapecanaveral

New member
hey yall, just picked up a 488mkii in awesome condition but unfortunately after a few weeks an issue has started to pop up. the recorded signal from track 8 has started to cut out regularly. when the signal's gone, even the track 8 meter shows nothing. however, when i apply a little bit of pressure to the center of the bottom plate of the unit, signal pops back in meter and all for a while until it cuts out again. my first thought was that something with the sync switch was up but no amount of wiggling or deoxit seemed to stabilize the track. i also took it apart, unplugged and cleaned all the pin connections and generally cleaned up the insides, but no luck. anyone have any idea what might be up and what else i could try? thanks
 
I would:

A. Make certain the head is completely clean using 91% or better isopropyl alcohol or good quality denatured alcohol, and

B. Verify correct pinch roller pressure per the service manual, and

C. The most likely option, replace the pinch roller. In my personal experience the pinch rollers age in such a way that they are slightly conical shaped, causing a skewing of the tape in the path. This can impact tape-to-head contact at one or both edge tracks. Consider a good quality new pinch roller from Athan or getting the existing roller refurbished by Terry Witt at Terry’s Rubber Rollers. You get what you pay for. If you decide to replace your roller with a budget “donut” from Reverb or eBay, you’ve been forewarned. Do it right.
 
hey sweetbeats! thanks for the reply. i've been reading your posts for a long time trying to DIY my 388 back to 100%.

it seems like Athan doesn't have the specific 488 pinch roller but they do have a few and i'm wondering if any would be a match. the most likely match in my opinion would be a 238, but they also have ones for 244, 144, 234, 246, 122 (MKs 1-3), and 133.
 
also i should mention Jack Saturn on a different thread mentioned it could be a cracked PCB which would make sense to me because the only thing that helps the issue is putting a little pressure on the underside of the chassis right below the bottom PCB. does that seem like a likely scenario to you?
 
tapecanaveral said:
hey sweetbeats! thanks for the reply. i've been reading your posts for a long time trying to DIY my 388 back to 100%.

it seems like Athan doesn't have the specific 488 pinch roller but they do have a few and i'm wondering if any would be a match. the most likely match in my opinion would be a 238, but they also have ones for 244, 144, 234, 246, 122 (MKs 1-3), and 133.
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It’s not the same as the 238. It should be the same as the 424/464/644/688. I see Athan doesn’t have any of those models listed. But if you have a dial caliper and can remove the old roller and take some measurements it is likely the same as one or more of the ones listed. That’s what we determined was the case for the Audio Technica AT-RMX64, which is why he has that listed now, but it was the same as several other models. But if it’s different he’ll possible make it. That’s why the 238 is listed now…it wasn’t the same, I sent measurements and now it’s there.
 
tapecanaveral said:
also i should mention Jack Saturn on a different thread mentioned it could be a cracked PCB which would make sense to me because the only thing that helps the issue is putting a little pressure on the underside of the chassis right below the bottom PCB. does that seem like a likely scenario to you?
Click to expand...
I suppose that could be as well. I can’t say for sure, but it sure sounds like a possibility.
 
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