Tascam 688 Problem

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Doug_3

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Recently while using my 688 I've had an annoying problem persist and it has started to get worse. While either in record or playback the tape will stop (just as if you had pressed the stop button) and immediately on stopping the counter/clock resets to zero... At first i thought maybe the tape was not in correctly and was causing it to do this but that does not seem to be the issue, and I have no idea why the counter would reset on its own.

Anyone know what the problem could be? I'm hoping this is somewhat common and there is an easy answer or solution.

Thanks!
 
So, I've searched a bit on Google regarding this and found a similar post in regards to the exact same problem. The answer given by the person who responded is not in the best english, so its a bit confusing to me... maybe someone here knows what he's talking about:

"Hey man I had that exact same problem with mine. there is a sensor you can see it in the top of the cassette . it's metal. it needs to be rigged to stay up."

Is he talking about the actual cassette, or something in the cassette bay of the recorder? Anyone know?
 
Wow...that is a bit confusing. Sorry you haven't gotten any responses. There are a couple-three avid 688 users on this forum so it may just take some time for them to chime in.

In the meantime let me see if I can interpret. There is indeed some kind of an actuator to tell the 688 when there is a cassette loaded. I would assume that if it suddenly thinks there is no tape in the bay the transport will go into stop mode and the counter will reset, just like when you remove the cassette from the tape bay. The "actuator", probably a thin metal tab or arm would be along the top of the cassette bay so that it gets pushed "up" (toward the rear of the unit) when you load a cassette. It is usually in the middle of the bay. I'll look in my 424 to see if I can get a better description, but you'll know if you have the right one because if you push it with your finger you should be able to put the transport into PLAY mode without a cassette in there. Once you've found it, then look and see if maybe the tape isn't quite pushing it enough and the tab or arm needs to be tweakered a little bit to ensure that the tape does what its supposed to do to the switch when you load the cassette into the machine.

The other issue, if it is physically doing what it is supposed to do, would be if there is a malfunction with the switch...maybe dirty contacts or a bad connection. But check it out and see if there is a physical adjustment issue first.
 
I've located the "actuator" arms and indeed, they are very sensitive. I don't see how the tape isn't pushing them far enough forward though, it's almost impossible to get a good look when the tape is in. There are two plastic arms in the upper left of the tape bay. I did a test by holding my finger to them as you suggested and by letting off pressure, it did stop and reset the counter.

Hopefully it is not a bad connection, as i left my finger pressed against them for quite awhile without it stopping on its own. Tomorrow i will try putting some tape over the cassette in the area where it makes contact with the arms to see if it provides more leverage to push them forward.

We'll see what happens...
 
sometimes cleaning helps. Use alcohol for the heads and metal parts and a dampened q-tip for the rubber roller. Also try to blow air very hard at the actuators (they are plastic not metal in my recollection). Sometimes the tniest piece of dust can be problem...are you using the correct tape?
 
You are correct, they are made of plastic. It is due for a cleaning as I've put a few hours of recording on it over the past week. By blowing air, do you mean using a can of compressed air, like one you would use to blow the dust out of/off of computers?

As far as I know I am using the correct tapes... Maxell XLII's.
 
The plastic arms on mine are not very sensitive at all...they need to be pushed really far back to allow tape play. Since they're plastic rather than metal, you really can't adjust them I don't think.

Yes, I would use compressed air. There are holes right beneath each of the plastic arms. Hopefully, dust is the issue and this will cure it. Otherwise, I'd think you'd need to rig something in there to push the arms even further back when a tape is in there...like the tape you mentioned or a thin strip of wood or something?

Yes, XLIIs are perfect. Good luck~!
 
I've experienced a similar problem on my Tascam 238, which is unsurprising since I believe they both have identical transports.

I'm glad to know there might be a fix to this problem, because the intermittent nature of the issue has made it so I've only used my 238 to transfer previously recorded tapes to digital, instead of making recordings on the machine.

-MD
 
i have a 644 and it only does this in record or play.the rewind and forward function is fine.do you think this could be something simple like dirt.or does it seem like a drivebelt problem?
 
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Well, still have not picked up a can of compressed air to clean out that area, but I did happen to rig the cassette with an extra piece of material to push the actuator arms further back.

For the time being, it seems to have worked. I used the recorder for about an hour today with no problems whatsoever. Only time will tell if this is the easy fix... it tends to act up sporatically, so I'm not sure yet if it's the be all/end all solution or I just got lucky today.
 


Here's something weird that happened with mine about 9 years ago: The scene (memory) battery died and all kinds of odd things started happening with it. I replaced the battery and it's still fine.
 
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