Tascam M520 Story...

[flyingace]

It's not quantifiable but I thought the console sounded just fine before recapping and replacing some regulators... but ever since, there's this clarity and punch that just wasn't there before. Super happy that I did it and in the off time, I think I will follow @sweetbeats advice early on in this thread and start removing channel by channel to clean pots properly and recap everything I can. It's 40 years old and I think I can get another 40 out of it!

 

[howlback]

Phew! m520 is being dropped off tomorrow. I’m going to have to start digging though this thread.

 

[howlback]

This M520 sat for awhile. It has no hiss or buzz but the switches seem to be a problem. If I had to guess, I’d say that the Channel on, EQ on, and Bus assign switches don’t seem to maintain their connection 100% of the time. This results in the corresponding channel being intermittently crunchy/scratchy. I realized this because when the Channel on switch goes in and out, the signal disappears all together. I was worried at first but I believe a semi-deep clean will remedy this issue. Any of this sound familiar to anyone?

 

[RFR]

This M520 sat for awhile. It has no hiss or buzz but the switches seem to be a problem. If I had to guess, I’d say that the Channel on, EQ on, and Bus assign switches don’t seem to maintain their connection 100% of the time. This results in the corresponding channel being intermittently crunchy/scratchy. I realized this because when the Channel on switch goes in and out, the signal disappears all together. I was worried at first but I believe a semi-deep clean will remedy this issue. Any of this sound familiar to anyone?

Yup.
Cleaning is in order. Good news is a large percentage of problems you’ll find can be fixed with cleaning.

 

[sweetbeats]

Extremely common. The switches are standard grade with brass contacts that oxidize with age. You can try exercising them (rapidly switching them maybe 50 times) to see if that helps. Jetting a little DeoxIT D5 where the actuator enters the switch body can help too, but to do this right you have to remove the PCBs from the chassis.

 

[flyingace]

Congratulations @howlback on your acquisition of your M-520. Sweetbeats is right, a thorough cleaning and exercising them will do wonders but eventually if it doesn't, then you know what you need to replace. I got really lucky with very minor issues with mine and mostly operator error in the early days. I really owe a lot to the folks here that helped me figure it all out. My M-520 is the heart of my studio and I just love it! Replacing the capacitors on the power supply has been the best bang for the buck so far, something to keep in mind. I have a spare working M-520 in storage that I got for free (without a power supply) and I have yet to have to use any part from it but it's nice to know I have them if needed.
Good luck, read this thread first, then ask questions. We are very happy to help!

 

[Dahoxic]

Congratulations @howlback on your acquisition of your M-520. Sweetbeats is right, a thorough cleaning and exercising them will do wonders but eventually if it doesn't, then you know what you need to replace. I got really lucky with very minor issues with mine and mostly operator error in the early days. I really owe a lot to the folks here that helped me figure it all out. My M-520 is the heart of my studio and I just love it! Replacing the capacitors on the power supply has been the best bang for the buck so far, something to keep in mind. I have a spare working M-520 in storage that I got for free (without a power supply) and I have yet to have to use any part from it but it's nice to know I have them if needed.
Good luck, read this thread first, then ask questions. We are very happy to help!View attachment 152020

Man that’s awesome! Did you build that desk yourself? Looking to do something similar

 

[flyingace]

Man that’s awesome! Did you build that desk yourself? Looking to do something similar

I had a guy just outside of Tulsa build the console desk to the specs of my M-520. It's been worth it. I had him only finish the wood work and I finished it with the teal formica desk tops, painted and stained/poly'd the rest. It was about $1500 but at that time I would not have known how to build it. I don't know if he even still does it, he was retiring and his son was taking over. Was it perfect? no, but I was able to get it right after delivery. It was about a 3 hour drive to pick up the desk just outside of tulsa. Don Hawkins was is name, maybe a google search might find if he's still building them?