Tascam MSR16 slow down

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joecrow

joecrow

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I still use my old Tascam MSR16 every once in a while, and last week was one of those times.
Problem is when I go to Fast Forward or Rewind, the reel slows down to a crawl.
I know the machine could use a good cleaning, but since no one in the area will work on it, I'm stuck doing the maintenance myself. Since I know far more about the theory of relativity than I do Reel to Reel recorders, it's often neglected. I read (somewhere in here I think) that if the tapes are old this may be the cause.
Since most of my tapes go back to when Christ was a kid and the machine was new, I'm wondering if this could be the problem.
Can an old tape really cause that much drag?
Or should I just spring for new rollers, capstans, motors and anything else that I can scrounge up?
Any input from someone far more learned than I would be greatly appreciated, especially as I said earlier, I'm not very savvy. In fact, the last time I opened the machine to do some deep cleaning, I needed 2 elephants, a two by four and some real fancy language just to get the cover off the damned machine,
Thanks,
Joe
 
Yes

The symptom you describe can be, and usually is, caused by old tape that's gone sticky. It can cause enough drag to bring the reels to a halt, but worse yet is if you continue to force the issue with trying to use a sticky tape with the reels slowing or halted, you can risk blowing a reel motor, which of course is undesirable.

Any Ampex tape dated prior to 1995 is prone to sticky shed syndrome, should not be used and should be discarded.

The real evidence is on the tape path, usually a thick & heavy sludge on the tape heads and guides.

You must thoroughly clean everything in the tape path with swabs and 91% or better Isopropyl alcohol.

Clean the pinch roller with water or an approved rubber cleaner.

Nothing you've described would require disassembly of the machine, which in your case would probably not be advisable.

Clean the tape path, buy some brand new tape & try again before reaching any conclusions.

:spank::eek:;)
 
You are correct, going anywhere near any electrical device with a screwdriver in my hand usually proves to be disastrous.
However, I do know my limitations and will try cleaning it with what you advised, using nothing sharp or pointy like all the doctors usually recommend. Unfortunately I have about 60 or 70 of the Ampex 456 tapes here that have countless hours of music on them, it's all I ever used because they were the "best tape available" or so I was told at the time. Then again I remember being told it was OK to play with the plastic bags from the drycleaners, but my Dad always did have an unusual sense of humor.
I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question and will try doing what you suggested over the weekend.
Hopefully, after a good cleaning and some new tape, I'll be good to go.
If not......... I resort to a hammer.
Thanks,
Joe
 
Ampex 456, sigh, never let any of it near my tape machines any more. I have a large box of it and it is going to the tip some day when I recover the spools.

Alan.
 
Well,...

If you have numerous precious tapes of music you'd like to salvage, I've heard it's acceptable to employ a food dehydrator to "bake" the tapes, and they should temporarily be playable enough to salvage the tracks off to a digital -or other recorder- rig.

There are better references and write-ups on tape "baking", although baking is a misnomer, lest you consider the original research of this method was done in scientific grade ovens,... but use a food dehydrator, as the "most correct" tool under the circumstances. Or so I've heard. As an owner of several sticky-grade tapes, I've contemplated doing this procedure, but as yet haven't done it myself.

:spank::eek:;)
 
A Reel Person said:
If you have numerous precious tapes of music you'd like to salvage, I've heard it's acceptable to employ a food dehydrator to "bake" the tapes, and they should temporarily be playable enough to salvage the tracks off to a digital -or other recorder- rig.

There are better references and write-ups on tape "baking", although baking is a misnomer, lest you consider the original research of this method was done in scientific grade ovens,... but use a food dehydrator, as the "most correct" tool under the circumstances. Or so I've heard. As an owner of several sticky-grade tapes, I've contemplated doing this procedure, but as yet haven't done it myself.

:spank::eek:;)
Click to expand...

This is a good article

Alan.
 
It seems like someone lined my pinch roller with roofing tar and the rubber on the counter roller wasn't too much better.
I found two new rollers and installed the new pinch roller without using any power tools.
Problem is I can't remember the order for the counter roller.
Is it spring, roller, washer then circlip?
Or is it roller, spring, washer then circlip?
:cursing::cursing::cursing:
I went through the Tascam manual and it covered everything but the spring location
Thanks,
Joe
 
Thanks,
if you get a chance and can take a look, I'd be much obliged.
I hate Russian Roulette even though it is a 50 / 50 shot.
Thanks again,
Joe
 
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