Tascam TSR-8 problem. StickyShed?Motor?Transport?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alekisi
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Alekisi

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Hi everyone!

This is really a informative forum and it took a couple of days to read all the interesting subjects. But I´m still not sure what seems to be problem with my TSR-8 so I need to place some questions. Sorry if my english is clumsy, hope I´ll get the message through.

Just got my first r2r-recorder. I bought it for a fairly low price from Austria, seller said that it had problems with rewind. The deal included 5 pcs of Pyral AF2-tape. I took a risk considering the packaging and shipment over europe, but the machine arrived to Finland in good condition and the seller really seems to know how to pack delicate machinery!

I immediately did two test runs.

First I tested playback with the tape installed and the machine seemed to run well. After a couple of minutes I tested Rewind. As seller said, it didn´t work. The transport clicks to a rewind position but the tape doesn´t move. Then I pushed Forward and it worked until it got to the middle section when the machine slowed down and stopped. At that point even the Play was unstable and hardly kept running. I kept forwarding with manually helping and when I got to the end of the tape I tested Rewind again and this time it worked. Then i took of the reels and tested the transport and everything worked fine.

For second test I recorded 5 minutes of music to all the tracks. Recording worked but during the playback there was a considerable amount of "wow" in the tracks. Also there was a big pile of residue from the tape around the rollers and heads.

First I thought that there was some problems with the motors but after reading all the posts in this forum I came to realise the maybe this is a case of Sticky Shed Syndrome?

But the Pyral-tape is not been listed as a stickyshed-brand so could it be that the tape has a too tight contact with the rollers and it scratched the surface too much?

I took some pictures during the tests and i´ll add them later.

Thanks in advance for the help!
 
Please see the attached pictures
 

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These are the last pictures
 

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I'm very suspicious of that tape, personally. There seems to be an awful lot of dry shed, which makes me wonder about its integrity.
I'd try to get some SM911 tape and see if that works.

EDIT:

Is that stuff back-coated? It looks like it isn't. I have no idea what that would do.
 
Yes. I agree that the best next step is to get some new tape.

I wonder, though, does it make any difference in rewind if you manually lift up the left tension arm while in REW mode? If it does that could indicate a tension setting issue, BUT that can all be thrown off if the tape is bad so regardless I wouldn't run that tape on it anymore and get some new tape to try.

BTW, the heads look good. It looks like a fairly low-use machine.
 
Good idea, I´m going to order SM911 tape and concentrate on cleaning the machinery for now.

There was also problem with wobbling reel but I noticed that the takeup reel´s NAB adapter was broken and I have a new one ordered.

The tape didn´t align correctly but i´m not sure was it because the broken adapter or is the tape reel in a wrong height. I understood that there´s supposed to be 2 screws somewhere to adjust the height?

I´ll load a picture for you to see the tape alignment.
 

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Yes. You have to get the upper front dress panel off and then (usually on the Tascam decks) there are two holes in the top rail (one over each reel hub) to access the two set screws that fix the hub to the motor shaft (either philips head or socket head). Then its just a matter of getting the tool through the access hole, loosening the first screw, rotating the table 90 degrees, loosening the second screw, adjust the height, tighten the screws and see how you did.
 
Hi again!

I received the new NAB adapter today and decided to make a new test.

This time I threaded the tape straight to the takeup reel ignoring the rollers and heads. This had no effect while I adjusted the tension arms manually. The machine had same problems with rewind during the start of the tape and play during the middle section of the tape.

Does this overrule the sticky tape problem affecting to the transport?

The new RMGI SE911 tape will arrive on monday at the latest but now I don´t know if it will fix the problem.
 
Another thing that came in mind, the seller wrote this in the description:

"In January 2010, the drive roller and the drive belt was replaced."

Is there any possibility that the belt could have been installed incorrectly? Can it jam the transport in some way?
 
Alekisi said:
Is there any possibility that the belt could have been installed incorrectly? Can it jam the transport in some way?
Click to expand...
Off the top of my head, I can't see how it would prevent rewinding.

Out of interest, have you tried winding in either direction with just empty spools on the machine? You'll need to hold the tension arm to make it run, of course.

Now that I think about it, I'm wondering if it might be a problem with the braking system. I'm not sure if the TSR-8 is susceptible to this, but a number of TASCAM decks have a problem where a rubber sleeve inside the braking solenoid turns to goo and prevents it operating correctly.

It might be interesting to run the machine with the front cover removed and see if you can spot anything amiss. Also, whether the wow problem in playback improves if you manually 'help' the braking solenoid with a screwdriver or some such implement. If nothing else, running with the cover off might help you spot what's really happening.

https://i89.photobucket.com/albums/k216/tapewolf/tape/tsr8_naked.png

...if you need help or advise removing it, just ask, but it's not really difficult assuming you have the right hex drivers for it.
 
jpmorris said:
Out of interest, have you tried winding in either direction with just empty spools on the machine? You'll need to hold the tension arm to make it run, of course.
Click to expand...

I have only one empty spool so I tried without the spools and everything seemed to work fine.

jpmorris said:
It might be interesting to run the machine with the front cover removed and see if you can spot anything amiss. Also, whether the wow problem in playback improves if you manually 'help' the braking solenoid with a screwdriver or some such implement. If nothing else, running with the cover off might help you spot what's really happening.
Click to expand...

I have removed the front cover but my limitation on understanding electronics prevents me to have any kind of "enlightment" while watching the machine run. I think I´ll ask someone who might know more to come and help me. We´ll try to fiddle with the braking solenoid and see if something good happens!

Thanks for helping me!
 
Alekisi said:
I have removed the front cover but my limitation on understanding electronics prevents me to have any kind of "enlightment" while watching the machine run. I think I´ll ask someone who might know more to come and help me. We´ll try to fiddle with the braking solenoid and see if something good happens!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was thinking more of the mechanical side of things. Frankly, if it's an electronics problem I'm not going to be an awful lot of use :-S
 
Alekisi,

Quick test to check if your reel brakes can mechanically disengaging properly

  1. Turn the TSR-8 on without tape or reels loaded.
  2. Lift both tension arms by hand...find a way to have them both held up while also having a hand free (i.e. get a helper to hold them all the way up or use rubber bands to hold them up, etc.)
  3. Press the EDIT button.
  4. Both brakes should now be disengaged and you should be able to spin both reel tables easily by hand, like you give 'em a twist and they should keep spinning for at least a little bit.
 
Brakes!

Brakes are the problem! They don´t disengage enough during play and wind. What a relief!

But I´m still not sure where the problem is exactly. There is not enough movement but I don´t know whether it´s because of the solenoid or some twist in the mechanics.

If I put some filling between the arms (or rails or what should I call them) the movement is big enough for the reels to spin free. But then it won´t brake effectively.

If I only got to see how the brake works properly I could spot the problem!
 
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