troubleshooting tascam 388 record problem

[taz1954]

bought this recorder new in late 80s has very little time on it, however wont record on all 8 tracks, I do have playback on all 8, all meters indicate signal when in record mode, have done the basic troubleshooting (cleaning, checked fuses etc.) I do have original manual and schematics. I did have this problem once before took to local repair shop found ticket yesterday and they replaced capstan belt and cleaned heads, didn't figure capstan belt has anything to do with record mode, all tape transport functions work perfectly......any suggestions.........oh yea going to de-gauss heads today......

 

[j.harv]

You can try re-seating the amp cards for record/playback. That's something that a lot of people do when recording issues arise. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Doing that can "wake up" tired old connections between the actual cards and the motherboard.

 

[taz1954]

troubleshooting 388 record problem

thanks, will do...I also de-gauss machine this morning and also took some old tape and proved the erase function which did work.......if the playback works does that tell me the record head should be ok, wasn't sure how to prove this.....thanks again.......

You can try re-seating the amp cards for record/playback. That's something that a lot of people do when recording issues arise. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Doing that can "wake up" tired old connections between the actual cards and the motherboard.

 

[A Reel Person]

...

The record process takes more energy to imprint onto tape than the playback process takes to read back signal from tape. The heads should be clean and shiny like a mirror. Any small bits of gunk or sludge may prevent the recording input signal from reaching tape. I've seen this several times, on supposedly "bad" units, but all it needed was a good cleaning.

If the heads play back, then that proves the head itself is good. I also agree that carefully reseating the cards can help in many cases, but can seem difficult the first time out & not to be attempted til cleaning and all the simplest stuff is covered,.... i.e., threading the tape properly in the tape path with the correct side up, head cleaning, etc.