244 Portastudio only records to track 4

[TheVille]

Hello, new user here! I recently got myself a 244 Portastudio. It was in pretty rough condition, and I replaced all the usual stuff, belts, pinch roller and idler tires. I got the mechanical stuff working again, but here's my next issue:

No matter what I do, it only records to channel/track 4. It happens in Sync and 4-track recording modes, and pan + record bus settings are triple checked. I can monitor signal in every channel though, so it seems that the channel inputs are fine. When tested witch normal music c-cassette, I can hear all 4 channels (speeded up and two channels in reverse as expected), EQ them and change their levels on all channels, it just won't record to any other channel than 4.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance
-Ville

 

[SkywaveTDR]

The unit needs to be seen by a Technician who is experienced in working with these. If you have the paper service manual like from Stereomanuals.com and the ability then you would be working on it now. Head can be worn out but they usually still record something. If it was in rough shape then it is likely to have been bounce around a lot and that leads to broken solder joint in these boards. They are not aerospace grade soldering until I get to them.
They use ONLY Chrome tape so that is the first item to correct.
I have worked on them before- plenty of them at Chicago Factory Service and they can be a task to repair.

 

[TheVille]

Thanks for your reply SkyWaveTDR. It appears it actually records to chan 2 as well, only with MUCH weaker signal. I guess I'll have to find a local repair guy.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Depending on where you are most local guys will butcher the unit. There are parts in there that is wrecked will be hard to replace such as head wires. There are relays in the unit and other parts that need to be obtained that are not so common. So where are you at that I can direct you?