Hey ya'll, first post here as I recently acquired a 246, hoping to get some help with getting it rolling.
I bought the unit not functioning, and when I opened it up, discovered it was missing a fuse and a corner of the power supply circuit board was cracked. I repaired the two broken traces with jumper wires and replaced the fuse, but alas, still lots of problems.
It seems as though someone has already been in this and possibly changed the rubber already, as they all seem pretty fresh (not sticky or low tension), and there's evidence of someone already cleaning melted rubber muck. The capstan is spinning fine, pinch roller looks good, idler tires seem fine, and so does the control belt.
BUT... without any tape in the machine, the take-up reel starts spinning, and it doesn't stop after hitting any transport controls. The head assembly occasionally shifts down when turned on, most of the time its stuck up or down. Stop, FFWD and RWD do nothing, same with Stop, Pause, or Record. When I press play and the head assembly is up, I get a bit of a squeal from something. Nothing will stop tape from rolling besides turning the machine off.
What I've tried: cleaned all the belts, flywheels, reduction pulley, anywhere where there could be gunk. I added a bit of grease to the shaft that then reduction pulley (white one connected to control belt) sits on, but no effect. also gave the motors a bit of oil.
I'm guessing the issues lay somewhere in the control belt system, and I ordered new idler tires cause perhaps the ones in there aren't right somehow, but I'm pretty stumped about what to do next. Maybe it's a logic issue? Maybe something to do with the potentiometer on the cam? What king of resistance values should I be reading on that pot?
Any help or shoves in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
-Mikey
Berlin
I bought the unit not functioning, and when I opened it up, discovered it was missing a fuse and a corner of the power supply circuit board was cracked. I repaired the two broken traces with jumper wires and replaced the fuse, but alas, still lots of problems.
It seems as though someone has already been in this and possibly changed the rubber already, as they all seem pretty fresh (not sticky or low tension), and there's evidence of someone already cleaning melted rubber muck. The capstan is spinning fine, pinch roller looks good, idler tires seem fine, and so does the control belt.
BUT... without any tape in the machine, the take-up reel starts spinning, and it doesn't stop after hitting any transport controls. The head assembly occasionally shifts down when turned on, most of the time its stuck up or down. Stop, FFWD and RWD do nothing, same with Stop, Pause, or Record. When I press play and the head assembly is up, I get a bit of a squeal from something. Nothing will stop tape from rolling besides turning the machine off.
What I've tried: cleaned all the belts, flywheels, reduction pulley, anywhere where there could be gunk. I added a bit of grease to the shaft that then reduction pulley (white one connected to control belt) sits on, but no effect. also gave the motors a bit of oil.
I'm guessing the issues lay somewhere in the control belt system, and I ordered new idler tires cause perhaps the ones in there aren't right somehow, but I'm pretty stumped about what to do next. Maybe it's a logic issue? Maybe something to do with the potentiometer on the cam? What king of resistance values should I be reading on that pot?
Any help or shoves in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
-Mikey
Berlin
