Tascam 424 MKIII suddenly stopped

[lorso]

Last summer I purchased a Tascam 424 MKIII with a broken soldering on one line out RCA, so I disassembled the whole machine and fixed it. In the while I cleaned the inside and washed all the sliders and pots with isopropyl alcohol, and the recorder worked fine until this evening.

While I was recording in high speed mode I heard the solenoid engaging producing its typical noise, the same that can be heard when you hit the Stop button while the tape is playing, and the tape actually stopped leaving the heads and the pinch roller in Play/Rec position. Then nothing else happened, the transport section is like dead. The display is still OK but if I press any transport control buttons nothing happens. I powered it off and on a couple of times, and everything seems fine (I've read of TASCAM logo scrolling in loop but it's not my case).

I hoped it was a broken belt, so I disassembled the transport and checked it but both belts are fine and in the right place. So I am here asking for advices. Maybe the motor is broken? Anyone else already experienced similar issues? Eventually, how you solved that?

Thanks a lot in advance,
Lorenzo

 

[lorso]

A quick update. The motor was faulty, probably the motor speed regulator chip (UPC1470LM, mounted on the PCB board inside the motor) is gone. I replaced it with a chinese replica (Qingfeng EG-530KD-2B) and the recorder came back to life.

Unfortunately now I'm experiencing a different problem: I can hear the tape out from channel 1 even if its fader is at 0 level, even if I move the channel 1 input selector to OFF or MIC/LINE. If the tape is running (and master volume is up) I can hear what's on tape channel 1. Anyone already experienced this kind of problem?

Thanks a lot for reading,
Lorenzo

 

[lorso]

Last (I hope) update for now: I reopened the case and found that the (long white) connector that brings audio signals from the main board to the mixer board was partially inserted, probably I moved it while I was removing/reinstalling the tape transport mechanism.

I want to publicly thank the guy who runs the Tetrakan YouTube channel for all the info he provides about the 424 MKIII and its problematic EG-530KD-2B motor, as well as many other multitrack tape recorders.

"ticked" closed

 

[winnecook]

Helpful thread - Highly recommend Tetrakan, he is awesome. You can usually message him on Facebook too and he will help you with more specific problems/questions. Truly the man