Any precautions TSR-8 start up, sat 20+ years

Geno in AZ

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Gear owned
TSR-8 remote, US-144
I recently came into aTSR-8 that has been unused for at least 20 years, perhaps 25 years.
The guy I got it from, we were in a band together. The machine has maybe 30 hours on it, tops.
I have no reason to disbelieve him, he is a meticulous type. The machine is in excellent condition.

I had been looking for one for quite awhile, as I had one in the mid 90's, and recorded a lot of stuff,
with my original band and others. Still have the tapes and want to get the tracks into the digital realm.

My question is, are there any precautions I should take? Power up with variac? Or just plug in,
turn it on and hope for the best? I have seen a lot of smoked old gear because the peeps were in a hurry
to check it out and killed it due to dried electrolytic capacitors.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate any and all comments.
 
Hi, I have one and have a good opinion on the model. It is a fairly reliable one, once you made some basic maintenance.
Before switching on, you must open it up, and replace the rubber capstan belt. During the years it for sure became gluey, if not totally soft, and you dont want to remove the particles of it after the capstan wheel trhew them around.
The pinch roller similarly can be sticky, needing a replacement.
Also you may want to lube the capstan base bearing.
After these actions, you may fire up the machine and see how it performs.
You may want to replace the power lytics for the future, but for the time being all the lytics should perform well, unless you are unlucky and one of them did not make it after 25 years..
You can spin then both the reel tables, and find out if the motor bearings are ok. This applies to the pich roller and the counter roller bearings too. It is not very difficult to replace them in case they are problematic. Sometimes they just dried out, and some very small lubing does the trick.
I dont think the break felts are worn in case of such low logged hours, but they are worth a check.
Good luck!
L
 
Last edited:
Thanks for your reply. Your suggestions are great. I will take the case off and do a check of the
components. The pinch roller(s) rubber are in great condition. Over the years, the small bottle
of Tascam rubber conditioner I have, contents have evaporated, and I need to find a source.
I believe I someone here has a source for that type of thing, can't find it again.
Again, thanks for your input.
Geno
 

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