Missing screws in Tascam 488

[finallywhere]

Hi

I just got in hold of a Tascam 488 which should have been in mint condition, but there are a few issues. One of them seems to be that the two long screws which should be in the cassette deck is missing. I discovered this when I wanted to open the unit to take a look inside. Any suggestions to where I can get a hold of some replacements screw. I saw a video on youtube which states these are important for good operation of the deck.

There are also some issues with the tape playback speed. I hope this can be fixed with a new belt and a captstan motor. These seem to be available on Ebay.

Also the headphone jack seems to have an unstable connection, but this could be fixed with some contact spray perhaps?

The heads seem to be in great condition.

Thanks for any input!

 

[Laszlo]

Hello,

the two long screws can be obtained in any hardware store that sells screws. You just need to get the size of them (look it up in the SM).
As for the speed issue, what is the problem? Too low or high speed but stable otherwise? The speed regulation core circuit is inside the motor housing in these motors, and they tend to break after a while. Replacement usually fixes the issue.

 

[finallywhere]

Great, thanks! I will take a look for the correct screws in the SM manual then.

Regarding playback speed; it started to play back quite slow after I had opened up the unit to take a look inside. I did this to clean the switches for the groups in the monitior section which had a bad connection. But the speed the speed seems to vary a bit. A couple of the times the pitch wheel had no effect as well.

 

[Laszlo]

The pinch wheel works in case you select variable speed. If you say the speed issue started after opening the unit up, probably you broke a wire or reassambled them on the wrong way. There is a lot of wiring involved and many of them are quite short..

 

[finallywhere]

I tried to be very careful when I opened it up so hopefully I didn't do any damage. The main problem is that it is playing to slow now. I opened up the unit again to take a look at the belt and it was not very tight. So I am replacing the belt and hopefully that will help.

Also, I think I found the correct screws in the SM, they should be M2.6x8mm. So I have ordered two of those as well.

 

[finallywhere]

So I got the missing crews and and a replacement belt. Playback seems to be working as it should now.

But I am having some issues with the group monitor buttons 3/4, as well as the group fader for 3/4. The switches seem to have a bad connection when pushed down I did open the deck again and used some dust spray on the switches which seemed to improve the connection a bit.

But the strange this is that if I push down next to/around the switch for group 3/4, but not on the switch itself the connection is stable. In fact, if I push down on outside the casing for group channel 3/4 and the connection is stable. So could there be something else than the switch that is causing the connection to be unstable for the group 3/4 switches?

The deck seems to be missing the two large screws on the bottom and perhaps this causing the casing not to properly aligned somehow and this is the cause? The holes for the two missing screws seems to be located almost on the opposite side for the group 3/4 channel.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

I doubt that screws are the issue the switches are tact switches and they are often replaced when they do not work right. Some fail before others. Usually the reset counter switch will fail first and stop or play switches. The board are made with minimum solder applied they always could use an expert resolder job. Air spray can are a waste of time and I never buy air.