(Repair help) Porta Studio 424MKIII, broken tape motor

[annemieke]

Bought second hand, original owner said it was working until last year, when the tape motor stopped working out of nowhere, when I start it up, the screen turns on and repeats "tascam" over and over, and there is a clicking noise that is consistent as a metronome, it appears to be coming from under where the tape would be held.

video attached should display the issue, I chucked an old tape in there just to see if anything would happen. Nothing spins or turns, the things that would spin the tape are completely stationary.

Any help at all would be awesome.

 

[annemieke]

OP here,
https://homerecording.com/bbs/threa...on-clicking-and-endless-loading-image.341503/

this person seemed to have the same issue if helpful whatsoever.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

The deck has gears and maybe old grease in it that stops parts from moving. I have worked on one of these not too long ago and you would think that they would have used a lubricant that lasted better but they only want to get this kind of stuff through the warranty then it is off to the repair shop. The problem is that the shops that are left around are not prepared to work on this kind of equipment even though they charge you a deposit as if they can. In most cases I have repaired these from the first one made to the newer ones but there are cases where a part has to be made to make them go- I am the guy having Gear C parts made and we are going to be checking out some 3D gears to see if they will hold up. People are still buying my $30 gear all over the world- a request just came in from Cook Island near NZ.

 

[jeffoldbean]

Look up 12volvids guy on youtube.
What Dave doesn't know about this kind of repair isn't worth knowing.
Try searching his channel for Tascam stuff.
Or any kinds of cassette deck repairs.
You will have to open this machine.
To find out where the clunking noise is coming from.
In order to fix it.
As stated previously all this kind of repair work.
Is time consuming, and finding spare parts is very difficult.
But where there is a will there ia a way.
Good luck, and I hope this helps you.

Jeffoldbean.

 

[jeffoldbean]

Sorry, 12voltsvid.

Jeffoldbean.

 

[Qete]

Did you have any luck trying to reset the heads to the down position like the poster in the homerecording thread?

There are a couple springs under the head panel which might be the issue. See exploded view 3 in the service manual. Tetrakan on YouTube shows a detailed disassembly of the transport should you need it.

 

[SkywaveTDR]

I would never send a person to these numbskulls that make You Tube videos as they do not know what they are doing and it is a scam to make you think that they do.

 

[Qete]

Of course there are dodgy Youtubers but I don't see an issue with Tetrakan. He makes clear his videos are to aid musicians not technicians. They make basic maintenance accessible to people who can't afford tech service or all the test equipment to get to factory spec. Service manuals are heady when you can't name the parts of the deck.

https://tetrakansupermonobloc.home....anual-for-your-multi-track-cassette-recorder/

 

[SkywaveTDR]

The thing is that when they tell you how to fix the product not to the full degree that further damage to parts can happen and those parts might not be available beside that if you don't have a speed tape or equipment to set speed the deck will not be on speed by itself anyway. I looked at the post that they supposedly tell you how to align a 244 and while some of it is useful the main item is missed completely. The mechanism needs to have the old grease removed. Telling someone that you can fix these without the right tools is in itself misleading and incorrect. Teac did not run a factory service station with all the costs involved and employ technicians who learn how to fix these decks all those years if just any person can do the work. The Technician knows the option if a part is returning a bad spec and to the post there he just throws up his hands. Well what good it that- I call it hack work or the correct word is stupidity. There are guys that can give the right information on how to fix a deck because we have done hundreds of them but it is not a step by step book that would make any telephone book look thin.