Tascam 414 mk1 mechania noises

D

DiegoC.

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Jan 24, 2022
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Gear owned
Portastudio 414, 424
Hello everyone,
I'm hoping someone can help me. I bought a 414 on ebay and unfortunately it was full of sand inside. I managed to clean 99% of it. I got it to work but the transport is very loud when it is in Playback mode.
I tried to disassemble the transport but I got to a point where I wasn't sure if I should go on. My question is: is it possible to take it apart completely and put it back together or is it going to be impossible?

Things that could help me:
High resolution fotos of the transport correctly assembled. So that I can compare mine to it. Maybe I placed something in the wrong place...
Or maybe someone here has a spare transport from a 414 that I could buy from.

Any tips are very welcome!
Thanks
 
It is bad and a deal breaker for cam corders when I worked at Sony. Sand can get everywhere in the unit and can be very expensive to get it out. Look at it this way, The deck was put together by pieces and so it should be able to come apart in such a way. The old grease that would hold the sane in it would be cleaned out and new grease put in and you are going to have to take it apart pretty far to get all that sand out. I don't know if there are such a thing as spare transports but E bay and used market places may have non-working units that might be easier to fix than one with sand all through it. As with other dirt like contaminants the idea is to vacuum he sand out not blow it out with air as that just spreads it around. Most of what you will have to do is take it all apart and clean out all the moving parts. There are few picture of assembly methods but just line drawn service manuals and maybe a You Tube guy with some video on that model. Most the decks I have taken apart were logical in the way they went back together. If one is a beginner in this stuff a camera used to take photos before you take and item apart will help.
 
Thanks for your Tips, much appreciated!
I think I will have to take it completely apart. I'm afraid the springs will jump and I'll never be able to pit them back in place again.
Do you have any experience with this unit in particular? Tascam portastudio 414 mk1?
Thanks again
Cheers
 
In my records it shows that I worked on two of then from 2016 and on. I do not see a lot of the lower end products as people don't want to spend on them. These unit need a lot of patience and some experience plus the right grease and alcohols. Everyone has different abilities so it all depends on how good you are with mechanism. Take a lot of picture before taking parts off that way you can refer to how it was.
 
Do you have access to the service manual of this unit? I do have it and would like to ask you something regarding some of the parts of the machine. If you had the service manual it would be easy to use the part numbers as reference. Unfortunately I can't upload pictures here.
:)
 
OK now I downloaded it and can help- what do you want to know?
 
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That's so nice of you! Thanks!!

My goal is to remove parts 66 and 33. These parts seem to be making most of the noise, they probably have some sand.
I think I must remove the BASE ASSY (41) in order to accomplish this.
Could you confirm this? And maybe give me some guidance on how to remove 66 and 33?

Also I'd like to know how to remove 54 and 58. Do I pull? I don't see how they are attached.

Those are my questions... for now.

Thanks again!! I'm sure this information will be useful for other people at some point.
 
I did take the transport apart. Unfortunately couldnt fix the problem. I believe I cleaned it completely and there is no more sand inside, but that didn't fix the issue.
Thanks anyway!!
 
I think I found the problem. It's a gear.
The one that drives the CAM-GEAR. Interesting enough this gear is not numbered in the service manual.


https://postimg.cc/gallery/g3QJW2G









Do you think this is enough reason to make noises? Any idea where I might find a replacement part?

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Sand may have prevented parts from turning and then the result is this damaged gear- It might be part of the flywheel assembly part 85 which is 9278361300 and they might have it still but that might be the only way to get it. That gear would have to be made either 3D printed by someone if an original part can not be purchased. It could also come from a non working parts unit.
 
Thanks again for your comments. I contactwd tascam (here I germany) and they have the flywheel assy!
I hope that the mechanical noises get lower after replacing the part.
Do you think this could be the reason for the noises?

Cheers
 
It is hard to say for sure but damage in the gear will not make them be silent and some grease might also help make less the noise of the function of the gears.
 
I got a 488 Mk II in the other day that has noise when the capstan was turning. Well a lot of the problem has to do with who is working on the deck. The Thrust plate the motor is mounted on was mounted with only one screw and the rest hanging in the wind. It is suppose to have three screws to mount it. This is the kind of work you get when you don't use the correct service person. I already have that fixed and so I ended up with the job.
 
I just installed the new flywheel assy and unfortunately the noises were only reduced a little bit. Sad sad sad... I'll have to keep on looking... but I wonder how quiet this unit is, when working perfectly. Maybe I'm asking for too much. But at least compared with the other portastuduos I own, this one is noticeable louder.

Thanks for your help, If I ever figure it out I will write it here.
 
The amount of noise should not be there and even though these are not thousand dollar type devices they did work when new. The use of Nylon and plastic parts that everyone thinks is so space age is only that good the first few years- when the parts start to crack and shrink and cause other problems then tell me how space age it is. At least in the case of the Gear C I am having it made. This takes money and investment on my parts and there is a limit to how much I can do. If gears are involved with reel table drive that could also be a source of noise as well as old grease where parts are not retracting where they need to be. I had a gear sound on a Sony WM-D6C and it was because the gear slipped down the shaft away from where it was suppose to be. Putting it back is the answer- Some parts that are gripping on a metal shaft are cracked and so a new parts will be needed. Where to get them is the trick. maybe 3D printing? Many Technicians hide behind the no parts excuse and I mean a lot of them. In my case I can show you the parts that I need and there are none around like the head gear in a CX650R- they are all cracked so a new part will need to be made.
 
I replaced the complete transport (I don't really know if it's called transport or deck or what, but i mean the mechanical system). I bought a new one on ebay for about 15 euros. Very cheep compared to the replacement parts from official obline stores.
It works better now, it's not as loud as the older one, but obviously this tascam model isn't the most silent one if I compare it to a few other models that I have)
Anyway, thanks for the tips. I learned a lot by disassembling the transport at least 4 times.
The next chapter is calibration... I will probably start a new thread with new questions.
Cheers
 
You might be stopped when you get to the alignment tapes cost. It is never economical to do this for just one machine.
 
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