Tascam 52 pinch roller

[Tim Roberts]

Hello all - my first post to this site.
I am in search of a pinch roller for a Tascam model 52 1/4" half-track (two track) machine. The existing pinch roller appears to be for either 1/4" or 1/2" machines. Anybody have a source of OEM rollers? Alternately, has anyone tried the Athen Corp. pinch rollers?
Also, anybody have experience with re-capping these machines? I see no exploded, leaking, or otherwise compromised electrolytics, however there may be signals or supply voltages to look at with a scope to confirm good filtering??
Thanks in advance.
- Tim

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Hi Tim,
I am a past Teac Technician to start and the 52 roller can be most effectively be sent to Terry when he is feeling better in a couple of months. This is where I have all my rollers done. Terry's rubber rollers in Sparta MI. He has come down with a Covid infection and so he is recovering.
The parts on the cards that I would look for and replace are 100uFd and 220uFd Marcon type caps. These out of all the caps that Tascam used seem to be the ones that age the worse and have already shorted in a 48 I was working on. When I see those in a 32, 34,38 or other decks I change them out as fast as I do 10V caps. You can easily get Nichicon, Panasonic FM or Wurth 105*C caps from Mouser of other suppliers that are much better. Wurth caps are from Germany.
You can tell them by the red jacket on them. They stick out that way. Caps in my 47 years experience do not always bloat or leak- most the bad ones you find show no difference except on a meter. Of the caps that do bloat and explode they are the Chinese caps used on computer motherboards. I have changed them out and the computer board ran again until more Chinese caps blew about 2 or 3 years later. These are the only visible ones in most cases. I have tested the regular pinch roller of a BR20 to a Anthan roller and there was absolutely no difference measured in a wow and flutter measurement and in fact a Polyurethane roller only will last about 3-4 years while the black rubber will last a lot longer as Terry warranties them for 10 years. When I work on decks I do not suggest people use snake oil products as I am against such ridiculous claims. Some people just love to waste money and even though they are warned they buy all the same- that is why such companies still exist. It is out of ignorance.
http://www.terrysrubberrollers.com/

 

[Tim Roberts]

Thanks so much for the reply. I owned The Sound Shop in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the early and mid '80s. We were the factory authorized service station for Teac, Tascam, and almost all of the other professional and high-end consumer audio equipment. That was a loooooong time ago, and my problem now is parts. Caps are easy, but a source for OEM parts is a problem. I gather that OEM pinch rollers are unavailable. I will follow your advice on Terry's rollers.
I also need to find the head cover door - the one I'm working on has the arms broken off. They have been epoxied but it's not going to hold. I do have a brand new set of reproducer heads that will go in. I will use 300 mVrms as the 0dB reference voltage throughout. The customer uses mostly Maxell UDXL and some BASF EMTEC stuff.
Thanks again - Tim

 

[SkywaveTDR]

Hi Tim,
The signal level that the Tascam equipment uses is -10dBV. The OEM pinch rollers would already have many years old rubber on them so I don't think that buying an original part from some dusty bin will be your best deal. Terry's rubber is today's fresh rubber. All we need do is wait for him to get better from his sickness. I get rollers done by him all the time. I have another batch to send him but Tara his wife says he is not fully recovered and it is better to hold off a while. Usually the heads in these machines are not worn out and so replacing heads that are still good is a waste. I do not do things like that- if they are 90% worn then maybe but I have never see a worn out Woelke head yet.