RTR001 Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 Hey all, I'm hoping someone on here may have some experience with old TEAC 4-track machines... I have a a TEAC A-3440 in really lovely condition but at the moment it's running slow and I can't figure out why. The speed of this machine on high should be 15ips but it runs at more like 3 1/2. I've replaced all the belts for the correct replacements, checked that the capstan and motor spin freely. I've cheeked the feed motors and they run freely as well. Everything works perfectly except for the slow speed. Any ideas would be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeyboi Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Just a couple of questions so I will be able to address some possible causes. 1. Was the deck running okay before? (If so, I would expect this to be a recent and sudden problem). 2. Does the left reel offer a small or large amount of resistance when turned by hand when the machine is in the PLAY mode? This machine uses a d.c. servo motor connected to the capstan via a belt. The belt may be stretched, however this fault normally manifests itself as slow and varying tape speed. Cheers, Alan R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hiya Posted September 23, 2018 Share Posted September 23, 2018 Also check to make sure there is no tape delamination and the heads are clean and shiny and capstan is clean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTR001 Posted September 25, 2018 Author Share Posted September 25, 2018 Sorry for the slow reply guys. On 23/09/2018 at 4:56 PM, hiya said: Also check to make sure there is no tape delamination and the heads are clean and shiny and capstan is clean Nothing like that. Everything is clean as a whistle. On 23/09/2018 at 11:57 AM, Monkeyboi said: Just a couple of questions so I will be able to address some possible causes. 1. Was the deck running okay before? (If so, I would expect this to be a recent and sudden problem). 2. Does the left reel offer a small or large amount of resistance when turned by hand when the machine is in the PLAY mode? This machine uses a d.c. servo motor connected to the capstan via a belt. The belt may be stretched, however this fault normally manifests itself as slow and varying tape speed. Cheers, Alan R. Thanks Alan, The deck was running well but went into storage for a while and now it only runs at a super slow speed. Both left and right reels offer very little resistance when the brake is manually disengaged (I'm assuming this is what you meant?), they spin quite freely and smoothly. The capstan and motor spindles are very clean. The old belt had turned to tar so I had them out and cleaned them thoroughly with isoprop. A new belt was sourced specifically for this model and fits beautifully. I've eye-balled it running and there is no slippage etc from what I can tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkeyboi Posted September 27, 2018 Share Posted September 27, 2018 On 26/09/2018 at 7:47 AM, RTR001 said: Thanks Alan, The deck was running well but went into storage for a while and now it only runs at a super slow speed. Both left and right reels offer very little resistance when the brake is manually disengaged (I'm assuming this is what you meant?), they spin quite freely and smoothly. The capstan and motor spindles are very clean. The old belt had turned to tar so I had them out and cleaned them thoroughly with isoprop. A new belt was sourced specifically for this model and fits beautifully. I've eye-balled it running and there is no slippage etc from what I can tell. Okay, that points to a possible power supply or the servo control board issue. You'd need the service manual and at least a multimeter to start troubleshooting. No doubt it's fixable and I don't suspect it to be expensive. If your knowledge of electronics is poor, I suggest taking it in for repair. Cheers, Alan R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTR001 Posted September 28, 2018 Author Share Posted September 28, 2018 On 27/09/2018 at 10:39 AM, Monkeyboi said: Okay, that points to a possible power supply or the servo control board issue. You'd need the service manual and at least a multimeter to start troubleshooting. No doubt it's fixable and I don't suspect it to be expensive. If your knowledge of electronics is poor, I suggest taking it in for repair. Cheers, Alan R. Thanks mate. My knowledge of electronics is average. I have a couple of multimeters etc but I'm no repair tech. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldieman Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 the motor pulley for the capstan has 2 positions, one for 50 hx and one for 60 hz. from memory there is also a switch for the reel table motors. are both of these correct? ( the 50 hzposition is the slightly larger motorpulley) it wouldnt make that much difference but who knows? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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