Teac 3440 Capstan Problem

[OldTimey1]

when was the last time you changed the belt?

it's either that or the motor most likely.

[Analok]

+1. However, it may also be that the capstan bearing is dry & needs a drop or two of light weight oil. If you take this on yourself, don't go overboard. Keep the oil away from the capstan shaft, the pinch roller and the tape guides. If you DO get oil on these parts clean them immediately with a lint free paper shop towel and a sparse amount of isopropyl acohol. I'd not run the machine any further until you at least have it tuned up, otherwise you might cause irreversable damage.

[audiotech]

Your belt is probably goo. Take the back off the machine and check it out and clean it if you can. Lubricants can also get hard and cause problems. If this is the case it's best to clean off the old lubricants and re-lube. I've found belt problems more prominent in machines of that era.

Dennis

[skywaveTDR]

The belt can not be goo if the unit was just running but it could be stretched.
The replacement of the belt often times is NOT the only answer and with the cost of these motors at $150 plus, you might be better off to have a technician look at it and recondition it so that you can get another lifetime out of the motor. Motor that exhibit a problem are not totally gone yet- I have restored many of them. Once a customer burns them up then that is too late to fix them and the solution is a motor from a Tascam 32 which gets fitted to your servo board. This is about $150 and then you need a speed tape to set speeds and a frequency counter at a minimum. The tape could be $130 from MRL- I think they only make 3150 tapes now but that most wow and flutter units are switchable. if you are near Chicago, I can help.

[Bill@WelcomeHome]

Originally Posted by Sunn Ra

Hello all. I'm inquiring into possible solutions (and reasons for) an immoble capstan on my 3440. While listening to a playback yesterday I noticed a recurring change in pitch due to (what was apparently) said capstan's intermittent slowing/resolving. I seemed to very ephemerally fix the problem by pulling the capstan (gently) away from the machine, returning the playback to a functional state, but when I returned to the studio hours later it proved to be completely immoble. )...

sticky-shed? Or is it just the capstan, not the rest of the transport. If it is just the capstan, when was the last time it was maintained? Might just need cleaned and lubricated.