[TriLUG] OT: music hardware geeks - Roy, Jim and the like - reel to reel stuff

[Steve Litt]

On Wednesday 23 September 2009 22:40:05 David McDowell wrote:
> The TEAC will play for a short bit then slow down. It has been under
> its plastic protective thing for years. I told Dad we should open it
> up and use a can of air on it anyway but we haven't done that yet.
> Like I mentioned, we've called around and been laughed at so far, but
> we do prefer to find a local tech. :) so I came here for any potential
> suggestions. Glad to know at least 1 person so far knows what I'm
> talking about! So far we found a tech guy who will "restore" not
> repair it, but he is in AZ... We are trying to determine if he is
> legit.
> Thanks, David

I can't even begin to determine whether this restoration guy is legit. If he 
isn't, he could do a lot more harm than good. If you're good with your hands 
and mechanically, you might want to try to fix it yourself...

I'm pretty sure 3340's were old enough that their speed was governed 
mechanically, not electronically. In other words, if it's slowing down, it's 
probably because of one of two things:

1) Dirty/worn rubber parts -- pulleys, belts, idler wheels and the like
2) Motor shaft binding due to dirty/dried grease

#1 is addressed by vigorously cleaning the rubber parts with Q tips wet with 
water. Yeah, that's right, water -- that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 
Alcohol just dries em up and any alcohol not pure enough makes em slippery. 
Sometimes you can lightly sand rubber pullies with an emery board to remove 
the top layer of oxidation, and then use the water and Qtip. If a belt is 
stretched, you need a new one because obviously no amount of cleaning will 
compensate for a stretched belt. On #1, if the pinch roller (the thing rolling 
rubber thing that presses the tape onto the rotating capstan) has a permanent 
indentation or permanent rust color stripe around its diameter, you need a new 
one, although as a diagnostic test you can emery board it and see if the 
problem gets a lot better, indicating the cause is the inch roller. IIRC the 
Teac has 2 capstans and 2 pinch rollers. 

#2 is addressed by removing the motor (not too difficult), disassembling the 
motor to the point where the rotor can be removed, and using a solvent, 
cleaning the shaft and sleeve bearings until all dirt and grease are removed, 
and then applying a small amount of thin lithium grease. You'll have to do 
this every 2 to 10 years. It's a tough life :-)

When you wrote it didn't work exactly right, I was hoping it was a speed 
problem because those are usually easy to fix.

Be sure to clean the heads with a Qtip and alcohol (not water). Never use an 
emery board on a head. Do not try to adjust the angles of the heads unless you 
have a professional test tape and know exactly what you're doing. Head 
adjustment isn't easy like fixing a speed problem.

Here is a source for a Teac 3440 service manual:

http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/vintagetx/Teac-Service-manual.html

You have absolutely no idea what a high quality, desirable machine you have. I 
loved mine (I don't know what ever happened to it). It's a 4 track machine 
that's very useful for a musician, its fidelity is spectacular, they're very 
easy to repair, their quality and durability are legendary.

SteveT

Steve Litt
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