Teac X-1000R Belt Woes

[Des-Lab]

Well I knew it was coming. And it's a known affliction with these decks. I wanted to play a tape on my [in service] Teac X-1000R and the belt is just shot. At least I THINK that's what it is. Upon statup, it would play fine for about 30 seconds and then the pitch/speed would drop by almost half over the course of the next minute or so. Reversing directions and it wouldn't even engage. Reverse cycling back to forward play and it did the same thing: a tape loop would form between the pinch rollers and no audible sound can be heard. However, stopping the tape and then pressing play would take up the slack. But the speed lag would quickly begin thereafter. This deck had been getting gradually worse over the last year or so but today, it became essentially unplayable. Funny thing is, up until recently, it would START slow, but then once it warmed up after a minute or two, the speed/pitch would be just fine for the remainder of the session.

I was able to at least buy myself some time. I disconnected it from the system, hauled it over to the table and opened it up (that is itself a major grunt job and a recipe for a double hernia if not done carefully. It weighs 50 pounds. Plus there is the outer and inner case to remove).

Anyway, I futzed around with the tension pots for awhile and basically reset it. Now, it plays perfectly right from the get-go without any drag. Engaging the reverse however requires a double cycle to get to full speed. But as I said...it is back to normal playing. For now. Fortunately, this deck is used for playback only and not recording. Likewise, I almost never use the reverse function on either deck (I just can't get used to watching reels spinning clockwise). But still. The belt will still need to be changed eventually. By resetting the tension, I was just able to get a little extra out of a belt that's clearly near the end of its service life. I have the spare. I'm just dreading having to change it out.

I guess now would also be a good day to 'exercise run' the two decks that are in storage but not hooked up for actual use.

[Skywavebe]

Well, you may have fixed it some but what you have done is put a bandage on it so that when you do finally put the belt in that not only will you need to set speed on that, but now you will need to go through the tension adjustments as well. The belt not shifting properly in reverse is a sign of either a lose belt or the motor mount is not pitched as much as it should be.
That can be accomplished by adding an additional washer to the inside leg of the motor mount. Stick or lose belts have to be changed as they will not provide you with the performance that the deck is suppose to give you.
Adding additional tension on the servo may overcome some symptoms but also adds stress to the motors, power supply and more head contact which
enhances wear characteristics. Weight wise the X1000 is not a heavy unit.
The units that are truly heavy are 40-4, 80-8, 50 and 60 series decks and the reason I know this is I have to lift them up and carry them to my bench.
Belts are available at a very reasonable cost not $20 and the ones I have purchased from MCM even though not of the same width as the originals work just fine.

Sam,

[Des-Lab]

I know all of that and don't disagree. But as I said. At least it's playable for now. Maybe some time after the first of the year, I might consider having the belt changed as well as all requisite adjustments done by a professional, competent R2R tech. Lord knows I can't do much of that deep innard work myself. Teac in Montebello is just a 30 or so min drive from here. But I haven't had any work done by them in quite some time now so who knows if anyone there is still qualified. If not, then that means the SOB is going to need to be shipped somewhere. Two directions. That alone is going to cost me upwards of $150. Then there's the cost of the actual service and repair. The upshot? A great deck that will be good as new [again] for years to come.

So who knows. You might be getting a service request from me before too long.

[Skywavebe]

Hi Matt,
Was that not you that had a machine serviced at Teac CA, for around $1000 not too long ago or is my memory failing me? I said back then that I could have done the job for a lot less than that. Just a hint, NJFS is waiting for stuff to fix and I guess the business is slow for Russ. I continue to send him stuff from our radio station although it is not open reel stuff.
Shipping should start to come down as the fuel prices have- the Fed Ex ground shipments of A3340S decks I have sent were around $30. You do not need to be an expert to adjust these tensions. In fact, the ability to get it going again shows you have some ability right there. Now is the time to put in the new belt and adjust it up so that you can put it back to the place that you have had it and forget about the problems again.
I think if MCM deos not have the part that PRB or some such supplier would have the correct one. 16.4" comes to mind as the circumference. Vintage TX might have the size listed there and for sale. I am sure you can do the job but then there is a reference tape and frequency counter to deal with. You could make a secondary reference tape 3KHz from off a good machine you trust to get you in the ball park.

Sam,

[Des-Lab]

The $1000 restoration at Teac was indeed by me. But it was for an X-2000R deck. And it was a few years ago. I still have that deck and cherish it highly.

I'm sure that I could *probably* do it myself IF I had detailed, step by step instructions. Thing is. If I screw something up, I won't have any recourse. Plus, to be quite frank, I'd rather NOT do it just because of the time and labor involved. I'm reasonably comfortable with what I feel my threshold of skill is and this procedure definitely straddles that line. Also, were I to have it done professionally by someone who does this for a living, can be ASSURED that it will be done right. Plus, any other adjustments could also be done at that time. That I got it to run today was just a band-aid fix is correct. I'm constantly preaching to the "newbies" that it's always better to do things RIGHT, even if it costs more upfront. I don't advise cutting corners and I must do no less myself. And finally, if business is slow, I could have the added satisfaction of knowing I helped a fellow tapehead.

I once approached VintageTX over at AK about possibly restoring my fathers A3300-SX while I was still a member there. And after it taking several weeks for him to respond, he basically blew me off by quoting some astronomical figure in the 3K plus range. Plus, he's a Mod over at AK's tape section-which is both TapeHeads primary competition AND was established in direct response to the birth of TapeHeads. Needless to say, he's not exactly on my Christmas card list or someone I'd be eager to help business wise.

[stripedcat99]

Going through an A-3300SX shouldn't be too terribly expensive, unless it needs a bunch of new parts. The motors generally last forever- its usually the sticky mechanism and worn out heads that get them pushed to the back shelf. All I have left to do on mine is the changeover to the CA heads, and possibly optimizing the bias for one tape type. I also intend to re-vaneer the wood side panels with something exotic.