Reel-to-Reel Repair Blowout: THREE Reel to Reel Decks Restored!
Summer 2016
Amongst our many other specializations, we’re the go-to shop in Texas for reel to reel tape deck repair.
Included in the movie clip below are two Fostex decks and one Teac reel-to-reel tape deck repairs recently performed. In the background sits another reel to reel tape deck unit, awaiting its turn in line for service and repair.
So far in 2016 we’ve repaired and restored 5 reel to reel decks, with just one unit besides determined as BER/beyond economical repair—it had heavy damage to eight internal circuit cards and, while theoretically repairable, would have incurred too much repair time and thus a high bill.
Highlights of this year’s reel to reel repairs, by model and brand:
Customer brought a Teac X-2000R with a complaint of “Check All Functions,” probably for a basic cleaning and service. Drive belt replacement and cleaning/service brought the unit back to life.
On a Teac A-4010S with complaint of “Motor Overheats,” we repaired by replacing shorted capacitors in the power supply. Unit went home safe and sound and purring nicely.
On a Teac X-10R, customer asked us to replace the drive belts/clean and service, however we found additionally that the unit would also require a new capstan motor for full functioning. Fortunately, after various efforts and vendor misdirections, we found a source, procured the motor, and repaired the customer’s unit.
Finally some words on perhaps the most challenging reel-to-reel repair we’ve done, a restoration of a very attractive Fostex G16 machine. (This is the product on the right in the movie clip below.) This unit had the special misfortune of having been in another repair shop—a circumstance we heartily disrelish, as this almost inevitably means the product will have undergone butchery and/or mutilation. In this case, the repair proved especially difficult as the prior tech—let’s be generous here and call him a tech—had re-assembled the product improperly, leaving many of the internal wiring connexions barbarously mis-connected.
Once the mal-connectivity was corrected, we found some relatively straightforward issues in the audio record circuit and these were repaired and the unit bundled up for homecoming.
Need reel to reel tape deck repair? No problem—call the professionals—that’s us.
Just another save-the-day at Bammel TV Tech Services. For our main Stereo Repair Houston page, click here.
