Even 4 years later this series is fantastic! Thank you so much for this very articulated series! Best on the 244 on KZread! I cut my recording teeth on one of these in the 80s and sadly sold it in the early 90s. Recently bought another one and this series has been invaluable to helping get it running properly. Thank you so much!

Thanks for these really fantastic videos and freely giving of your hard earned knowledge. They have mightily fast forwarded the learning curve for me. I probably could have figured out how to extract the tape transport eventually myself but it would have been a very painful process. Life is short ( I am now 70) and I want to get my auld 244 running again and rediscovering recordings made 30+ years ago sooner rather than too late! 😃😃

@Tetrakan

10 ай бұрын

Glad this was helpful, thanks for watching!

@rogadair

9 ай бұрын

All belts and wheels replaced and transport successfully reinstalled. It is playing back perfectly and just beginning to explore those old tapes. Thank you, thank you, thank you. @@Tetrakan

@Tetrakan

9 ай бұрын

@@rogadair great, have fun recording 😀

Thanks you so much! I was quoted £150 + parts to replace the rubber bits and did it myself with the help of your great videos. Thanks for saving me £150!

@jazzroom

3 жыл бұрын

great news! congrats on a sucsess job! I am truing to source out the rubber parts for Tascam 246 that I just got. Where did you buy your parts? cheers, Dimitri

@davidbence7229

3 жыл бұрын

@@jazzroom GBaudio and tascabninja

@jazzroom

3 жыл бұрын

@@davidbence7229 thank you, I m researching on it. Will update here about my findings and results . Cheers, Dimitri

just wanted to say, great videos, college level teaching here, replacing the belts and rubber part on a 244 and this is exactly how tutorials should be done.

@Tetrakan

5 жыл бұрын

I very much appreciate your kind words, of encouragement, if you've explored some of my other uploads you may have found a few where i'm tipsy and swearing... I hope they're still informative enough not to be too much of a disappointment!

@RKTologist

5 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan just replaced all the rubber parts but the play button isn't functioning properly seems like. when pressed it will engage the section with the record and play head but wont roll the tape. rewind and fast forward seem to work without issue. edit: note when the play button is pressed the record/playback head will engage for a few seconds and then disengage. any ideas here? also i havent seen the videos where there's swearing but im sure its a hoot

@Tetrakan

5 жыл бұрын

@@RKTologist it sounds like your capstan isn't turning. Ffwd and rwd working means reel motor idler tires etc responding correctly; the head assembly rising in response to play button means the electrical switch, logic and control motor etc are responding correctly. But if the capstan isn't turning, the friction of the pinch roller against the capstan will prevent the tape from winding....the logic will notice the counter is not ascending and retract the head assembly after a short time. Tell me, without a cassette, can you get the capstan to turn by pressing the switch in the top right corner of the cassette cavity?

@RKTologist

5 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan negative, the capstan does not move when the switch is engaged

@Tetrakan

5 жыл бұрын

RKTologist can you hear a motor turn when the switch is pressed? Potential causes to eliminate before worrying whether the capstan motor works -something isn't plugged in after having the transport unit out to change rubber parts; the capstan belt has come off; the switch is bad or bad soldering or wires coming from the switch.

I've been playing catch up with these videos, they're really good, lots of info. Really sad to hear about your house fire, hope everything gets better for you, and you can get back to some normality soon. I can't remember which video it was (had a binge watch!), but did you say you need the schematics for Tascam 244? I have these from years ago, having owned one in the 80's. Just bought a spares /repairs unit and I'm getting it back up to working. Good Luck!

@Tetrakan

4 жыл бұрын

Hey thanks for watching, it was the Tascam 424 MkIII I am missing the schematics for - I do have the 244 schematics, but thank you for the offer!

I just picked up one of these and the four screws that hold down the cassette transport are completely missing. I'm having trouble finding what the correct screw size is. In the service manual, it says M3x6 which should be the same diameter as the case screws, but they don't fit. I'm assuming they have a different thread size. Do you know where I could find more information on this? Thank you, theses videos are amazing!

Hey there, I'm stuck trying to remove the 4 screws that connect the cassette transport to the metal base. Got any tips for removing them? I've tried using rubber bands, but I'm not having much luck. Unfortunately the screws are starting to strip a bit as well.

@Tetrakan

5 жыл бұрын

Sometimes it's helpful to spray a bit if penetrating oil on the screws overnight. Try whacking the base of the screwdriver with a rubber mallet or similar - some times the shock will loosen the screws off. But yeah, it can be a proper pain in the arse sometimes, good luck!

@surferdargile

3 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan thanks a lot for your video... Had have my 244 for 20 years, my first piece of gear, and let it 10 years without using it, shame on me.. now , thanks to you I'm ready to try the refurbishing , it has black tar on pinch roller, big probelms of transport and general need of big cleaning ( crackle and noizes ) ... Can't t be more grateful to your tutorials that made me keen to try it, and come back to that way of recording music ... I have the same problem as @Henry Schoonmaker, one of the 4 screws remain blocked can't figure it out now the Philipps screw looks like a allen key because I've tryed too hard and stripped the screw. :( Can it be useful to try to drill the screw if the overnight oil doesn't make it ? Henri did you succeed at the end ?

@Tetrakan

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah you can try drilling Ng the screw as a last resort. It's actually possible to buy special drill bits for this purpose, though try a normal drill bit first...here's a link to the product I mean from UK, hopefully you can find an equivalent near you if you need it www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Trend-GRAB-SE2-SET-Grabit-Damaged-Micro-Screw-And-Bolt-Remover-4pc-Set-/391901729234?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49292

@surferdargile

3 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan thank you so much ! will try with the "overnight oil" before :)

you rekon there's any way to put the spring for the pinch roller in place without removing it from the case? ... update: actually i bent the pin just enough to slide it under the frame.. i think the pressure is still adequate.

@Tetrakan

3 жыл бұрын

Ooft, glad you got it working but not something I'd recommend - for the sake of unfastening a few screws I'd just take the transport out, which is essential if you're going to change the idler tires, which is something you should attend to if the pinch roller has already gone bad.

@julesnominal1804

3 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan yea.. i realize it might have been a bit stupid. I have not had much luck finding a replacement spring or pinch arm.

Hello! Thank you SO much for this series! Thanks to you, I was able to successfully replace the pinch roller & idler tires on my 246 that had started eating tapes. One issue came up though, that I wondered if you could help me with: I removed one of the door hinge/spring assemblies to get at a screw I had dropped & now I can't seem to figure out how to get the door springs reattached. Do you have any experience with this or sage advice on how to get those springs back where they need to be so the door pops open again? Thanks again for the brilliant videos!

@Tetrakan

2 жыл бұрын

Hi, usually the spring is on the leftmost clip. It slides onto a bare area of the clip, put it on before fitting the pin on the clip into the hinge arm of the door. The spring will have a straight end and one with a squared u shape turn. The straight end should press against the inside surface of the plastic case, above the door cavity. The u shape should Dagle down toward the cavity with the open part of the U facing away from you. Tighten the screws first. Then lift the U end with tweezers, a screwdriver or whatever, and wrap the u shape around the leftmost hinge arm of the door.

@resurmadness4327

2 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan Thanks so much for the reply! Your description is clear but for some reason I’m struggling to translate it to my machine. Do you have an email or somewhere I could possibly dm you a few pics? I could use a tad more guidance if so, I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time with this, haha. Thanks!

@Tetrakan

2 жыл бұрын

Sure, I have Facebook messenger or failing that I think you can email me via the bandcamp page, links in the banner of my yt homepage

I found parts, just wondering if I will be able to slip the rubber off the pinch roller, they don’t sell the whole piece just rubber roller.

@Tetrakan

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, I have a video on how to do that. I think it'd be worth your time to watch at least the first 14 of the videos I have made about refurbishing the 244, if you still have questions after that, please ask, here is the playlist, which includes the video about replacing the rubber. kzread.info/head/PLYsfQOh0tsJVChVak56PE2Jliq3j2TrHy

@guitarpenter3357

3 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan I have already watched several of your videos and subbed to your channel, thanks so much for responding saved me a lot of sifting. Already have it apart, and ready to go thanks to you!

Great! I’m replacing my idler tires today on my 246 so this is much needed. Have you ever done the same for the 144? I need to do the same for mine and I haven’t taken a look in there before to see how different from the 244/246 it is.

@Tetrakan

5 жыл бұрын

Some similarities but pretty different, and a bit more awkward to be honest! Have a look at these articles, they were the most useful reference material I had access to when I was learning about these www.mzentertainment.com/studio_workshop_teac_144.html

@BogoEN

5 жыл бұрын

Tetrakan Supermonobloc Yeah the MZE articles are great, thanks! Have you removed the cover of the 246? I have the service manual and it shows you have to remove a screw underneath a pcb on its side, which would mean removing the DBX board at the very least. Is that true? Or can I get the transport out without removing the top cover?

@Tetrakan

5 жыл бұрын

@@BogoEN I think the screw you're talking about is accessed through a hole in the rec\playback\dbx board? What are you trying to access? Apart from Deep cleaning I think only the meters require removal of the front cover... (transport buttons can be removed from the back on the 246)

@BogoEN

5 жыл бұрын

Tetrakan Supermonobloc you’re right, thank you much. The pots have a very slight *click* here and there from oxidation... I’m wondering if I can get away with just spraying deoxit at the top of each pot and turn em instead of taking each PCB out. The 244 is enough to make me only want to do that once.

@Tetrakan

5 жыл бұрын

BogoEN . Cleaning these things is tedious right enough but I do wonder if taking the front face off is a false economy? Have a go but you may find you need to be remove the mixer channels from the back anyway, that big horizontal board isn't too hard to remove, good luck!

Hello, great series of videos. I'm battling with a 244 at the moment. Just want to know how the white nylon joint which presses on to the variable resistor should be positioned on the pot to be moved by the black plastic cam transport mechanism. One side of the engaging fork on the white nylon joint broke away - maybe it was mis-aligned and broke because of pressure applied? I have glued it, but if it does not hold does anyone have a spare?

@Tetrakan

4 жыл бұрын

gfingersc yeah that’s a headache allright, the orientation of that white plastic part is covered in the service manual which you can download for free from my blog here tetrakansupermonobloc.home.blog/2019/04/26/tascam-244-service-manual/ you’re probably as well referring to that rather than me regurgitating what is written there. As far as repairing the plastic, I’ve had bad experiences with superglue and good ones with spin welding (see my videos on repairing the plastic case and buttons for reference). But based on what I’ve seen in a few other repair you tubers videos recently, jb weld, a 2 part glue seems to be a better shout for this sort of work than superglue, you could try that and proceed to spin welding if necessary?

@gfingersc

4 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan Thanks for that, I can see the listed part but I cannot find any reference to it's orientation so far. The document cannot be searched because it is pictures. Can you give me a hint as to where to find it please?

@Tetrakan

4 жыл бұрын

@@gfingersc just checked and I can't find it either! I think maybe I conflated the manuals with Mike Zee's site which is one of the only resources available when I was figuring this out...here's the link www.mzentertainment.com/pics/teac_244/dr_zee_workshop_tascam_244_project_part5.jpg

@gfingersc

4 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan perfect - that's what I needed thank you so much!

@surferdargile

3 жыл бұрын

@@gfingersc Hello I'm writing to you because the nylon joint of my 244 seems to be "out" of the cam notch where it should be, according to the picture... It doesn' t look like damaged, but maybe unglued from is original place. ... I m afraid to move it , should i unassembly this part, or is it possible to refix it ? thanks a lot

Thanks for the great Videos , they do give me some hope ..before attempting a repair ! I just bough Tascam 246 in good visual shape but by just opening up the bottom part , I can see that both belts are broken and there is a black goo on the wheels . don't know yet if the rubber-O-rings/gaskets need replacement or not. Question 1: Can I determine if rubber-0-rings gaskets are ok or need replacement without removing the cassette transport , I can see them from under a little bit.. they look okay but what do I know ? Question 2: Can I clean the wheels with alcohol and replace the belts without removing the Casette Transport? Question 3: Anyone could help with a reliable source to buy a rubber replacement KIT or parts in Europe or UK ? thanks in advance for any tips and links . cheers, Dimitri ( Amsterdam)

@Tetrakan

3 жыл бұрын

jazzroom if you don’t want to scrimp with o rings etc Google tascam ninja for rubber parts. His stuff is pricey but it is good quality. The belts can be heckled and changed without removing the transport, but not the idler tires. Changing the belts is easier with the transport removed. I consider it a false economy to change the belts and not the other rubber parts, and recommend you remove the transport and change all rubber parts in one go to avoid failing rubber parts from ruining a recording six months down the line. Thanks for watching :)

@jazzroom

3 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan thanks for advice and tips. Yes it would be wiser to change all rubber parts while at it. Though it's scary to remove the cassete transport... and the Idler tires and a pinch roller is scary ...afraid to break something fragile by accident. It's my 1st time attempting something like that. I've got a tascam Midistudio 644 that ive used 8 years ago and if worked great. But play stopped working after 8 years being stored idle, rewind and forward fo work. Dont know if it's a belt or a captstain motor ? do u have experienced with 644 by chance?

@Tetrakan

3 жыл бұрын

@@jazzroom The 246 is pretty robust, its 5 screws and four or five plugs to get the transport open, you will be fine. i have worked on a 644 before although I haven't filmed on for this channel yet. It is complicated to disassemble (though the intructions in the service manual, free download from my blog, are good) but once you are inside the transport is identical to the 464 which I have covered on my channel. If the capstan doesn't spin when the unit is turned on but fffwd and rewind work correctly that indicates you just need to change the capstan belt, good luck!

@jazzroom

3 жыл бұрын

@@Tetrakan thanks alot for your tips and great knowledge! Peace and blessings from Amsterdam

Great I broke the part that you advised us to be careful with.. The white plastic arm underneath the potentiometer for the magnetic head assembly. What can I do ? I tried gluing it back but it breaks each time.

@Tetrakan

4 жыл бұрын

Use glue to hold it in place then friction weld it with a plastic rod in a drill at high speed? I've shown thus in a few videos. Might not work but I know from bitter experience that gluing won't so worth a try

@quebecclassicrock8812

4 жыл бұрын

Tetrakan Supermonobloc Thanks for the cue. I managed to glue it successfuly (not really beautiful but it does the trick). I hope it doesn’t break again.