 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
69.8.247.233
Hey guys, I got a pretty grimey Teac 3300S reel deck and was wondering what I need to do to get this monster up and running. I don't even have a power cord so I don't know if it powers up. I'm pretty sure I can get one at the local thrift. They have a bin with all sorts of cords.
Next, the deck is pretty dirty. The heads literally have cobwebs on them. The capstan and pinch roller are pretty nasty looking too. What's the best way to clean these things?.
The RCA jacks are pretty corroded looking too. What's the best way to clean these guys up short of replacing them? How do you get inside where the pin from the cable would go in?
What's the best way to clean up the metal face plate? Is there a cleaner that can brighten it up a bit? I think there are some patches of adhesive tape residue. Once they came off it should look good.
The wood looks pretty decent on the sides of the deck. Is there a preferred wood treatment to clean them up a bit?
The deck came with a 10.5 metal take up reel, and two 10.5 tapes but no hubs! Where is a good place to get hubs for cheap? I went to a store here in Hollywood and they wanted $40 for each Tascam hub, $80 total. Any good online places for these things?
Also I'd like to snag a manual for free if possible. I don't know a thing about this deck. Most of the controls and switches make sense but some of the switches I'm not sure about.
If I have to replace the belts, would this be something that I could do? Someone told me that you can still get belts from Teac. Now that's what I call product support!
Sorry about the length of this post and thanks for any help and advice you can give. Looking forward to getting this baby running.
Follow Ups:
Let me begin by saying thanks for all the great advice. You guys rock or classical, or jazz as per your musical tastes.
I stated in the earlier post this deck is pretty dirty. Well it's less dirty now, using your guys' advice I cleaned off the residue from the guides, heads, capstan, pinch roller and it's looking a lot better.
Snagged a cord from a local thrift store and I plugged the beast in. The VUs lit up so I thought that was a plus. Turned it off, patched it in and turned it on again. Put a pre-recorded tape on and hit play. Problem one popped up. I have a stuck pinch roller. Pretty common I'm guessing.
A little manual assistance though and the roller clicked into place and it started playing but very softly and only in the right channel. No sound or movement in the left meter at all. Didn't know quite what to do at this point. So...
I took off that tape and put on a blank one. I set it up to record and the rec and pause switches lit up nicely. Both VU needles were bouncing along perfectly. I hit play and started to record. I then hit the switch to change from source to tape and had the same problem as playing a tape before. The left channel had no sound and the VU wasn't moving at all and the right channel was very quiet with little VU needle movement.
I don't know how I thought of the next thing I did but I placed my finger on the top of the left reel which created a little bit of drag. Suddenly the sound from the right channel was just beautiful and the right VU needle started moving much more. Still nothing from the left channel.
Oddly enough, this little bout of amazing audio has me really hooked on reel to reel decks. Now I know what all the fuss is about and this is with a pretty gnarly old deck.
Not sure about my next move. Any suggestions? I'm not really equipped to rebuild this deck.
Thanks again for all your help.
Just a hunch....you went to Ametron. Lots of neat stuff, but some of their prices are indeed a bit on the high side. I like that store too. But the hubs are about the same price as you'll find anywhere.
Anyway, you have been indeed offered lots of good advice. One poster mentioned that he's in Anaheim. Well I'm in Placentia, which means I'm fairly local too. So if you have any questions or concerns, or hell...just want to meet up somewhere for a beer and talk tape, let me know.
Dude, you had more than a hunch. I used to work down the street from Ametron and we'd buy stuff from them for work.
It would be cool to talk tape one of these days.
Right now I'm working on someone's documentary and putting in insane hours and working 7 days a week. It's what you gotta do when you work in production.
I'm guessing your deck is your moniker, right?
Don't count on getting free manuals. The TEAC Place has them for reasonable prices. They also have belts and a cool oiler for the motors. I doubt if TEAC can do much for you. They had a large facility in Montebello (I think), but I don't know if it's still there. If it hasn't had servicing in a while, all the pivots will need to be cleaned and lubed. I've seen hubs on a number of web sites. I'm in Anaheim if you need any help, let me know.
Norm
Oh yea, the wood is eurasian teak, so use teak oil. The front is stainless steel and there are a number of treatments for it.
I lent my 3300 to a friend for a few weeks so I'll try and answer some of you ?'s from memory.
In general, a good source for you belts/manual is ;
http://www.vintage-electronics.cc/index.html
Clean the RCA jacks with DeOxit. Available from every online audio shop. Clean in center with a pipe cleaner. They were never shinny like modern ones so just clean it well.
If you remove the face plate (remove pinch roller, tension arms, head cover) use GooGone (available at the grocery or hardware store) adhesive remover( the gel works the best) and let it soak (if the glue is hard) and wipe off. I think that the brushed aluminum is clear coated so just use your favorite household cleaner( don't scrub the lettering off!).
Use something like 409 on the pinch roller and get yourself some Rubber Renue (MG Chemicals) from Antique Electric supply ( or many other places, like Fry's Electronics) which will help the rubber be pliable.
If your at the hardware store, get some Howards RestoraFinish in the appropriate tint. Don't go overboard with it or the finish will start looking muddy.
For hubs and all reel to reel related stuff;
http://www.usrecordingmedia.com/
There's some excellent tips and FAQ's page there. Don't come back till you've read it,.. or not.
Oh yeah, you can get the power cord at Parts Express.
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
