Sony TC-255 suddenly playing slower?

[phonophan79]

Greetings -

I am new to R2R but I am getting into it and would love to learn more.

My first unit is a Sony TC-255 I picked up locally. I realize this is a bottom of the line unit... but, hear me out.

It's super clean inside and out. (I think? Picture attached.) It was playing and working well... for about a week.

I was listening to a reel when I physically heard the speed slow down. Now it seems to be constantly playing at this slightly slower (but obviously wrong) speed.

I thought OK - maybe need to change the belts. ...but after a belt replacement, still playing at the same incorrect, slower speed.

Any thoughts? It's a great little machine... i'd love to get it working properly again. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[phonophan79]

Problem solved.

Original Motor Capacitor had broken / leaked... and replaced. Playing back to normal speed now.

 

[audiojones]

Nice work! That's a very common problem in all Sony single motor machines, you found the right solution.

Looks like a nice clean example of a TC-255 you've got there.

 

[JURB]

And when your house AC doesn't work you'll know the problem.

Seriously, a few years ago I get a call from Ma, AC not working. I get there, oh shit this looks like a condensing unit and the damn thing is Freon 22 which means a special order and finding someone with a CFC card to even get it. so I calls my buddy with the CFC card and he say "what about the capacitor". Sure as heel that was it.

Why mention this ? Well with the new capacitor, her electric bill went down ! I asked engineers and YES, that cap getting weak will make the motor less efficient, then it just gets to the point where it won't run at all.

So now all you folks who restore this type of equipment are on notice to take a look, or reading at that cap. (probably were anyway)

What I do not know is if they fail like regular lytics or what. It would be nice to just be able to throw an ESR meter on there and know right away. If it just lowers in capacitance the ESR meter might not show it up.

 

[eddisc]

I am new to R2R but I am getting into it and would love to learn more

some light reading & links...
http://artsites.ucsc.edu/EMS/music/equipment/analog_recorders/analog_recorders.html

 

[Odie3]

Thank you for this post. My dad's Sony TC-255 played for a bit, then slowed down. So I am going to give this a try (found a cap for Sony TCs on Ebay). If I get this thing running, he would be proud of me if he was still around. With a little luck and the ordered belts and NOS Sony idler wheel I'll be playing at proper speeds.

My dad has a reel where he recorded the man walking on the moon, I'm supposed to be making noise in the background (I was almost a month old). Inside the reel case were a few b/w Polaroids of Neil Armstrong on my grandmother TV ... how times have changed. Anyways, glad I found this site and post - thank you for a little hope in my repair!

 

[Odie3]

The new run-cap fix the play speed problem! I have picked up a donor TC-255 that will be here in a few days but I expect my dads to be the 'donor' as I think the left channel is fubar'ed (but the right sounds smashing good).

 

[rkgren1]

Hmmm. My TC-540 is showing the same tendencies.
I will have to pull it out of the case and have a look.
Thanks.

 

[Sethbramwell]

Hmmm. My TC-540 is showing the same tendencies.
I will have to pull it out of the case and have a look.
Thanks.

This problem may be long since solved, but just food for thought: I recently picked up a TC-255 with the same problem. Replaced the belt and the motor run capacitor. Both helped a little, but it still ran slow in 71/2 ips, ran fine at 3 3/4 ips, and ground to a halt when it was stood upright. As a last ditch effort, I tried soaking the idler wheels in DOT-3 brake fluid for a couple hours, let them air dry over night, rinsed them off and reinstalled them... Lo and behold it solved every problem! She now runs correctly in all speeds, horizontal and vertical.