Realistic TR-3000 RTR problems rewinding and fast fowarding

Have Realistic TR-3000 with non-working Rewind & Fast-Forward modes...

Hello Lee and other AK'ers. This is my first post to this forum. Congrats Lee on your successful troubleshooting of the X-3.

I have a small reel-to-reel collection, and two of the machines are the Realistic TR-3000 and the TEAC X-3MKII. From my reading, the TR-3000 and the X-3 are the same machine... the X-3MKII apparently has some different circuitry on the Record/Play amp PCB. On my TR-3000, I am able to play & record, and in fact, did an alignment on the machine, minus a few things like flutter and distortion measurements, for which I don't have the test instrumentation. Just my trusty MRL calibration tapes and an HP 400E AC Voltmeter (well, I have a DMM too, and various audio gear and software, which also comes in handy).

However, on this machine, the rewind and fast-forward functions are inop. When I press either of those buttons, the reel brakes are released (as they should be), but there is no motion of either of the reel turntables. I can turn them freely by hand- it's like there is no current going to either reel motor. Play/Record mode works fine- there is the proper amount of hold-back tension and takeup tension on the reels, so I figured that the motors are fine- maybe it's a failed switch (as in Lee's machine) or perhaps a fried electronic component on the control board. Btw I took out each of the fuses, and they all look fine. I just haven't checked them electrically.

I haven't done any voltage measurements on the PCBs yet, but after reading this thread, I have some hope that perhaps I can find the problem. I have the X-3 service manual (which I used for the play/record alignment) so I will do some testing per the manual and see where it leads me.

Lee, I was curious to see the photos that you posted of your repairs, but I can't access them via this thread. Are they still available somewhere else?

Thanks!
--Doug



FIXED IT!

....

RealisticTR-3000-01.jpg


Here is the board with the switch removed, I also circled the new motor run capacitors I put in.

RealisticTR-3000-02.jpg


After carefully taking the switch apart, I found the problem. The little white plastic piece (circled in the picture below) had broken.

RealisticTR-3000-03.jpg
 
Hi Doug,

Ooops... I deleted the photos when I was clearing out some other ones. I just uploaded them again, you should be able to see them now, you might have to do a refresh in case your browser is using a cached copy of the page.

If you reel motors aren't spinning in FF or REW, check to see if they are getting power. If either of the fuses are blown, or the switch has failed inside like mine did, that will do it. I sat and stared and stared at the page of the TEAC service manual trying to figure out why my deck was running slow in FF or REW. Unfortunately, to get to those switches to test them, you have to take so much out of the way. And testing them in-circuit probably won't get the correct results as pulling them off the board. It's a really weird design switch, the only other place I've seen something similar is the power switch on a NAD 3020 amp.

You could also try replacing your motor run capacitors. I got mine from Allied Electronics, the part number is earlier on in this thread.

Hope this helps,

Lee.
 
Thanks, Lee. Yes, I can see the photos now. Interesting! Well, I'll do some troubleshooting on the TR-3000 when time permits. And yes, I've read the entire thread and noted the posts about the "motor run capacitors".

Regards,
--Doug
 
Those switches, the Play switch especially so, are known weaknesses on this family of machines. The Realistic TR 3000 was a Teac OEM build for Radio Shack to begin with, this machine sold so well, that Teac decided to sell them as Teac and Tascam machines with this transport design. If it has not had a capstan belt recently, a good idea to replace that belt. The DC capstan motor is somewhat delicate, you want that motor to live an easy life.
 
Bump on a very old thread......but......you say you had to remove the top board to get to the PCB with the switches, and yet the picture shows it's still installed.
I have 3 of these TR3000's now and one has a bad play switch and I need to get it out.
So I have to de-solder the board on top then?
Thank you!
 
There are two pictures, one shows the board on, the other shows it removed.

Lee.
 
Good God that was a fast reply!

Ok now I see it!
Thanx!
I kinda thought you meant the giant PCB above it and below the motors.
Still a bitch to get out though!
I'm an idiot.
anyway,.......I'm gonna tear into this sat morning!
 
OK so I tore out the Play switch just like you did and it wasn't broken.
FFW and REW worked but Play did not.

I put it back together and now REW don't work.

So I must have to tear ALL the switches out and check them all?

I am afraid to measure ohms voltage etc while this board is halfway tore out of the machine.
I can't see any other way to measure it normally since it's so damn tight inside the machine.

How did you measure yours?
 
I would check all the switches and make sure both the front and back sections are working together. From what I remember when I did this, they are all kind of daisy-chained together, so if one goes bad it affects everything. I don't have the schematics to hand right now to check this.

Lee.
 
Thanx...they are somewhat connected but it seems the play switch doesn't "chain" with rew and ffw.
The schematic shows the rew and ffw just having one connection whereas the play has 2 connections inside.
One in front lower voltage and one in back higher voltage for the reel motor.

Trying to get a good price right now on Ebay for a whole transport assembly, although I would love to be able to fix this one as it would be satisfying.
 
Finally fixed it.
Although I had to disable the pause switch. The tiny, tiny little brown "wheel" spins on a tiny "axle". It broke and caused the the metal connector bars to keep coming unseated.
I even 3D printed a little block to keep the pause switch from ever being push in again. Jumped the connections on the solder side with wire.
If I ever find a replacement switch for a good price, I'll stick it in there. eBay has the entire assembly for around 30-50 bucks and I don't wanna spend that on this machine.
But for now, on to the two Sony TC580's that need attention and serviced and re-capped.
 
I too have picked one of these little treasures. In fact, I got two Realistic TR-3000s. One actually works pretty well. Nothing a little calibration won't fix (assuming I can figure out how to do that). The problem child plays ok except the feed reel seems to have little to no back tension. It fast forwards fine but refuses to rewind. I assume that both of those issues are related. The possibility of the reel motor run capacitor being the problem sounds like a fairly easy fix but where do I source that capacitor? The link posted years ago to the Allied Electronics site is no longer valid. Another minor issue with the problem child is the lights in the VU meters are dim. The voltage should be the 6.1VAC from the transformer secondary. I verified that the transformer's 6.1V windings are fine and producing 6.1V at pins 10 and 15 on the power supply board. Somewhere along the way, something is pulling that down because the voltage measured at the bulbs is 3.8VAC. Can anyone assist a novice old fart bring this thing back to life?
 
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