Why did I buy this?

[sol7]

So, I saw an online ad with a couple, not so great, pictures. One barely showed some stereo equipment and the other had a R2R in it. I could have lived without the stereo gear (not that it was bad stuff), but the R2R was something I remember drooling over in the catalogs back in the day. I tried to resist, but ended up contacting the seller and to my dismay, it was still available.

I went to check it out and it had issues. As in it did not play in either direction, but FF and REW worked. Had to buy it though. It sat for a few years according to the seller. I'm sure the belt is toast and I'm hoping that's all that's wrong with it. Still need to get a better look at the heads to see just how much use it's had. It came with three tapes. I'm dreaming by hoping those were the only three tapes that passed across the heads before the novelty wore off.

 

[Decibel_116]

Nice looking deck.

 

[ETLS]

1. You didn't have one.
2. Price was right.
3. You had the cash.
4. There was room somewhere in the house where it would fit.
5. S.O. did not actually say you couldn't bring home more equipment.
6. Someone else would have your stuff at their house.

 

[sol7]

1. You didn't have one.----- Correct
2. Price was right.----- Maybe
3. You had the cash.----- Sort of
4. There was room somewhere in the house where it would fit.---- Unfortunately
5. S.O. did not actually say you couldn't bring home more equipment.---- Doesn't Apply
6. Someone else would have your stuff at their house.---- Ha

 

[jbrainey]

The belts are super easy to replace on these as long as you pay attention to the spacer/washer placement when reassembling. You can find info on this over at TH's dotcom. Old dried up lube on the tensioners is also an issue, but can be resolved by someone with average mechanical skills. It may still have problems beyond this though and could probably use a good going over by a tech. I have been using my silver faced model since 1989 with nothing more than a simple lube and belt replacement. An excellent consumer quality deck that sounds great and has lots of features.
The only thing I fear is the unavailability of replacement heads. I hope that eventually those will become available again as it would be a shame to toss these machines.

 

[phantomrebel]

Bought it because you could! Great deck, FF and REW working but no play says it is likely the belt. It is goo by now. Easy fix if you can find a replacement (Teac no longer sells and Marrs has gone dark with terrible customer service). You got the hub adapters, remote, and the take up reel though so that's nice. Also check rollers move up and drop down freely. I just finished an X1000R that had frozen up (roller mechanism needed to be freed up big time). The rollers must also be clean, soft and grippy or tape won't track properly. Good luck with the restoration, its a nice deck!

 

[sol7]

This will be a project for when the weather starts to turn. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's just the belt. When I first tested it, it did "play" for a few seconds, then slowed to a stop. Will also have to do a lube job. Tension arms move, but they feel a little stiff to me.

Anybody know if TEAC still cares parts for X-2000R's (aka belts)? I haven't tried to contact them yet.

I also have a Revox PR99 MKII sitting in the que. I think the Revox and TEAC will be the keepers. Then I won't have to bother with the others.

 

[audiojones]

Tension arms are supposed to get tight as they are moved up, that is normal. The primary lube issue with these decks is with the pinch roller carriage assembly, that has to snap into place instantly when play is pressed with no sluggish action at all. I like to completely tear these down and clean / lube / reassemble them including the capstan motor but if nothing else be sure to clean and lubricate the capstan bearings (and don't mix up the flywheels when reassembling).

Belt is pretty easy just mind the connections on the control board (you have to disconnect the plugs on the control board, swing it up out of the way and hang it on the frame hook holders to get at the belt / motor / flywheels). Make sure everything gets plugged back in when you are done, the plugs only fit in their respective sockets. This is an awesome deck, no way I'd not buy one of those. Congrats!

 

[revox-b77]

That will be very nice once cleaned, congratulations!

 

[Kevin D]

Nice!!!

 

[Markoneswift]

Sweet. I wondered why I bought my Akai 4000d from the recycle centre - it was missing knob and bits and pieces - but once I'd replaced those and got it going again, I knew why had bought it ! Totally love the sound of a decent R2R, good luck getting yours going.

 

[sol7]

Thanks all.

I was checking out the heads. A little wear, but not bad. I think it's seen minimal use. There was lots of crud on the heads and guides. I'm gonna try running a tape through it and see if that caused it to not play.

 

[phantomrebel]

deleted

 

[sol7]

Belt is definitely shot. Capstans don't even spin or engage the pinch rollers. Something else cropping up, reels need a little nudge to get moving in FF and REW. I'm hoping it's just the tape. It might have sticky-shed syndrome.

 

[phantomrebel]

I was going to say this in the previous post, but deleted it as it was worded harshly... Anyways, I strongly suggest you take a little bit of time and open the deck up to examine the belt and flywheels (and clean them) before playing any tapes. Likely lots of goo there. Also check and lube the roller carriage mechanism. Likely lots of hardened grease holding things up there. Do they go up and down freely by hand? These are easy things to do and can save further stress to parts like motors.

Process is similar (but not exact) to what Vintage TX posted regarding servicing the X-1000R (http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/general-info-on-teac-x-1000r-rtr.59729/)

 

[sol7]

I'm just checking the stupid stuff before I dig in to it. All the external "rolling" parts are moving freely. It's all going to get cleaned and lubed anyways.

 

[phantomrebel]

What I am talking about is stupid stuff. Is the belt gone, are the mechanicals dried up...etc. No delving into complex adjustments or electronic testing yet. You wouldn't start an old found car that sat for years without first opening the hood and checking the fluids and belts would ya?

 

[sol7]

Depends what the car is..... I understand what you are saying though. I'm done fiddling with now until I dig in and replace the belt and lube it.

 

[sol7]

What a surprise here....

I must say that was the easiest gooey belt cleanup I've ever done. It pulled right off with no residue. Well, I guess it wasn't completely turned to goo. Probably in a couple more years it would have been a different story.

 

[phantomrebel]

Wow, did you get lucky! The last one I did was a mess. This is after scraping off the solids:

Looks like your's was serviced at some point since there is excess grease on the flywheel ends. As for a new belt, you can forget about Teac or Marrs as they have become totally unresponsive (mars still has my money). I was able to get one that works great from daeinconline. Vintage-electronics also carries them.