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Teac A-3340s problem

S

Soundball

New Member
Alright, first post. So i just got this Teac 4-track, i got it real cheap.

I cleaned the heads very well with q-tips and 99% Iso. Alcahol, because they were covered in a THICK layer of sticky tape shed, and nowthey are perfectly clean. They have a little bit of wear, but I don't think its that big of an issue.

Ok, so It works great, but the problem is that the Front-Left, and Rear-Right channels (track 1 & 4), sound muffled and have a slightly lower output. This effect only happens on things i record, but they'll playback other tapes just fine.
(affects both Mic and Line inputs)

So, I'm wondering, does this have anything to do with the record head? is it too worn? I think these are the edge tracks on the tape, is it possible that the tape I'm using doesn't line up with the wear pattern of the tape heads? or could this be an "internal" problem.

Whatever the case is, I really don't want to take this to a tech. Any help out there?

I've got 2 mp3's track2(clear), track1(muffled), but no way to upload em.
 
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Did you demag the heads as well as cleaning them?

It seems possible that your record head is misaligned. If it plays back prerecorded tapes fine, then the playback head is probably OK. If the record head is misaligned, it would put the tracks you are recording in the wrong spot on the tape, and then it won't play back properly. I've never had the heads aligned on a deck, but I'd think it is fairly fast and easy for a knowledgable tech with the proper alignment tape and tools. Shouldn't be too costly, I wouldn't think.

I recently got an A-3300S that I've been going through and the service manual lists a procedure for setting the bias level for the individual tracks, could be that it needs to be done on yours.

Where are you located? And welcome to AK!
 
vinyldavid said:
Could be your tape is bad?

What are you using?
Click to expand...

Well im using this old "Quement made by Scotch." It's cheap tape, but I don't think thats the problem because the other tracks (2 and 3) consistently record well.

JonL said:
Did you demag the heads as well as cleaning them?

It seems possible that your record head is misaligned. If it plays back prerecorded tapes fine, then the playback head is probably OK. If the record head is misaligned, it would put the tracks you are recording in the wrong spot on the tape, and then it won't play back properly. I've never had the heads aligned on a deck, but I'd think it is fairly fast and easy for a knowledgable tech with the proper alignment tape and tools. Shouldn't be too costly, I wouldn't think.

I recently got an A-3300S that I've been going through and the service manual lists a procedure for setting the bias level for the individual tracks, could be that it needs to be done on yours.

Where are you located? And welcome to AK!
Click to expand...


I will definitely have to demag, but my gut feeling is that it's a alignment/head problem, because there is a "track" very slightly worn into to the heads, and I guess if the edge tracks are not fitting into this track they wouldn't be making good contact? I'll post a picture of the heads in a bit

Im in the San Francisco bay area, California. Thanks for the help, I'll report back later
 
Try a nice reel of tape. The outer edges of cheap tape are often very dropout-prone. On a 2 track machine they are more usable.

If the center two tracks record well, the heads are probably in alignment, and shouldnt be touched.
 
Vinyldavid's got lots more (and more recent) experience with reel to reel recording than I have, so I'm going to defer to his guidance here. Be sure to let us know what you find!
 
Alright, I'm planning on getting some RMGI tape. And I'll see how that goes.

the record head does have a bit wear - see pics.

head2.jpg


head1.jpg


Hope thats not too bad!
 
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Your head has a groove worn into it. Unless the new tape can fit between the outer ridges of that groove, you will have to re-lap or replace. You can try adjusting the head height (bearing in mind the effect this has on the other geometrical planes) to see if your tape will fit without one or both edges riding up over the groove.
 

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Don't know what I'm doing wrong but you alll seem to be able to put images in your posts whereas I had to spend half an hour doctoring a pic that had to be reduced in reolution and then only ended up as a link. Anyway, hope the gist gets across...
 
That's gettin on the edge of usable head wear....is the tape riding in that groove? if it is, it might be usable, if not....new head time :)

At least the groove looks well centered on the tracks.
 
That wear is excessive. I am not surprised you are getting high frequency loss. TEAC has a lot of parts still. Even if you don't want to take it to a tech, if you are planning on keeping this deck you ought to invest in a record head if it's still available. Replacing the head requires a soldering iron, an audio generator and an oscilloscope. If you have those, you could follow the directions in the service manual and replace the head yourself. If not, not taking it to a technician is a bit like saying you have a brain aneurysm but don't want to go to a doctor.
 
fortycoats said:
Don't know what I'm doing wrong but you alll seem to be able to put images in your posts whereas I had to spend half an hour doctoring a pic that had to be reduced in reolution and then only ended up as a link. Anyway, hope the gist gets across...
Click to expand...

to put images in you use IMG code so its like:

"bracket"IMG"bracket" link to your picture "bracket"/IMG"bracket"

i put "bracket" where there should be a [ or ]

yeah, my feeling is that the tape is not fitting into that groove around the edges, which is causing bad contact at the edge tracks. Do you guys think a lapping of the heads is in order?

If i were to lap or replace i think i would be able to do the alignment/calibration myself, I think i know someone i can borrow an oscope from
 
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Thanks for posting the pics of a what a worn head looks like....

I thought the heads on this Teac model (A3340S) were designed so you could replace the head(s) without losing the alignment?
 
I was getting a total drop-out of track 4 on my deck before I spotted the same condition and I was able to cure it by adjusting the head height so that the tape didn't ride over the edge. However, I only had the problem on the one track and I knew I was lucky with the wear pattern because, if the same thing was present on the other side, the head height adjustment would only have shifted the problem to track 1.

Thanks for the images tip.
 
alright, so i went ahead and lapped it myself, because i figured the problem was that groove. Well, all i gotta say is it looks great, no groove, just look at the before and after picture! I still have to install the head, and hope it works.

lapp1.jpg


lapp2.jpg
 
Looks nice! Was this your first time at relapping? How and what did you use and how long did it take for each head?

A breakdown of the process from someone who actually did it them-self and photos of your process along with a list of materials and cost could be of great help to all us Ak'ers still into "taping it" !

Excellent work...keep us "posted" :) I am especially interested since I own an A 3340S and a X1000RBL....that head looks minty!


Phil
 
Soundball - Excellent work! I agree with Macman.. if you could share your knowledge and experience on this process, it would be a big help! I have the same deck... and the same head wear problem.

Have you installed the head and tested yet?
 
That's just beautiful! Gotta figure if you worked out how to do that by yourself, you'll figure out the re-installation and alignment part too. Now, give us the skinny! What's the low-down, Browne? What's the scoop, Betty Boop? (I'm on my way outta town.)
 
this was my first time lapping, and believe it or not, its actually a very easy to do. I looked around at a couple other threads on this site for more info. but really all I i did was wet-sand on a hard FLAT surface (i used glass), with 600 grit paper, then some 1000 grit and 2000grit. It only took me maybe 10 minutes to complete the actual lapping process. One think to keep in mind is to make sure you apply even pressure, so you don't sand one side of the head more than the other. The worst part of all this was the actual re-soldering of the head, it was such a pain in the ass because, it had 8 wire to be soldering and very little room to work with - it took 2 pairs of hand to get the job done. Fortunetly as Jmiles1960 pointed out, this model deck does allow you to remove the head without messing with the alignment. I only lapped the record head, so maybe in the future I can make a how-to video and "tape" the process of head lapping for the playback head. Though it is pretty straight forward, and I don't know what else the tech/pro-shops could be doing that could be any better as far as head lapping goes.

Alright well, so I installed the head.
Good News: It works great, no groove
Bad News: track 1 and 4 still sound a tad muffled

hmm...it wouldn't be a bad idea to lap the playback head(which had the same amount of wear)

who knows? It might not be a head problem at all(at least not the with the record head)
I still haven't gotten around to demagnetizing, because I still need to buy a demagnetizer - will take care of that soon.
I will soon have some SM911 RMGI.

I'll keep you guys updated
 
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