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Reel To Reel Annoyance

G

GaryJ73167

New Member
I am going to try to keep this short.

I am on my 2nd RT-707 (Pioneer) deck. The 1st one I bought off eBay was sold "as is". It was dirty (heads were dirty), mechanism was sticky,..etc..etc. It sounded great, but, as I said, it needed some work. Something I noticed on this deck, was, I kept hearing a scraping of the tape rubbing against (what I think) was a warped take-up reel. This may not sound like much of a problem, but, it was annoying the hell out of me. I eventually returned the deck for many reasons.

So, now I am on my 2nd deck. Another Pioneer RT-707 (I just love the look and sound of these decks). This thing has been serviced completely. All mechanisms were lubed, heads were aligned, polished to a shine, demagnetized. The components inside were recapped,....it is in pristine condition. It also came with 2 PR-85 take up reels. And, once again, one of the 2 reels are getting the scraping noise and you can CLEARLY see that the one scraping is warped. The shafts themselves (on the deck) do not appear to be bent or out of line. So, I went to a local audio store and asked if they had any take-up reels , and, to my surprise, they had a bunch of plastic ones (stored in a milk crate). So, I bought a few, got them home, and, the scraping continues. It did not solve my problem.

The scraping doesn't always happen on one side of the deck. depending on the reels I am using, it could happen on either side which makes me think it isn't an issue with the deck. And, some reels are good on side one, but, then when I flip it over, the scraping starts on side 2. I am assuming it didn't help that I bought a bunch of used plastic reels being stored in a milk crate :/

I know that the noise I hear is the tape scraping against the reel. i can clearly see that the reel is going in and out (bent) and making this noise when hitting the tape. My question here is, is this a common problem with 7" reels? or, ANY reel to reel for that matter?

If this isn't a common issue, then I have the worst luck in the world when it comes to buying reels and trying to find a quiet one. I am not sure (at this point) if I should just splurge and get a good set of metal take-up reels from eBay. Some of the pairs go as hight as $200.00. I don't mind spending the money if it will eliminate my issue.

Just looking for some opinions.
 
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apachef1 said:
Do the reels feel secure against the reel hub on the pioneer?
Click to expand...
Yes. They do.

I just learned a trick from googling my issue. I am hearing that the hubs may me misaligned which is causing the tape to rub against the inside of the reel. So, someone suggested getting a spacer. I googled "reel spacer" and found a various amount. Someone also mentioned that while I wait for a spacer, a CD (being used as the spacer behind the reel) will work. And, wouldn't ya know? It works like a charm. So, I am going to get spacers. I hear that it is an easy fix to make the adjustment I need, but, i don't trust myself to do it :)
 
GaryJ73167 said:
Thank you :)

I am still going to want to get a spacer (or spacers) though. Rather than continuing to use CD's to do what i need it to do.

Would something like this work for the Pioneer RT-707 (7" Reels) ? I am not sure how universal these things are.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-2-RUBBE...626056?hash=item1c64d2e108:g:M88AAOxy3NBSc9AE
Click to expand...
Your eBay ad is the type of spacer that everybody is referring to....these are actually a good deal, the original rubber ones are normally considerably more expensive, aftermarket ones in this price range are generally made from cardboard card stock.
 
Wait a moment, the RT-707 does not have adjustable reel tables?!even my cheapo 2300S has them. Not all reels are the same and you might need different spacer depending on the reels you have.
 
Some reel to reel machines (mine is an Akai)
provide a shaft coupler behind the front panel that couples the motor to the reel table. You can loosen the bolts and move the table in or out to compensate (center) the tape.

I am not familiar with the rt707 but there's a possibility your deck will have something like this.

Please select a good flat reel for this alignment or you may compound the problem further, just my twocents!!
 
setting the reel height is something that is done to set up a machine properly.

The reel spacers linked above, are usually used for the larger reels as there is a difference in thickness between the metal (thinner) and plastic reels. The NAB adapters that don't have the spacer adjustability that the Teac TZ-612 NAB adapters have, with removable rings on their base, will need the rubber spacers. Seven-inch reel machines do not need these as most 7" reels are the same thickness. Even the Maxell 7" metal reels have a thicker hub to allow proper tape alignment on the machine. Setting the machine to properly pack a tape in PLAY, locating it in the middle of the reel space, will solve the problem is the reel tables/shafts are not bent.

The pic Jeff linked is of the reel adjustment built into the reel tables of the some Pioneer machines. the RT-909 has these adjustments and wouldn't need the spacers even thought It is supplied with non-adjustable NAB adapters.
 
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MaxxVolume said:
Your eBay ad is the type of spacer that everybody is referring to....these are actually a good deal, the original rubber ones are normally considerably more expensive, aftermarket ones in this price range are generally made from cardboard card stock.
Click to expand...

...which means you can make your own out of a business card or similar. Cost = $0.00. I've done it quite a few times.

OTOH, many plastic reels are warped, so you can adjust your a$$ off and never get it right. At least with a metal reel you can gently bend the offender so that it's quiet.

Happy trails,
Larry B.
 
If the metal take-up reel on my RT-707 scrapes, I take it off and rotate it 120 or 240 degrees and it takes care of the problem. The reel seems to work best in a specific position.
The metal reel appears flat, rotating it may be compensating for another problem, all I know is that it works.
Hope this helps.

Jim
 
hertzdonut said:
Evoroadster nailed it.

- Jeff

Click to expand...

Yup, I routinely adjust the reels in or out on my RT-901 (has same adjustment screws in the hubs) in order to account for different-thickness reels or warped reels. Works great. Now if you find tape still rubbing when the reel table is at one of the far ends of its travel, a different fix may be in order (like using a spacer).
 
cnolanh said:
Yup, I routinely adjust the reels in or out on my RT-901 (has same adjustment screws in the hubs) in order to account for different-thickness reels or warped reels. Works great. Now if you find tape still rubbing when the reel table is at one of the far ends of its travel, a different fix may be in order (like using a spacer).
Click to expand...

Interesting. Doesn't this require loosening the set screw on the motor shaft? I'm confused, I didn't think that screw on the front of the spindle was for adjusting anything, just for taking it apart....?
 
That adjustment shown in the picture works all the time on the 10½" machines. Easy user serviceable opportunity. I don't know if they do on the 7" machines which should not need them as the reels are the same thickness almost all the time.
 
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hertzdonut said:
Evoroadster nailed it.

- Jeff


Click to expand...

This screw on an RT-707 does not adjust the reel table height, it simply disassembles the reel hold-down clamp. The reel table height on these machines is adjusted by loosening the set screw illustrated in the picture in post #10.

mistermax said:
Interesting. Doesn't this require loosening the set screw on the motor shaft? I'm confused, I didn't think that screw on the front of the spindle was for adjusting anything, just for taking it apart....?
Click to expand...

You are correct, that screw on the front spindle is just for taking the spindle apart on the RT-707 and RT-701 models.
 
1tumbleweed said:
...which means you can make your own out of a business card or similar. Cost = $0.00. I've done it quite a few times.

OTOH, many plastic reels are warped, so you can adjust your a$$ off and never get it right. At least with a metal reel you can gently bend the offender so that it's quiet.

Happy trails,
Larry B.
Click to expand...
I f what you say is true then I must be a lucky S.O.B. because I have never had a plastic warped Reel and that's with over a hundred of them empty, on hand.Many more full of Tape:)
 
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