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Servicing a SONY DAT machine (Pictorial)

hdrobien said:
The problem usually lies in the part circled in red.

It is a kind of silver metal hook that should freely slide along one of the large black gear.

Most of the time it is stuck due to old grease, thus the right guide reaching its end position too soon, preventing the left guide to achieve its travel as it should.
Click to expand...
@hdrobien: after being waylain by other things i finally took the transport apart and cleaned it. the two guides are moving freely and reaching their end-point simultaneously. Unfortunately I still have this problem with the deck.

To recap: deck (DTC-A8) records fine. Tapes play back but no audio unless i hit FFW a couple of times which jolts the signal to life...does anyone have any bright ideas about how to chase this down? I don't think it's a mechanical issue as no amount of prodding the rollers or guides during playback brings the audio to life. Only hitting FFW (and when you do that i notice no change in the workings of the transport except it runs faster). Strange...
 
Anyone possibly have a pinch roller for a first generation TASCAM DA30? Was servicing mine and didn't realize the little retainer at the top of the post had cracked and fallen off, when I turned the mech upside down the pinch roller came off and disappeared never to be seen again. I do have a Sony TCD-D8 for parts... unfortunately the pinch roller won't fit.
 
@evo_kid Does the left guide firmly stays in position during playback if you try to push it back with a finger ?

Have checked that the "silver hook" slides freely along the large black toothed ring ?
 
hdrobien said:
@evo_kid Does the left guide firmly stays in position during playback if you try to push it back with a finger ?

Have checked that the "silver hook" slides freely along the large black toothed ring ?
Click to expand...
I will double check! when i had the transport apart i cleaned off all old grease and manually moved the guides by turning the cogs and they seemed to move freely and, as far as i could tell, seem to reach their holders at the same time. when you say 'stay in position' how much movement are we talking about? it should be rock solid?
 
THE main thing is the silver hook that should slides freely, then the spring loaded arms for the guides.

The guides themselves always move freely

Left guide should as rock solid as the right one. So test the right one first and compare.
 
Hi hdrobien. If the guides are not rock solid like you mentioned but they lean in playback when you press them with your finger, how do you fix that? Also, where can I get a set of screw drivers to adjust the guides? Thanks in advance.
 
Usual issue

You have to dismantle the unit from under :
- remove the loading tray from the transport
- turn the transport upside down
- disconnect the drum motor ribbon cable
- remove a connector to flip the board to the left (4 screws)
- remove the capstan (3 small screws on the other side)
- remove the white toothed gear (small washer)
- disconnect both guides from their loading arm (washer)
- loose the 3rd roller that holds the 2 large black toothed rings
- remove the 2 large black toothed rings
- thoroughly clean the one with the silver hook from old sticky grease : the silver hook must slide freely against its black toothed ring. It usually needs quite a cleaning with degreasing fluid. You can insert a small ribbon of paper between the hook and the ring, soak it with degreasing fluid and move it back and forth.
 
OK, thanks for the quick reply. I will do it and let you know. One last question. Do you know where I can get a good/reliable test tape to adjust the guides? It's very difficult to find one online. Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Hi everyone. I recently bought a SONY DTC-M100 and I'm having issues with the mechanism. Does someone know if there's a tutorial in the forum on how to disassemble and assemble it back again? I think it's similar to the DTC-300 and DTC-500.
Thank you.
 
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