Tascam 122 Idler Tires

[standay]

Got a Tascam 122 today. Replaced the belts. Counter was weak, capstan was melted and a mess. Now it plays. But...(there's always a but). Fast forward and rewind are weak, and I have a tick...tick...tick sound when running. I think it needs new idler tires. See attached photo. If you look closely you can see a small "divot" in the rubber in one of the tires. Can anyone tell me where to get the tires, and what part number to order? If you have seen this and you think it's something else please let me know.



Also, if it is the tires, any advice on how to go about replacing them? Things to watch out for and technique for removing them.

Thanks

 

[audiocrzy]

There are several places that can rerubber your pinch roller. I use Voice of Music. They just did a pinch roller and counter roller from a Tascam 48 I had. The work was fine and the cost was reasonable. I’ve used them several times.

 

[Tinman]

The original idler tires are no longer made, however many people sell them for around $11 a pair. Which is not a bad deal, as they are square O rings from McMaster Carr at about that same cost for a bag of 100.

They work absolutely fine, I have a bag full myself. You just take a pick and pull the old one's off and pop new one's on.
Clean with alcohol to remove any fabrication residues and re-install the assembly.

At $11 on ebay, you are paying someone for the convenience of having the work done for you. And you may not need a spare 98 "O" rings. BTW, they are the same O rings, regardless of which boutique shop you may buy them from. So don't waste your money.

 

[standay]

The original idler tires are no longer made, however many people sell them for around $11 a pair. Which is not a bad deal, as they are square O rings from McMaster Carr at about that same cost for a bag of 100.

They work absolutely fine, I have a bag full myself. You just take a pick and pull the old one's off and pop new one's on.
Clean with alcohol to remove any fabrication residues and re-install the assembly.

At $11 on ebay, you are paying someone for the convenience of having the work done for you. And you may not need a spare 98 "O" rings. BTW, they are the same O rings, regardless of which boutique shop you may buy them from. So don't waste your money.

Thanks. I already ordered a pair off eBay but that's OK. I only need the 2 o rings for now!

 

[Tinman]

Hopefully you get the correct size. There were 2 different size idlers. The Tascam 122 and Teac C-3X are basically the same deck, but SOME alterations, sometimes the idlers. The Tascam 122MKII has different size idlers as well.
The 122 and C-3X are absolute BATTLESHIPS, the MKII is very good and offers a few enhancements, the MKIII was the "Accountant Special". I'd just avoid it unless someone gave you one. I'm sure that'll ruffle some ambitious seller's feathers. But I call em as I see em. The MKIII is still a great deck, but it aint "all that".

 

[standay]

Hopefully you get the correct size. There were 2 different size idlers. The Tascam 122 and Teac C-3X are basically the same deck, but SOME alterations, sometimes the idlers. The Tascam 122MKII has different size idlers as well.
The 122 and C-3X are absolute BATTLESHIPS, the MKII is very good and offers a few enhancements, the MKIII was the "Accountant Special". I'd just avoid it unless someone gave you one. I'm sure that'll ruffle some ambitious seller's feathers. But I call em as I see em. The MKIII is still a great deck, but it aint "all that".

That's what it looked like to me too. If I can get the 122 working and if I like it, I'll go with that. If I don't like it, I'll look into a MKII. The eBay listing swears the idlers are good for the 122 so we'll see.

I may need to adjust the head alignment on the 122. Looks like it uses a tiny nut driver. Any idea as to what size that is? If I need to do that adjustment I'll need to get the nut driver for it as well.

 

[Tinman]

I don't recall the size of the nut. I have a jeweler's nut driver set and blindly poke at it until one fits.
Don't turn the azimuth screw without a known alignment tape and a scope.
If you go for a 122MKII, be prepared to re-cap the capstan motor.

 

[standay]

I don't recall the size of the nut. I have a jeweler's nut driver set and blindly poke at it until one fits.
Don't turn the azimuth screw without a known alignment tape and a scope.
If you go for a 122MKII, be prepared to re-cap the capstan motor.

I measured the nut with calipers and it looks like it's 4mm. I just ordered a small metric set off amazon and one of them should work. The 122 is very good cosmetically and complete (no missing screws, buttons, knobs, rack ears etc.) As best I can tell, it had never been opened or worked on.

It was listed as not playing (that was due to melted belts which I was counting on when I bid on it). I fixed those and it plays and sounds good. Ffwd/rew worked but were noisy (dimple in the idler tire which is why I need new ones). I only had it playing a short time and I thought I might be hearing the other side of the tape but I'm not sure. Wanted to get the transport working first. Heads look untouched (Loctite still on them and looks undisturbed) but the nut drivers were cheap so what the heck. If it's off I'll deal with it once I have the transport sorted. I should have the tires Monday. Once that's done I can begin testing all the audio and functions. I have a scope, if I need to adjust it I'll get an alignment tape.

 

[standay]

Got the idler tires and they were the wrong size. I'll get those returned.

In the meantime, I used a couple of O rings the right size and the transport works great. Unfortunately, the left channel is not recording. Right is OK, playback is OK, just recording on the left channel is out. So I have to decide what I'll do next. Now both channels are out on record. Play is fine.