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TEAC 2300S - Wont Engage Recording, Have to hold in Playback / Record

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Pugy365

New Member
This is my first venture in to a reel to reel deck. After doing some research here, and on some other forums I decided that the TEAC 2300S would be a good place to start. So I searched on eBay and find one for a reasonable price, knowing that it was probably going to need some work. After getting it, I oiled all the motors, cleaned / oiled the pinch roller in the back (It was stuck, as was noted in many forum posts I found to be a common problem) it is now engaging properly, and cleaned the heads good.

Then I gave it a good overall cleaning, and decided to try it out. The main belt seemed to be OK for now, but I have a spare on the way as well as one for the timer, as it does not work. So after threading a tape, and hitting play, it seems to be working just fine.

Then I went to try to record with it, at first it seemed to be recording fine. Then it started to act kind of funky, would not engage record mode, trying it a few times would make it start. But now it will not engage recording. The red record light still comes on but when I push (record) + (play) it just lights up red for a second and then just plays like normal. Now if I hold down (record) + (play) and keep them held down it will record as usually. Something is not keeping the record mode engaged?

Thank you for your input and help excited to dive in.

-Nathaniel
 
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Try cleaning both of the record mode “safety” switches too, sometimes they can cause finicky operation.

Very good possibility that K401 record relay contacts could be dirty as r_brumett61 mentioned above. One set of contacts in that relay is the "latch" that holds the coil in once it is engaged, so if it's dirty it will tend to drop out of record unless the button is being held in. Capacitor C401 could be going bad and causing low impedance problems across the coil too (3.3uf 35v, replace it with a 3.3uf 50v).

Less likely but possible could be diode D19 going intermittently flaky too but IMO dirty K401 relay contacts are the most likely culprit.

Also make sure the multi-pin plug that connects the transport to the amplifier is in tight and the connectors are clean (particularly pins 7, 10 and 12 on the connector plug).

Very nice job on those side panels btw, lookin' good!
 
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Thank you, I’m happy with how how they turned out, much nicer than the beat up faux wood ones. I cleaned the switches but that didn’t seem to help, still had the same issue. You were right about it being the K401 relay being the culprit. I opened it up and clean up the contacts good on the relay and it seems to be working again for now. Is that a permanent fix for a while or should I start looking for a replacement relay?

Also do I need to get a test tape to make any adjustments? I think it sounds pretty good, but do not have a trained ear on how good it could / should sound. Thank you for the help, appreciate it.
 
If you cleaned the contacts carefully without bending or distorting any of the fingers and didn’t use anything too aggressive like sandpaper then I wouldn’t worry about replacing it IF it properly shunts the input signal to ground when it’s at rest. That relay is responsible for powering up the bias oscillator and turning on the record light when it’s energized but it’s also responsible for grounding out the record head coils and shunting any incoming signals to ground when it is de-energized. That last job is a pretty important one, if it’s not doing that it can leave a garbled mess over any tape that is played on it if a signal is present at the input jacks.

To check it for proper input signal shunting send a line level signal to the record input jacks (output from a CD player, receiver etc). Load up a blank tape, turn on both record mode switches, set tape / source mode switch to tape, turn up the input volume all the way and hit play (do not press the record button). As the blank tape is rolling in play mode monitor it (either through headphones or through the monitor loop) and listen for a garbled distorted version of the signal from the input jacks being printed onto the tape. If you hear nothing but ordinary tape hiss then you’re good, but if you hear a garbled mess being recorded onto the tape as it plays then you’ve got to either clean the relay contacts properly or (better yet) replace the relay.

The garbled mess is the sound of the signal at the record input jacks getting through to the record heads without the bias oscillator being powered up, and once that noise is recorded on top of a tape it can’t be undone unless you completely erase the tape. It’s a good idea to always leave the record volume at the zero position when not in use, that will prevent any signal from reaching the input circuit even if the relay doesn’t work properly. When a tape deck is connected to an amp or receiver through a monitor loop (as it should be) there is always a line level signal present at the record input jacks of the tape deck. Most of the time the record volume control is left where it was last used so the record relay contacts are kind of the “last barrier” before the tape.
 
Is the 2300-S similar to the 3300-S? They look the same, except my 3300-S takes 10½" reels.

Been meaning to get mine out to exercise it.
 
Been busy the past few days and didn’t get a chance to try that until tonight. The record relay contacts seem to be working correctly, I do not have any garbed noise being recorded on the tape as far as I can tell when playing a tape while having the line input up the whole way and with something playing on the receiver and the record input jacks connected to the monitor output on the reciever. But a new issue has now arised, on the right channel even when the tape is stopped or playing there is very noticeable noise coming from that channel. I did some research on this and looks like it could be a bad transistor?

I have done basic soldering and repalced components on a board before, but would like some advice on how to find out what should be replaced. I’m looking through the service manual now to try to get an idea.

On another note: I attached a pic of the heads, do they appear to be in decent shape in your Opinion?

Thank you audiojones for all the help so far
 
Good news about the record relay, I’d just leave it be then.

The heads look ok, I’d polish them up with a tiny dab of aluminum polish on a Q-tip followed by a thorough cleaning to get all of the polish off. Do the guides and tape lifters too, basically anything the tape has to glide over.

Regarding the noise, if it only happens in the Tape mode but not in the Source mode then it’s most likely going to be one of the three transistors that make up the head amp circuit. If it happens in the Source mode then it’s likely to be a transistor in the line amp circuit.

Here’s a recent thread reply on the subject. It’s for a 1250 but the amp should be similar if not identical, but of course you should look at your particular amplifier board before ordering any parts.

Hope this helps!
 
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