Teac R2R, worth the restoration?

[atrelstad]

Hi all!

After watching the local marketplace for a while, I finally picked up my first Reel to Reel, a Teac A-1500-W! Cosmetically it's in beautiful shape, purchased from the second owner (first was his roommate in the 70's), who refinished the cabinet before putting it into storage 20 years ago. I'm a vinyl guy and have rebuilt some receivers, but am new to the R2R world so any advice to start me off in the right direction would be much appreciated!

So far I've got a new belt on it, oiled up the motors and capstan bearing, and replaced the old break pads with new felt. It "works", I have one tape of dubious quality that came with it that I can record and play back to with a fair bit of distortion. I've yet to do any recapping or electronics other than hitting the switches with DeoxIt, but I'm beginning to wonder how much good anything more will do with these heads... While it doesn't seem abused, it's definitely well used and I'm able to catch a groove with my fingernail. Do these heads have any life left in them? Is lapping an option? I've heard Teac still supplies old parts, could I find some replacement heads to install? I'm feeling hesitant to put much more time or money into this if in the end I'm stuck with worn out tape heads. I don't need it to be perfect, but would love to use it for some casual listening, tape loop stuff, whatever.

Feeling a bit over my head here, thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share!

 

[atrelstad]

And while you're here, 7 1/2 ips doesn't work, only 3 1/4. When I select 7 1/2 the whole thing just comes to a stop. I'll probably stumble across the issue when doing caps etc, but any obvious starting points?

 

[rojoknox]

Greetings from RojoLand!

The playback heads, particularly the forward play (rightmost in the pic), are definitely well-worn (and still a tad dirty). You might luck out and find a replacement set on the Dock-o'-the-'Bay (I found two nice sets there for my A-6300, which really really needed them). I don't think lapping will be helpful as that FWD-play head is near end-of-life. No harm in playing the deck as-is, though, until that head opens up. Heads for several Teac models will fit your rig, including A-1030, A-1300, A-2010, A-2050, A-2060, A-2070, A-2080, A-2100, A-2500, A-4000, A-4010/S/SL (but not GSL), and probably others. There were over 200,000 A-4010 machines sold so you can find those quite easily. Don't worry about the erase head (leftmost).

You've done well to replace the belt and brake felts. Recapping is definitely in order. There's one particular capacitor monster you must deal with — yesterday: the gray tubular Suzuki 0.1 µF 400 V "oil capacitors" found across switches, relay contacts and solenoids. You can see the one attached to the pinch-roller solenoid (under the left reel table) and cut-off switch (to right of and below the right reel table). I call them "Suzuki-bombs" because they tend to fail short-circuit, get hot and go Pop-BANG!, spewing their guts all over the place (and often taking other components out with them). I have personal experience with this (with my 1962 Concertone S510-R which was Teac-built). These miserable lousy stinkin' rotten Suzuki-bombs (you can tell I really like them, right? NOT) must be replaced; I recommend using 0.1 µF 630 V yellow axial tubular poly film caps available from places like Sal's Capacitor Corner, Just Radios, Radio Daze and other vintage-radio-restoration supply outfits.

You didn't mention having a service manual, but if you don't, head to HiFi Engine, sign up (free) and download it.

In the top photo, it shows a tape threaded on the machine, but the tape is not run around the cut-off arm guide on the right. Machine won't operate that way — unless the Suzuki-bomb across the cut-off switch is dead-shorted.

Take care,
—
J. E. Knox "The Victor Freak"
Current caretaker of Teac A-4010S S/N 48104 (and twelve other reel-to-reel relics, a couple of 'em older than me)

 

[rojoknox]

Greetings from RojoLand!

Re the speed issue: The Tape Speed control switches between pairs of windings in the capstan motor. There are four 0.1 µF capacitors involved, one across each motor winding — almost assuredly Suzuki-bombs. Replacing those should get your 7-1/2 IPS speed back. If not, the switch itself may be dirty or damaged. It is a three-section rotary switch (item 608 on the "Tape Transport-Bottom, Exploded View" page of the manual). If the deck spent most of its existence in 3-3/4 IPS mode, the 7-1/2 IPS contacts may be well-oxidized and in dire need of cleaning. It's something of a bear to get at.

Take care,
—
J. E. Knox "The Victor Freak"

 

[atrelstad]

Greetings from RojoLand!

The playback heads, particularly the forward play (rightmost in the pic), are definitely well-worn (and still a tad dirty). You might luck out and find a replacement set on the Dock-o'-the-'Bay (I found two nice sets there for my A-6300, which really really needed them). I don't think lapping will be helpful as that FWD-play head is near end-of-life. No harm in playing the deck as-is, though, until that head opens up. Heads for several Teac models will fit your rig, including A-1030, A-1300, A-2010, A-2050, A-2060, A-2070, A-2080, A-2100, A-2500, A-4000, A-4010/S/SL (but not GSL), and probably others. There were over 200,000 A-4010 machines sold so you can find those quite easily. Don't worry about the erase head (leftmost).

You've done well to replace the belt and brake felts. Recapping is definitely in order. There's one particular capacitor monster you must deal with — yesterday: the gray tubular Suzuki 0.1 µF 400 V "oil capacitors" found across switches, relay contacts and solenoids. You can see the one attached to the pinch-roller solenoid (under the left reel table) and cut-off switch (to right of and below the right reel table). I call them "Suzuki-bombs" because they tend to fail short-circuit, get hot and go Pop-BANG!, spewing their guts all over the place (and often taking other components out with them). I have personal experience with this (with my 1962 Concertone S510-R which was Teac-built). These miserable lousy stinkin' rotten Suzuki-bombs (you can tell I really like them, right? NOT) must be replaced; I recommend using 0.1 µF 630 V yellow axial tubular poly film caps available from places like Sal's Capacitor Corner, Just Radios, Radio Daze and other vintage-radio-restoration supply outfits.

You didn't mention having a service manual, but if you don't, head to HiFi Engine, sign up (free) and download it.

In the top photo, it shows a tape threaded on the machine, but the tape is not run around the cut-off arm guide on the right. Machine won't operate that way — unless the Suzuki-bomb across the cut-off switch is dead-shorted.

Take care,
—
J. E. Knox "The Victor Freak"
Current caretaker of Teac A-4010S S/N 48104 (and twelve other reel-to-reel relics, a couple of 'em older than me)

Top photo was the sale pic! You'd think the owner would know that But thanks for the info! Sounds like I can hold out hope a bit longer. It did come with original operating manual, but I'll grab the service manual now. And good to know about the Suzuki bombs, I'll stop firing it up until that's done, guess I've gotten lucky so far!

 

[atrelstad]

Greetings from RojoLand!

Re the speed issue: The Tape Speed control switches between pairs of windings in the capstan motor. There are four 0.1 µF capacitors involved, one across each motor winding — almost assuredly Suzuki-bombs. Replacing those should get your 7-1/2 IPS speed back. If not, the switch itself may be dirty or damaged. It is a three-section rotary switch (item 608 on the "Tape Transport-Bottom, Exploded View" page of the manual). If the deck spent most of its existence in 3-3/4 IPS mode, the 7-1/2 IPS contacts may be well-oxidized and in dire need of cleaning. It's something of a bear to get at.

Take care,
—
J. E. Knox "The Victor Freak"

Thanks, yeah I'll hold judgement 'til cap's are in order. I blasted the rotary with DeoxIt so crossing my fingers that'll take care of it! Appreciate the responses and advice!

 

[dr*audio]

This is second from the bottom of the line but was capable of making good recordings. Would I throw new heads in it? Not this model. There is no scrape flutter flywheel to the left of the head block and this makes this model prone to dropouts.

 

[atrelstad]

Making progress... After recapping everything I could find (and temporarily losing my right channel in the process!), things are sounding much better! Still haven't done anything about the heads, but my biggest concern now is the continued lack of 7 1/2 ips. If not the caps I figured it must be the speed selector switch, and I noticed that one of the three "wheels" on the switches axle isn't spinning with the others. Left and center snap back and forth, but the right most just jerks a bit and doesn't spin. Video link below. I'd love to not have to tear the switch apart entirely, but is there anything to do here? Assuming it is in fact supposed to spin with the others, could I maybe get some sort of adhesive in there while in 3 1/4, let it sit overnight, and hope it holds? Or is this a do-able swap for a replacement part?

Thanks for all the advice so far, it's getting somewhere!

 

[dr*audio]

I can't really see the one that is not turning clearly enough to see what is wrong. If you can take a picture of it with a real camera on Macro, in focus and post a link to a high resolution image that would help. I need to see the shaft going through the switch.

 

[rojoknox]

Greetings from RojoLand!

Agree with dr*audio. That second section needs to be seen from the other side of it, to tell if it's turning or not.

The same switch (part number 50443250 [or, in the A-4010S manual, 44325]) is used in the A-4010S model, so replacing it (if necessary) shouldn't be too hard. Getting the bloody thing unwired (and its replacement wired in) will be the hardest part.

Take care,
—
J. E. Knox "The Victor Freak"

 

[Gene Riley]

Did this problem ever get fixed? I’m having the same problem with my A-1500, won’t play on 7 1/2 speed. Capstan motor just shuts down when changed to high speed. Also the rewind doesn’t work. Everything else works fine. Would appreciate any help. Thanks.