TEAC X-2000R, fixable?

robitaille03

robitaille03

Member
I bought a black TEAC X-2000R off of Craigslist ... long story short - I couldn't test it before buying it, but I took the chance knowing that it is a good machine and I was getting it for pocket change. The guy told me (yeah, I know) that it worked fine last time he used it, which was a few years ago. Anyway, I finally bought it home - it was VERY dirty, but other than a layer of dust and a few very small scratches, it really seemed to be in good shape cosmetically. I plugged it in to look for signs of life, and although lights did come on, a thin line of smoke immediately appeared coming through the top vent. I unplugged it immediately, took the back off and located the source of the smoke (and I also noticed that the belt had turned to goo). It is a small electronic component (I am not electronically inclined) on the bottom circuit board, labeled C363 (I think, I am going by memory here). It is all crusty and burnt. Is this something that should be fixable? I have a local shop that fixed my two TEAC 2300s, so I am hoping I can take it to them, but I am wondering if it is worth it.

Thanks!
 
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No, it's not worth it, send it to me! :D

Seriously, though, if its just a cap that blew, any electronics shop should be able to take care of that and diagnose any other electronic problems. The dust may have shorted something out if it was that bad. (You are lucky to have someone who will take RtR's!) Others with more expertise in electronics may chime in that such an occurrence could mean a bigger problem, though.

As for the belt, replacing is a little time-consuming, but not bad. Make sure you clean everything very well. Search AK for "X-1000" (same process with that deck) and "belt" and instructions will come up. Well worth putting a few hundred dollars in, but I doubt it will take that much. Good find!
 
the cap may have just shorted, or have been killed by an over voltage.

Be aware that the DC motors can go bad or short out and let the smoke out of the motor control board.
 
The melted goo that used to be the belt is probably holding the motor back. That may be overheating some component in the power supply and causing the smoke. Definitely don't plug it in again untill you take care of the belt and make sure that the capstan motor is free.
 
Thanks for your replies. Yes, I've been reading other threads on AK about TEAC X-1000Rs and X-2000Rs DC motors going bad. I think what I am going to do is clean it up the best I can and just take it in to the professionals. The already apparent repairs are all outside of my capabilities.
 
i recently picked up an x2000r from another AK'er who said it 'worked fine'....at least until i got it, when i discovered the belt overstretched and about to let go, the pinch rollers in need of replacement, and a motor sounding like a small diesel engine. i will tell you that i am about as knowledgeable as i think you are (not much) but i nevertheless got through belt replacement, pinch roller R and R, tape lifter lube and motor replacement by following Rolf's sticky on the x1000r...
 
It might be the start capacitor for the capstan motor. The motor might be frozen from lack of use. Or burned out.
I sadly sold a very nice X2000R and regretted that dumb move.
I bought another unit with the wooden case and it was a nightmare. Extremely hard to work on and do any type of maintenance. Not a good design at all to service.

Let us know how your unit turns out. I'm sure there are repair shops that can bring it back to life, but it may set you back
$$$

Fred
 
I had to remove the wooden case to get to the unit itself ... a nice cosmetic addition, but another layer to peel off when you're trying to get at it! I am impatient, so I am going to try to drop the unit off at the shop in Raleigh tomorrow. I will let everyone know what they find!
 
I just did a belt replacement on a TEAC X-10R which is very similar to the 1000--with a lot of help from the articles and folks at AK. It was time consuming, but not expensive and not difficult. Very good opportunity to get to know the machine, and the results were super.
 
If the belt was sticky for a while then most likely the capstan motor is NFG as well. All it takes is about 30 seconds if the motor cannot spin to burn it out. A total lack of quality commitment on the part of TEAC, IMHO. The capstan motor looks and acts as fragile as something out of a cheap child's toy.

I've never had more trouble with reel decks as I have had with the X-1000R/X2000R series. These to me are not worth the investment. They look pretty on the outside however nothing of substance within. Mine are gone, never to return.

The Akai GX747 and GX747Dbx are a whole other story. Simple efficient design, about the only thing that needs servicing are the small belts on the auto-tension arms. FAR more elegant auto reversing system with a robust direct drive capstan motor.

Paul
 
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I got mine for a decent price, but didn't work when I got it. Mine had a shorted out capacitor in the record section, which took out a coil next to it and a resistor in a power supply line. I'm a tech, so not a real big deal for me, but still took some time to figure out what was wrong. The belt was missing on mine also. I would order one from Teac, as it is critical because it shifts positions on the flywheels when the tape direction is reversed. "Vintage TX" has written some excellent posts with photos on this which I found very helpful when I was repairing mine.:yes:

Will be interesting to hear what your shop finds.

I don't remember which cap and coil went bad, but may look at the manual later to see if I can figure out which ones that they were. Very likely that yours could be a different cap, but sounds to me that it shorted nonetheless, which is common for capacitors to do.
 
Just looked at the schematics. Yep, that's the same cap that was shorted on mine, C363. The short caused L303 to burn open on mine. One lead on R166, a 1 ohm resistor which is there for protection, was removed from the board on mine. Not sure if it got so hot from the short that it melted the solder, or whether someone removed it trying to repair it before me. These parts are on a 24 volt power supply line that also runs the capstan motor. I'll bet that if you or your tech replace these three parts that you will be back in business:

R166-1 ohm, 2 watt(nonflammable)
C363-10 microfarad, 35 volt, dip tantalum
L303-Choke, 220 microhenrys

These were the three parts that fixed mine. Boy, was I glad to have it back up and running again. Still works great. If nothing else, this may assist your tech, as they should understand this. I would replace these all at once, as if you replace the resistor or coil without C363, the bad cap will fry the other two again.:thmbsp: Let us know how it turns out.:yes:
 
Never really gave it much thought before, but as both of our decks had broken belts and these parts are related to the 24V line that supplies power for the capstan motor, I'm wondering if the capstan motor running without the load from the belt may cause this problem.:headscrat
 
AAA3330 said:
Never really gave it much thought before, but as both of our decks had broken belts and these parts are related to the 24V line that supplies power for the capstan motor, I'm wondering if the capstan motor running without the load from the belt may cause this problem.:headscrat
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Running without the load won't hurt it....however most I've seen the belt turns into a gooey mess and won't allow the capstan motor to turn at all. This will ruin the capstan motor in a very short time.....about 30 seconds.

Paul
 
beemer said:
If the belt was sticky for a while then most likely the capstan motor is NFG as well. All it takes is about 30 seconds if the motor cannot spin to burn it out. A total lack of quality commitment on the part of TEAC, IMHO. The capstan motor looks and acts as fragile as something out of a cheap child's toy.

I've never had more trouble with reel decks as I have had with the X-1000R/X2000R series. These to me are not worth the investment. They look pretty on the outside however nothing of substance within. Mine are gone, never to return.

The Akai GX747 and GX747Dbx are a whole other story. Simple efficient design, about the only thing that needs servicing are the small belts on the auto-tension arms. FAR more elegant auto reversing system with a robust direct drive capstan motor.

Paul
Click to expand...

Sadly, I'd have to agree with that statement. The Teac X series is NOT on my short list. I DO have a GX-747dbx, though. :thmbsp:
 
I don't agree with that, most reel-motors on 747 goes bad because of the small size and combined with large reels overheat, but capstan motor was better then Teac's.:)
 
beemer said:
Running without the load won't hurt it....however most I've seen the belt turns into a gooey mess and won't allow the capstan motor to turn at all. This will ruin the capstan motor in a very short time.....about 30 seconds.

Paul
Click to expand...

I don't know the condition of the old belt on my deck as the previous owner removed it. After replacing the 3 bad parts, the capstan motor on my deck has always worked fine in the two years since I repaired it. I have owned several decks, including an Akai GX-646, and I have to disagree with the statement that the X-2000R is not a quality deck. The Akai's are great also, but not better than the Teac's, IMHO.
 
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AAA3330 said:
I don't know the condition of the old belt on my deck as the previous owner removed it. After replacing the 3 bad parts, the capstan motor on my deck has always worked fine in the two years since I repaired it. I have owned several decks, including an Akai GX-646, and I have to disagree with the statement that the X-2000R is not a quality deck. The Akai's are great also, but not better than the Teac's, IMHO.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you haven't had capstan trouble. A local tape repair guy I have great respect for advised me on the gooey belt syndrome, and I have owned 3 TEAC X machines that had the exact problem as he described it to me. I thought I had sold off all the X series TEAC's however one still remains here, an X-1000R. Belt, controller card and capstan motor replacement have that last one running sweet, however I still prefer the two 747 Akai variants I own as these have been no trouble at all.

For me, they would ALL go before I parted with my Otaris though. However the Otari is another league entirely over the pro-sumer TEAC's and Akai's.

Regardless.....if the reels spin and your foot taps along.....it's all good regardless of the brand name. :thmbsp:

Paul
 
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AAA3330 said:
I don't know the condition of the old belt on my deck as the previous owner removed it. After replacing the 3 bad parts, the capstan motor on my deck has always worked fine in the two years since I repaired it. I have owned several decks, including an Akai GX-646, and I have to disagree with the statement that the X-2000R is not a quality deck. The Akai's are great also, but not better than the Teac's, IMHO.
Click to expand...

I think we can agree that the X-2000 and GX-747 are good quality CONSUMER decks. I'm personally not a fan of brushed DC motors, but then they were not designed to be run in a studio environment, so this wouldn't matter much.

I am spoiled by the pro decks, I guess. Though my favorite Pro-sumer machine would be a Technics Isoloop.

Back to X-2000, sometimes the capstan motor can be fixed by taking it apart and carefully checking it out. I'd look at it before outright replacing it, anyway. I have had a stuck one before. Cleaning and re-lubing fixed it just fine. PITA to do, though. And don't forget to check the motor control board for power.
 
I agree with AAA3330 about the parts he said was the problem,R166-1 ohm, 2 watt(nonflammable) ,C363-10 microfarad, 35 volt, dip tantalum, L303-Choke, 220 microhenrys. If you replace most of that chances are the deck will run fine, most of the ones I have worked on all had the same problems that caused the capstan motor to not run, very few really had a bad motor! As far as the Akai 747 I had one and it's a better airplane than a R2R, but I did really like the Otari 5050!
 
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