Tascam 238 - keeps resetting AND stopping simultaneously

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multitracksuit
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Tascam 238 - keeps resetting AND stopping simultaneously

Post by multitracksuit » Sun Feb 27, 2011 8:24 am

Hi there

I have recently purchased a tascam 238 from ebay.

It's pretty sweet and sounds great, I'm having lots of fun, apart from that unexpectedly it will stop AND reset. It seems to happen more at the ends of the tape.

Please note that there is a reset function, but this only sets to zero, it doesn't also stop the tape.

Could anyone tell me why this might be happening?

I am using 90 min cassettes - could it be that they're too hard to wind so the machine is interpreting the high inertia as being the end of the tape?

If it's a fault, where to look?? Any thoughts appreciated.

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vvv
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Post by vvv » Sun Feb 27, 2011 6:49 pm

I had one of these - still have it in the garage - and I recall that all the problems I had started and ended with the drive belt.

Seems to me if that gets loose you might have yer stopping problem, and more so with the 90 minute tapes.

Can't explain the reset thing, tho'.
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multitracksuit
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Post by multitracksuit » Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:36 am

Thanks for the tip - i'll research into what i can do about the drive belt. I did an experiment where i rewound it back to the start of the tape and it reset every time it hit the end, which made me think maybe that's an automatic function or something.

I've ordered some 60m tapes and will see if that makes any difference.

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Post by wkrbee » Mon Feb 28, 2011 4:55 pm

If the "tape in" sensor was flaky,the machine would "think" you are removing and inserting a different tape,and that would reset the counter...
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multitracksuit
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Post by multitracksuit » Tue Mar 01, 2011 1:59 am

Ah thanks - ok can check this - how would i find such a sensor? Are there diagrams i can look for or a general method to locate it?
Last edited by multitracksuit on Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:27 am, edited 1 time in total.

multitracksuit
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Post by multitracksuit » Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:27 am

wkrbee wrote:If the "tape in" sensor was flaky,the machine would "think" you are removing and inserting a different tape,and that would reset the counter...
Hi

Thank you so much for this tip - I just went at it with my trusty can of servisol (electrical lubricant) and once I got a straw so I could get it in the top left corner (two levers I assume are connected to sensors), a few sprays and it seems (touch wood) to have fixed the problem.

That can of servisol is the best few quid I ever spent I think!!

Thanks for the advice!

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Post by _jon » Sat Dec 17, 2016 10:48 am

Just wanted to chime in that I recently had the same issue on my 238 (intermittent stopping/resetting of the counter) which was getting worse and worse. By yesterday, I could barely play a tape for 2 seconds without it stopping on me. The thing was useless.

A couple sprays of electrical lubricant up into those two plastic levers, jiggling it about for a while, and then drying things up, and the 238 was playing, recording, rewinding, fast-forwarding, with just a tiny bit of the old problem still happening. Repeated the lubricating process once more, and the thing is working flawlessly now. Amazing!

Thanks to everyone in this thread. This forum is such a great resource for stuff like this.

floeter
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Re: Tascam 238 - keeps resetting AND stopping simultaneously

Post by floeter » Sat Jun 04, 2022 11:05 am

The upper left spray trick just helped me in the Year of Our Gourd 2022, thanks!

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