my first tape machine! please help!

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okpanda
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my first tape machine! please help!

Post by okpanda » Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:35 pm

ok i have a dokorder 7140 sitting here that i am trying to load tape onto for the first time and i am having some difficulties with it. without tape, both wheels spin when i press play and hold the little trigger up. with tape, i can fast forward or rewind, but when i press play, the machine locks up and doesn't move. i thought it might be the pause switch but i've tried it in both positions and got the same result. any idea what might be wrong?!
Last edited by okpanda on Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by okpanda » Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:36 pm

i have not yet ruled out user error. can somebody take a look at this please and tell me if it looks right?

http://www.telekosmik.com/dokorder.jpg
Last edited by okpanda on Mon Jul 27, 2015 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Gregg Juke
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Post by Gregg Juke » Mon Jul 27, 2015 5:37 pm

Noper. You don't have it threaded right.

Watch this (different machine, but should get you straightened-out):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hkltao3wOkw

GJ
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Post by okpanda » Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:39 pm

http://www.telekosmik.com/dokorder2.jpg

does this look better? i think it's right but it still won't go.

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Post by Gregg Juke » Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:37 am

This guy's got your machine (I think). Go to about 2:04 and see how he's got it threaded. If yours looks like that, and still doesn't work, you might have a transport problem, which would need a qualified tech to look at. If the machine has been sitting around a long time unused, well, they don't like that. But see if you're threaded right to start with.

GJ

Oh, here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkeXBjXf0qI
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Post by drumsound » Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:16 pm

I THINK the tape needs to go through the guides on either side of the head block. on the supply (left) you go over the moving guide then to the small guide, then through the roller, through the heads, through the pinch roller, up through the small guide over through outside of the moving guide and onto the take up reel.


Looking again, I'm not totally sure...

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Post by okpanda » Thu Jul 30, 2015 2:06 pm

ok i feel like the pinch roller should be turning when i press play. right now when i press play the pinch roller engages and presses against the capstan, but it doesn't turn to feed the tape through. it does, however, spin freely when the machine is stopped. does that mean it needs a new belt or something?

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Post by The Scum » Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:13 pm

Usually, the capstan is driven, and the pinch roller just holds the tape against it.

I don't know the machine in question, but the the guides that rest in the curved troughs are both critical. There's one on the right of the headblock, another on the left. You have to have the tape wrapped around them so the pins move in the troughs.

Those pins are used by the deck to decide how quickly to spin the reels, or to stop entirely if the tape goes slack.

In your second pic, I'd venture a guess that the tape needs to go over the pin on the left, to pull it partway into the curved track. Your right one looks right, but the left one doesn't.
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I'm Painting Again
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Post by I'm Painting Again » Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:25 pm

.it goes around the top of the big wheel on the left..all else looks good..including being under the pin at the left..I'm going by a video of someone playing one..

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Post by I'm Painting Again » Thu Jul 30, 2015 3:29 pm


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Post by oneflightup » Mon Sep 28, 2015 7:37 am

Hey there,

I know what it's like to be totally excited about your first tape machine.... only to find out.... d'oh! it doesn't work.

Been there, done that. Too many times!

In the end, my advice for anyone wanting to own a tape machine: you will absolutely definitely need a tech to look at it when you first buy it, and then whenever anything goes wrong (it will happen... these are how old??).

I don't mean to spoil the party, but it's like buying a car that's 30+ years old and expecting it to work without having seen a service in many years....

If you were in Sydney I could set you up with a genius tech.
All the best with your tape journey :)

Nick

One Flight Up Recording Studios

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