very low levels on tape?

[Reel]

Hello. I recently purchased an old Lafayette reel to reel deck from 1964. I noticed that anything I play on the deck, even with the volume cranked as loud as it will go, is very very faint. I also tried recording and I had the same problem. When I listen to myself while recording my voice through a microphone, it's nice and loud, but playback is extremely quiet. I thought maybe it just may be because the heads were really dirty. I gave them a good cleaning and it's still doing it. I noticed the volume/input level knob is very dirty and scratchy, so I'm going to give it a good cleaning with contact cleaner. But I have a feeling that won't fix the problem. Maybe the heads are just worn out?

If anybody can offer any suggestions how I could fix this problem, that would be great. Thanks.

[ladewd]

#1 Rule on all tape decks. The tape needs to be held against the heads. Either this is done with a pressure pad or back-tension created from the supply reel. Before you suspect electronics, put your finger on the supply reel and press until you feel an increase in the tape tension and see if the situation improves. If there is a pressure pad assembly that holds the tape against the heads, gently press on it. Gently put your finger on the tape where it contacts the heads and note any changes. If the heads are in working shape, the culprit may lie in the tape tension being too light.

This is where I would look first. I personally wouldn't mess with a Lafayette recorder, its way too antique for me, but if you can make it work, more power to ya!

CA

[Reel]

Thanks. I will give that a try.

[Reel]

Okay, I tried applying pressure to the tape as it ran past the head and it's still very faint. However, after playing numerous tapes that I've collected over the years, I noticed that stuff that was not recorded on this machine plays at a relatively good volume, yet anything that I tried to record on this deck is extremely weak. Again, as I'm recording myself through a microphone and listening to myself through headphones, the signal is very strong. But the playback of the recording is very faint.

I'm going to try dousing the volume knob (which also serves as the input level control) with contact cleaner, since it seems to be filthy (the slightest turn of the knob makes the machine give off a very loud, scratchy noise).

Any other ideas would be appreciated.....

[philbo]

Okay, I tried applying pressure to the tape as it ran past the head and it's still very faint. However, after playing numerous tapes that I've collected over the years, I noticed that stuff that was not recorded on this machine plays at a relatively good volume, yet anything that I tried to record on this deck is extremely weak. Again, as I'm recording myself through a microphone and listening to myself through headphones, the signal is very strong. But the playback of the recording is very faint.

I'm going to try dousing the volume knob (which also serves as the input level control) with contact cleaner, since it seems to be filthy (the slightest turn of the knob makes the machine give off a very loud, scratchy noise).

Any other ideas would be appreciated.....

This sounds like the record head is not aligned with the reproduce head.
To fix it right you need to buy an alignment tape. To do it halfassed (and assuming the playback head is aligned 'good enough') you could put the machine in record mode, and tweak the record head alignment screws to get maximum level and best frequency response from the reproduce head. - - This is all assuming, of course, that there are separate heads for record and reproduction.
________
Motorcycle tires

[Professor]

Or it's possible that the signal that is entering the machine isn't making it to the record head. If you are hearing it loudly before recording, then it probably isn't a goofy mismatch like a mic plugged into a line input. But is there possibly a switch that assigns one input or another to the record path? Or a switch that sends the mic inputs to the monitor but not the record path? I know it would seem like nothing would record then, but it's possible you're only recording the crosstalk or leakage inside the system since the thing is kinda old.

-J

[ladewd]

OK, next question. This is an ancient consumer deck. Does it even have separate record and playback heads? If so, you should see 3 heads, an erase head, record head and playback head. Many consumer machines used only a record/playback head and an erase head. It also means there had to be some sort of switching circuit to route the head to either the record or playback electronics. Dirty switch or relay contacts?

What kind of tape are you using to record on? If the input pot is scratchy, but you hear signal from mic to phones, then its probably not the pot.

Now we get into the tough stuff. Do you have enough bias to record on the tape you're using? Is there any bias getting to the heads? You'll need an oscilloscope to determine this stuff. You need two things at the record head to record onto tape, an audio signal and bias.

These are just the basics, I have absolutely no knowledge of these machines, but I hope it points you in the right directon. 1964 eh? , it would strike me that it would at least need new capacitors just about everywhere.

CA

[AnalogElectric]

Sounds like it's either a calibration issue or the record-head is worn out.

If you get a small signal from stuff you recorded, you might want to look into full calibration; nWb, azimuth, s/n-r, bias, degaussing (de-mag), and so on.

Depends on where you live but you could probably find someone to take care of the machine fully. It might cost you more in labor than it did to buy the machine but sometimes it's not something as simple as a do-it-yourself fix if you don't have the tools and docs, especially for such and old piece of gear... and who knows how it was set-up for the previous owner(s).

Like others said, it could be various other reasons for such an old piece.

-- Adam Lazlo