TASCAM 3030 Belt Changing Woes

Des_Lab

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#1
What I thought was going to be a simple operation has turned into a nightmare.

Anyway, so the trusty 3030 was showing signs of needing a new belt: pitch would slow during play, would not engage in 15 ips speed, and so on. I didn't think much of it at first. So I ordered a belt (more on this below) and when it arrived, opened it up. And that's when the troubles began.

Having easily changed the belt on X-1000R's before, I went into this thinking it would be a breeze. Now I must confess I made this assumption blindly without actually examining the decks innards first. I was always under the impression that most or all X series decks (the 3030 is really a Teac X-2000M in disguise with just a few cosmetic differences) were the same. So right or wrong, I made a faulty assumption. Obviously that was not the case here. And now I'm wondering if I didn't order the wrong belt. The one I got says it's for the X-10R, X-20R, X-1000 series, and X-2000 series. But the ones that's in there appears to be a different size. I can't get it out, and I don't want to cut it. So I can't say for certain. At least not yet.

So all of that said. Am I just overlooking something or is there really no feasible way to perform this task without literally dismantling the entire deck first? As I said above: I've changed belts on X-1000Rs before and it was a cinch. Disconnect the capstan motor. Thread the belt through the pulleys. Put it back together. Done. Thirty minutes or less. Needs nothing more than a Phillips head screwdriver. That's definitely not the case with this deck.


But I can't for the life of me figure this one out. The capstan motor-which is what I'm trying to get to-is held in place to a plate by three screws. One is easily accessible, no problem. The second one-I can get to but only if I remove a secondary PCB panel. Now here's where we run into the real problems. The third one-cannot be reached at all unless I remove the main PCB board-which-ironically-is also preventing the capstan motor from being withdrawn far enough to thread the belt. Classic Gordian Knot stuff. Upon further scrutiny, even the main PCB board-which is only bolted on with six screws-likewise cannot be removed. Why? Because of the way the wire bundles and clamps are attached to it. No slack and no room at all to move. Not without doing some major cutting and untying. And the plate that protects the flywheels? Also blocked in by: You guessed it. Both PCB panels and non movable bundles of wiring. So I don't know. I am truly feeling at a loss and defeated. It seems like it's just one-possibly two screws that are the root cause of this.


Please note that both flywheels are protected by the chassis. The capstan motor is held by three screws. Only one of which is accessible. The other two can only be reached if both the main and a secondary board are removed. But even that doesn't look like it would work; there are wires bundled that don't appear to have any slack to them. Meaning that even if I did manage to remove all three capstan motor screws, I still wouldn't be able to get in because there would be no way to pull it out due to the bundles impeding the space. Is there any way to actually do this? This one has me stumped.

I sat and stared and poked and prodded and pondered for a solid three hours last night and I honestly don't see any way to do this. Not without having to go through the worst possible sets of motions involving a Russian doll of "take this off to get to that, take that off to get to this, take this off to get to......" and so on and so on.

Is there something I've overlooked? Can someone walk me through this?
 

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rtp_burnsville

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#2
Not sure if this helps, but can you find a copy of the service manual on the web? Some companies are known to build a product at times in which zero thought was given towards service (remember the car engines that needed to be pulled to change spark plugs!). Good luck,

Robert
 

stuwee

Flying the Vista Cruiser up there... RIP
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#3
Hey Matt, I wish I could, that looks like a freakin' copy machine, waaay too much going on in there, if you can't figure it out I don't know who could.

I just had a thought, over on AK, there is a Rabi that lives here in Tucson, he's an expert on these, also Skywavebe here, lives in Chicago, poor guy...might know something. Good luck buddy, very nice deck!

Craig
 

Skywavebe

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#9
In the Tascam 3030 deck I did belts changes in they were easy BUT the belts I ordered and put in were from Marrs.
There is nothing similar about the 3030 to the X1000R but they may be closer to the Tascam 32-2B deck. This deck due to the higher speed needed two belts. The Flywheels and capstan bearings should be oiled- a thing that many people bypass and only think the belt make the difference. The Bearings need their oil and that of AMSoil that I have been using for a year or more does better that any oil I have ever used. It is motor oil of the Signature Synthetic type 10W30.
 

Skywavebe

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#10
Well did it ever get fixed? The thrust plate comes off and the belt comes off the flywheels like the other ones do. So other than some more stuff in there the same process is done. Most the time you need to cut some wire ties and move some boards up a bit. In looking at the SM for this deck just like the X2000M the deck has two belts that go on the flywheels at the same time and they are different sizes.
 
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Skywavebe

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#11
Well I just put new belts on a unit the other day but being some hack was in there the deck does not even have reel motors turning now and never did since I got it. The transport and motor were dead when I got the unit and the motor was toast. This is not going to be a cheap repair- yes it is a X2000 Variant which I am not happy about. They should have built it like the X1000M which was a way better design. The belts are not the problem it is all the jumpers and bad solder joints throughout the deck that are a major disappointment. You would think a High school kid designed this or maybe the Chinese made something like this as they are used to selling short term working junk. In PCB software you can define rules of the number of jumpers that are allowed- they must have put in use maximum jumpers. Each one has two chances for a bad solder joint and some part of the circuit go through 2 or 3 jumpers. The X2000 line was not a better design it was a nightmare waiting to happen. The 3030 is a X2000M with XLRs added.
 

Skywavebe

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#12
Did anyone help you with this? Rather than complain, get the right belts- capstan is 15.3" at .390 wide and the outer belt is close to 17" . The job requires you to dress the wires that most the time were pulled and arranged all over the place. Then I loosen the Control board to lift the aluminum frame up a little, then when the access to the thrust plate screw are possible you take out 4 of then and the one on the right lower area- do this with the unit unplugged as there is power over that area. When you are ready unscrew the one center lower screw and the thrust plate with motor should be lose. Unplug the motor connector from the servo board. Now with some jockying around you can get the whole thing out for oiling the top bearing of the motor, cleaning the pulley and so on. I then pull the flywheels out one at a time and recondition the tape contact point and clean all the belt residue that hack shops always leave on there. I clean it with denatured. The most important part is putting oil into the capstan bearing and on the capstan shaft after the tape contact point. Here I use that AMSoil Signature series 0W30 car oil. When putting the capstans into the bearing work them in and out about 6 times. Then when both flywheels are clean put the 17" belt on first then the smaller 15.3" on the inside pulley. In this deck instead of the pulley coming up from the bottom this one like Pioneer comes in from the top. I usually get the belts on while having a screw ready on a magnetic Vessel JIS driver. Then when the motor plate is mounted and the tension is on the belt put that center screw in and then rotate the flywheels by hand to make sure the belts all center on the pulley and crown of the flywheel. When this is OK then you put the rest of the screws in. I used to use a Xcelite long driver which still works fine but the Vessel JIS driver have come to my two benches and they seem to get used all the more these days- thanks to Nakmandan for his advice even though it took time to sink in. McMaster Carr has these drivers. They also have hex bits to fit your drills if you use them DO NOT use a impact drill type device to work on decks. The drill I use is small and poweful but has torque setting on it that at the lowest setting equates the hand tightening. I hate screw that are put in that you need to use a right angle driver to get out- these people are idiots to do this. The drill I use is a Bosch brand small drill item- it has worked well for a couple of years and I even bough a second one. They have deals at CPO outlet where they are refurbished but work like new.
With the Ams oil I got a wow and flutter at 7.5 IPS on a recent deck of .023%. It was an X1000RBL. You should even get a lower reading at 15 IPS from a 3030.
Using the best oil here make all the difference- The pinch roller even free spin.
 
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