TEAC A-1500 Cleaning

[VSAT88]

Gents and germs. Picked up a TEAC A-1500 the other day for 10.00 and decided to learn a bit about reel to reel. Of course it is nasty and has a bad capstan belt. I can order a belt and put it on however this unit is really nasty. Besides compressed air what else should I use to clean the inside of this thing ? I know I can clean it the same way I clean receivers and amplifiers I find and work on but I want to make sure there are not things I should not clean it with or clean at all. Thanks.

 

[Skywavebe]

It will need a full recap at that age. Cleaning is just one part of the journey, the next is with soledring iron and new rubber parts. make sure heads are good otherwise spending a lot of time just to put $300 worth of heads on it will not be a cheap repair. There are some parts that were even discontinued in the 80's on that. The switch assembly.

 

[VSAT88]

Thanks for the reply. I wanted to try my hand at it even though I have never worked on one . I will look over the heads closely and report back. Thanks.

 

[Skywavebe]

Well it might be fixed by a DIY guy but that is the only way it will be economical. I am cutting down on repairs here and weekend off and when I get my load down things are going to be different.

 

[VSAT88]

I am pretty sure this deck is like bottom of the line probably even in its day. Just like to learn what I can about it since I have never owned one let alone worked on one. Way I figure it I cant break it and it might even make sounds when I am done. He gave me about 10 tapes with it. I have all of 20.00 in it now after buying a cheap belt. In fact I think the belt was more than that. If that's so the belt cost more than I paid for the unit ! Its not like I am going to try and sell it or anything. Hell nobody would buy it . I just like to work on stuff like this. Its intriguing. But I must say this. If I worked on them day in and day out like you and some of the others here do I do not think it would intrigue me nearly as much. I will never be a Tech. Just a hobby for me. To be honest I ain't that smart. Hope you get to take some time off soon.

 

[Skywavebe]

Well the belts should not have cost that much if you got them from the right place which is Consolidated Electronics. People being lazy go to sites that sell belt kits and a lot of the time they are the wrong belts. I could name a few and one is in Colorado. In my case I take the wrong ones out and put in what should be in there. Some deck sa 1/2" can make a big difference. Other times the belts are not the right width. The PRB corss reference Pdf has been out there fro years and so there is no reason that a person who has an internet connection should not know what goes in his deck as long as it is listed in the PRB cross reference- it does not have every model.
Back in the days of the A1500 there were not 20 models to choose from as this was back in the beginning of reel deck machines for consumers around 1966. The deck were much better made in the decade after the Vietnam war. The line up of models can be found on the Teac section of the Museum link here- https://museumofmagneticsoundrecording.org/ManufacturersTeacTascam3TeacAds.html
The A6010 was released about that time and it was a solenoid deck- when they went to push button solenoid control that is when things got better. The A1200 was below the A1500. The whole thing revolves on the condition of the heads- if they are worn out then there is no sense to retore the operation only to throw it away then. There were like 5 units selling on Reverbe and E bay - people do sell them.