Tascam 234 Cassette Deck: no signal recording onto tape on only track 3

[hosoboyo]

Hi folks. I've had this deck for probably 7 years, and had it fully serviced by somebody when I first bought it. They ended up moving to the other side of the country, however and I am not having any luck finding anybody that will work on tape decks in my area. There's one guy in my town I found on Google who says he works on vintage audio equipment, and when I gave him a call I received simply a "no, I won't do that"...

Anyways, since I had it worked on initially it's been fully functional, but about a year ago track 3 stopped recording any of the input that goes into it. It works totally fine while armed, I can still monitor the input as well as see the meter move like normal. Only issue is that once I try to record something, upon playback it is just silence. I have also tested out some previously recorded tapes from when that track was working, and playback off of existing tapes works fine. I've tried switching tapes, adjusting the trim knob and switching from 1/4 inch to RCA input, and still nothing. Any ideas on if this is a doable repair by myself with minimal experience working on electronics? Is it worth shipping out to someone who is willing to work on it?

Also, aside from this it just started eating tapes today when I was attempting to record with my 3 still available tracks... so if I am planning to work on the original issue, I guess it'd be a good time to try and address that as well.

Edit: added a picture of the deck, just for fun. Love this thing!

 

[shredd]

That is a KILLER piece o' gear. Was just looking at one of these offered for sale...but I'm pretty well settled into the digital domain...(shrug)

ANYway. I'm no expert - which is what you need - but the excellent description of symptoms you gave suggests that the culprit is likely to be the recording head, or the connection to it (specifically related to Ch3)...perhaps the connection between the "arm" button, and its' ability to supply the signal to the rec'g head?).

Just a guess...hopefully that wherever you're situated, you can locate/access someone capable of testing/repair..
Good luck!

 

[hosoboyo]

Thanks for your input. It is a sweet unit. I had an assumption that it might be something with the record head. I may try first cleaning the heads, and then using some contact cleaner on switches and knobs and see what that does.

 

[shredd]

Dunno if you have the ability to pop the cover off/access the gutz and look inside...but it wouldn't hurt to look for broken wires/connections, cold-solder joints, yada...
It also occurred to me that it could be something on the board/s that processes the signal and passes it on to the record head - maybe a bad cap or sumthin'. That's getting into tech stuff I'm not so good on...
And I bet it'd help you to locate a schematic or block diagram...
What'd REALLY make a diff is finding a decent electronix tech!