Tape Trail

Reel to reel, cassette and other analogue tape formats.

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Original Message

TEAC X10R Strange Reel Drag Issue

Posted by mr9iron on December 30, 2020 at 11:50:20:
First, thank you for everyone who had chimed in on the original thread.

I am posting a new thread, because I have new information about the reel drag issue, I am hoping it will help trace down the problem.

Put quite simply, if I lay the unit on its back, everything runs like a champ, no drag no lag. I am posting a link to a folder with videos showing how well it runs when horizontal, a full FF and RW - fast no hesitation and even works when stopped and started again at 80% full on the take up reel:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VEnv69-vGv9tIxHxQffYlwBXmUcbxPqv?usp=sharing

This is a link is to a folder that contains videos of the same deck upright, but struggling with real drag and lag:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rUPnC5tTLf6JNcZyNakoQ0mWcnamljjD?usp=sharing

When horizontal, I can hear something in the motors that sounds different, like a turbo or overdrive is kicking in or something. If I place the deck upright, it goes back to the previous behavior of lag and drag.

Can anything be gleaned from this new and specific behavior? Is there some kind of a clutch or brake that may work well when on its back, but not when upright. Perhaps something is getting stuck and gravity is helping in one scenario, and hurting in the upright scenario. It seems that the problem must be something mechanical if the position of the deck affects the performance.

Also, I think I can officially rule out SSS, I spun up a new spool of tape and went back and thoroughly cleaned the pulleys, caps, and heads, everything is pure, no residue no squeaking sound.

Again, appreciate any help or insight, and hope to hear back, sorry about the repost, but I think the original thread petered out.

original thread: https://www.audioasylum.com/forums/tape/messages/2/21251.html