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Goodwill score - Teac A-4010S :)

tubmyk2

tubmyk2

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I posted this in the Vintage Solid State forum accidentally so sorry for the double post, but:



I found this beauty tonight when I ran into Goodwill on the way over to another store. $19.99. A litte expensive for a unit that didn't have a power cord and sounded like it had some stuff rolling around inside. Still though, I remember thinking that these were very decent units so I didn't even hesitate.

I got it home and checked it out. I actually found a plug that worked with this thing and fired it up. I got power, but it wouldn't play or fast forward with tape. Probably a belt. Here's a rear shot:





Well I figured out what was rolling around inside...and there were plenty of them. Just glad I didn't find their owner..



Here's with the front panel removed:



As you can see the belt is missing (well, it was there but all over the place and I already removed it.)



The amplifier was the most interesting piece. Especially that it slides out on its own, telling me it's higher quality than an integrated amp. This is a gut shot:



So, the heads...

(the black line on the left RP head is a reflection)

(same there)

Yeah, they're a little worn from apparently lots of use. The only way to really know how worn they are is to try it with tape and see what I get, but I'd need the belt first. So I will probably do that.

Besides needing some obvious work and tune-up, did I score a nice deck?
 
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I run a 4010S and really love it. They are nice decks. Mine had been refurbed somewhat. Yours looks pretty nice. I wonder how that rock got in there
 
kermit z said:
I wonder how that rock got in there
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They're acorns :) Thats why I was scared to see what kind of dead rodent might be living inside it.. There were acorns inside the front panel near the transport! Obviously left in a garage that was somewhat temp controlled but susceptible to squirrels and ****...

Your pinch roller linkage should move freely. If not, take apart and put fresh lube on it, before you re-belt.
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Cool. I ordered the belt already but that's good to know. I'm planning on lubing the unit anyway while it's open.
 
Gee that's real nice. What is the smoke/translucent round thing between the two motors?

Once found a pair of snakes copulating in an abandoned VHS machine.
 
soviet123 said:
What is the smoke/translucent round thing between the two motors?
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That's the fan mounted on the back for the capstan motor.

Tub: Make sure you clean the motor pully and flywheel really good before putting on the new belt. Run your finger over the surface where the belt touches... if you feel any little bumps, it's likely left over residue from the old belt and will be noticeable in the sound. Just clean it off with alcohol and qtip.

I have a deck like that one... got it about 12 years ago. It's been a good performer.

An acorn in there... that's pretty wild. The best I've found was a bunch of house insulation under the chassis of an old TV.
 
This is the very model that brought me in the world of audio. My father who died five years ago used this to for business when I was a teenager. The picture you posted reminds me of my father. This model was a best seller R2R in Japan as tough and for its good sound. Thank for posting the pixes.
 
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There are lots of those around because they were sold through the military during the Vietnam war era. I bought one myself in 1970 in Stuttgart, Germany. The downside to a deck that old is that it's biased for Scotch 150. A good tech can remedy that.
 
DKirk said:
There are lots of those around because they were sold through the military during the Vietnam war era. I bought one myself in 1970 in Stuttgart, Germany.
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Was is considerably less expensive to buy it there compared to here? I'm guessing it must have been... my parents bought their Teac in Germany in 71, and we were quite poor. Mom told me Dad paid more for that deck than he did that crappy car we had!
 
It was very cheap through the military. I also bought a Sansui AU-777, TU-777, an ELAC Miracord 770H and a Nikon FTN with 3 lenses. It had to be cheap because I sure wasn't making much money as an army E-5. Of course I didn't have any expenses, either.
 
VU Meters??

So, a bit of a technical question:

I got the belt installed (what a pain in the ass that was..) and it seems to be playing and functioning alright, from what I can tell. It is playing back pre-recorded stuff a bit fast but I don't know if the stuff was recorded at 7.5... it wasn't 3.75 though so that's baffling, though when I sent a signal through it it came back normal.

Two things -

1. The right channel VU meter doesn't work. Before I dig into the service manual, this seems like something common that people must have run into before... any thoughts?

2. The tape/source monitor switch is broken so I can only monitor tape, not source. It it an easy fix/replacement?
 
You must insure that the belt is on the right position for 60 hz. Having it on the wrong pulley will affect the speed and sound. Do you have the manual yet?
 
Does the meter move when you first power it up?

The VU meter could be several things. There is an adjustment inside the machine that could simply be dirty. One of my decks had a dead left meter, but just turning that adjustment back and for a couple of times fixed that. However, you have to make sure you have the right adjustment. There's several, and turning the wrong one could get something out of whack. Your sevice manual will point out the right one. The adjustments are quite sensitive, and if it does indeed get the meter running again, it would likely be off just slightly.

But before turning adjustments, let's look at your tape/source switch. It may need a squirt of juice inside it and work it back and forth. However, as you mention, it's broke. Can you stick a toothpick in there and work it back and forth?

I had a 4010 for parts, but chunked it last year. Now I wish I hadnt... could have sent you a switch. Some folks list individual parts on the Bay that were pulled from units... you may be able to find one there. Just looked and found one here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/TEAC-A-4010...pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item4841cbc7da

Tape Speed... It's likely that when you put the new belt on, you got it in the wrong spot on the flywheel and pulley. Look closely... one side is slightly bigger around than the other. One side is for 60 cycles and the other side is for 50 cycles. Slide the belt over onto the other groove and your speed will likely be fixed.

Good luck
 
I ordered one of those replacement switches... ouch. They really bang you up good for those old things, huh?

It's a shame too, because I know why the switch doesn't work; apparently it got pushed in at some point and one of the metal contacts inside the plastic switch part fell out. When I took it apart I found only 3 contacts inside instead of 4, so I made my own config out of the three contacts, which now renders the "tape" function useless :-/ But that's ok, because I know it's the switch. I just didn't put them back in place how they were left before I messed around with it..

Also, after pulling out the amp and reassembling everything the right-side VU meter is working. Not sure what happened but I like to let sleeping dogs lie...
 
Double check your belt. When I got mine, I made some tapes and all was well until I got a prerecorded tape, and it was too fast. Turns out the belt was not set right. Easy to remedy :)
 
Been a while but I wanted to revive this thread and say that I did replace the source/tape switch on the 4010S and moved the belt to the correct position.

I'm still having issues after that switch replacement.

I'm still seeing problems with the VU meters on input, and when I playback a recording I made, the volume is very low. It seems like the input signal is not strong enough. I checked a pre-recorded tape and it seemed ok from what I remember. The switch I used was not an exact replacement, unfortunately. i ordered one from the bay that was supposed to be for that model, and while it seems to "work", it wasn't a like-for-like. When I mess with the switch and toggle it back and forth hard, it acts like whatever is intermittent starts working again but only if I hold it in place. In theory, sounds like a bad switch again, right?

Are these units decent to begin with before I start investing more money and time into it? I already am in for a belt and switch, so not really a whole lot but I won't continue if it proves to be too much of a pain. I actually want to use the deck to bounce stuff off my Tascam 388 recorder.

I haven't sprayed the switch with anything yet, but I'm tempted to and see if it helps isolate where the problem lies.
 
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