• Please note that there are a few updates and clarifications made in the Audiokarma Rules, mostly relating to advertising and the addition of the new "Paying it Forward" & "Giving back" forums in the AudioKarma Audio Marketplace section.

Teac A-4010s reel tension settings

Larry E

Larry E

New Member
Hej,
I'm new here and hoping for a bit of help to set th tape reel tension on my Teac. The manual instructions I down loaded apparently are for a different series model and I'm wondering if someone has those particular pages. My manual calls for 2oz of tension for play, FF, and rewind. My reel tension is much higher. My problem is the tape slows down and for the most part will stop if I let it go. If needed are pics uploadable? Will a serial # help?
 
Register to hide this ad
There are definitely R2R experts here, but you will find a greater concentration of them at tapeheads.net. Might want to post there as well to better cover the bases.

I'm in the middle of getting a 4010s back into good operating condition right now. Been a real learning experience, as its the first R2R I've worked on. Just waiting for a couple of capacitors that I didn't have in inventory, and I should be ready to start play-testing it. Good luck with yours.
 
Greetings Spark1,
Yes, it is a learning experience. I also wonder about my caps. Visually they all look good, no swelling, cracking or leaks, but........... I was given this deck after finding it didn't work and the seller couldn't unload it. It's had some kind of "service" awhile back and poorly at that. It also had a layer of brown residue over the boards and other parts so I'm thinking it sat in dirty water in someone's basement. Where did you order your caps from and which ones for ???
I may pick up another unit tomorrow and have some parts or maybe fix it. One reel won't turn. thx for the reply, later. larry
 
I would get the mechanical stuff sorted out before updating caps. The grey Suzuki .01uf caps are notoriously problematic with age. I had replacements on hand for those. There are a couple of other caps in power supply that I am replacing, as well as rebuilding the amplifier's power supply. I usually get electronic components from Mouser...sometimes Digi-key.

This one belongs to my cousin...he's selling all the stereo eqpt he bought during his Nam tour, after having it in storage for 40 years! I've sold all of the other stuff for him (after getting it into good working order)...this is the last piece. Even has 10 blank tapes, a pick up reel, a demagnetizer and a dust cover. Still, I told him not to expect much for it. We'll see...
 
Last edited:
I meant to mention that! Duh.

Fortunately, the one I'm working on came with its manual (and original box, sales receipts, etc).
 
spark1 said:
I would get the mechanical stuff sorted out before updating caps. The grey Suzuki .01uf caps are notoriously problematic with age. I had replacements on hand for those. There are a couple of other caps in power supply that I am replacing, as well as rebuilding the amplifier's power supply. I usually get electronic components from Mouser...sometimes Digi-key.

This one belongs to my cousin...he's selling all the stereo eqpt he bought during his Nam tour, after having it in storage for 40 years! I've sold all of the other stuff for him (after getting it into good working order)...this is the last piece. Even has 10 blank tapes, a pick up reel, a demagnetizer and a dust cover. Still, I told him not to expect much for it. We'll see...
Click to expand...
 
Larry E said:
I read a line somewhere that these decks were known at the Vietnam deck, 150,000 sold to soldiers.
Click to expand...

I've seen similar comments. If true, that would be a LOT of tape decks. But they sure are common here in the States...so parts and information are easier to find than for many less common decks.
 
I'm working on one too;
any input on loosening the compliance arm or re-gluing the brake pads? Any specific glue? Everything else seems in good shape except that.
 
CJ Payne said:
I'm working on one too;
any input on loosening the compliance arm or re-gluing the brake pads? Any specific glue? Everything else seems in good shape except that.
Click to expand...
Hej, My pads had separated at the ends and I used a few drops of gorilla glue. I may remove them and replace them later if I can get this deck working and then I'd try the yellow contact glue. So I can't comment yet on how well the gorilla glue will work.
 
Contact cement. You want to use something that can be easily removed with a solvent...at least that's my understanding.
 
Ok I had thought CA glue, but I have had experiences with that getting absorbed into fabric and not sticking as well as hoped. I think contact cement is the right angle.
 
spark1 said:
I would get the mechanical stuff sorted out before updating caps. The grey Suzuki .01uf caps are notoriously problematic with age. I had replacements on hand for those. There are a couple of other caps in power supply that I am replacing, as well as rebuilding the amplifier's power supply. I usually get electronic components from Mouser...sometimes Digi-key.

This one belongs to my cousin...he's selling all the stereo eqpt he bought during his Nam tour, after having it in storage for 40 years! I've sold all of the other stuff for him (after getting it into good working order)...this is the last piece. Even has 10 blank tapes, a pick up reel, a demagnetizer and a dust cover. Still, I told him not to expect much for it. We'll see...
Click to expand...
Hej, Do you have a part number for those grey Suzuki .1uf caps?
Larry E said:
Hej, My pads had separated at the ends and I used a few drops of gorilla glue. I may remove them and replace them later if I can get this deck working and then I'd try the yellow contact glue. So I can't comment yet on how well the gorilla glue will work.
Click to expand...
What is the compliance arm?
 
Larry E said:
Hej, Do you have a part number for those grey Suzuki .1uf caps?

What is the compliance arm?
Click to expand...
Hej, To my surprise I got the darn thing working. I picked up another free A4010, a bit older than the one I'm trying to fix and used the resistor measurements from the new machine to set the the tension on my fixer-upper and low and behold it works. Sounds pretty good too. Someone sure messed the thing up though. Now the new one I just got had a few issues too, no fuse, set at 220 volts, 50 hertz, broken gooey drive belt and the left reel hub wouldn't move. Took the faceplate off and the hub covers and it freed up. The hub was set too far into the machine so when the hub covers were put on the screws clamped the cover to the face plate. The reels turned fine after that so when I get the new belt I expect to have a really nice deck. Deck was free with the Teac 1250 I got for $150 which sounds great. Only thing left to check that I'm able to do is the record function. larr
 
Well the fact is they made more than 200,000 of that model but through time there were three or four different versions. Yes, I have worked on many of them over the years and at Teac Chicago Factory Service. To me they are a pain to work on but a good starting deck and one to practice on. Understand that oiling of the motors is required and I have been using AMSOil Signature series 0W30 recently in the past two -three years. It out performs anything else. Yes, it is car engine oil that is synthetic.
Brakes should never be glued back on. These brakes deserve to fall off as they are already 50 years old, powdered and dried out- take off the brake bands, clean off the old bands and glue then attach new felt strips of the right length about 6.5" to 7" by 1/2" with latex glue. These pads will return the better braking that was meant to be there- no need to go to Tapeheads as I am no longer there. I am right here now. Do not expect to use old 50 years old oil motor run caps. I put ceiling fan film caps in and the deck work fine after that and that also includes Sony TC- deck as their caps explode with regularity. Slowing of a motor means lack of oil in motor bearing, capstan bearing or bad motor run cap plus you also need to eliminate any drag that could be coming to brake drums from poorly positioned brake bands.
On the A series deck like A3300SX and A6300 I have noticed motors are slowing down out of specs. There is no solution other than to install a modified pulley- you can not get a new freshly built motor for these decks. My units due to AMSoil and the pulleys I install are on speed and have low wow and flutter. As I finish training new guys there will be more people to work on these- I have Dean in Canada, Gerhard in Florida, and there are a number in training now. I will not put out substandard trained people- they have to know their stuff to get a good job report from me. Rolf on Texas as retired I am told so I have Arnold down there training and working on decks now.
On reel tension settings- put that out of your mind as they do not change, never need to be adjusted and people that do mess with them end up putting them back where they were.
How many have I had to adjust from Factory? NONE. This is usually done by people that do not have experience of working on decks. I have only worked on them for 46 years but I think that qualifies me a bit of the way. Speed issue can also be cause by lack of pinch roller pressure, bad capstan surface- do not use sandpaper on them, and older deck usually need new rubber put on those Pinch Rollers from Terry in MI. This is just the way it is- don't fight with the experts. If there was a easy way to do something, I would have found it by now and NO those push on rollers from E bay do not work at all. When I see those they rollers go immediately to Terry to be done correctly.
 
Thanks Sam for the info. I'll replace the felt as they are rock hard. I got one of the A-4010S running but found a problem in the right channel record circuit. That will be a problem for me to fix. As for the 1st unit I got I'll go back and check some of the things you mentioned. Would there be a problem switching out between units the AMP module? Or would I get smoke? larry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom