Goreski wrote:Go to http://www.AnalogRules.com

There's a number of pages specifically on MCI tape recorders - with tips and info on repairing them and keeping them running, plus a ton of other info on Analog Recording.

Yes, it's my website, but there's more good info there on tape recording than anywhere else on the web that I've seen...

regards,

Goreski

welcome goreski!!

i've checked your site many times and learned a lot. looking forward to any otari updates/info you have in the works, i have an mtr90 mk iii.

best.
nk

I'm also an MCI owner. I have one stellar JH-110B 1/2" two track, another less pretty JH-110B, and 5 more in various states of disrepair as parts machines.

I'm pretty sure I have a spare remote. Let me take a look when I get back to the lab and I'll PM you about it.

D. Wayne Miller wrote:Cleaning every single pin of every single molex connector and Cinch Jones connector with alcohol, then Caig DeOxit, then Caig PreservIt makes shit work better. The takup reel now takes up tape.

Tell me more about this. Did you take out each Molex connection and swab it with alcohol? How did you do the Caig treatment?

Perhaps this is what my 2 track needs.

= Justin

The molex connectors are a true pain in the butt. I clean mine with deoxit and a tooth brush. The tooth brush idea came from Greg, if I remember correctly...

i have been toying with buying a gun cleaning kit... reason being: to have a bunch of circular wire and soft brushes of all sizes around to keep connectors, patchbay/equipment/pedal inputs and outputs clean...

as a side note, i plan on magnetizing the wire brushes to collect any debris during the cleaning process, that could potentially close the circuit... or other worse things.

danielruder wrote:

greg wrote:Steve Smith is their MCI guy.

It's actually Steve Sadler. Not that it matters much. If Steve isn't available (which is unlikely) at Blevins, you should ask for Matt Allen. Or you could contact Chris Mara and ask him. All of the above are Nashville guys, and they all know a shitload about MCI machines.

Good luck with a sweet machine.

Oops. Steve Smith is the Nashville Studer guy.

Justin from Queens wrote:

D. Wayne Miller wrote:Cleaning every single pin of every single molex connector and Cinch Jones connector with alcohol, then Caig DeOxit, then Caig PreservIt makes shit work better. The takup reel now takes up tape.

Tell me more about this. Did you take out each Molex connection and swab it with alcohol? How did you do the Caig treatment?

Perhaps this is what my 2 track needs.

= Justin

We scrubbed every single pin with alcohol until we quit getting gunk off and then we put a little drop of Caig DeOxit on each contact of the female end of the connectors. Plugged it in and out a few times and then let it sit overnight. On the next day we added a drop of Caig PreservIt the same way we did with the DeOxit. That took care of a lot of the transport fuckery we were dealing wtih.

After a few weeks off we're visiting this monster in the living room again. We shotgunned all of the ICs and sockets and the transport seems to be rock solid in all speeds. Now we're having trouble trying to get our tape recorder to record.

Audio passes through when the channel is on Input. Nothing comes back when on Repro or Cue. Is there something obvious I'm missing that would prevent the signal from either getting to or returning from the heads? The head connectors on the rear of the electronics are connected.

In repro, with the track armed, punching in and out doesn't change the hiss (loud) or faint echoes of what sounds like bulk-erased program material (quiet).


Also: This machine came from a tv station and we're told that it was a JH-110A that was upgraded. We're running into a few inconsistent things (like I didn't think there were supposed to be these red sockets on an JH-110A but they're all over ours) that are making troubleshooting a little less streamlined than we thought. There is the white cylinderical transformer on the Repro cards which matches our 110A manual but the card also has two 2003M labeled can ICs on the board where the manual shows the 2001. The thought from an earlier post on this thread that the 110A used the 2001 and the 110B used the 2003/5534 (which are in ours on the Bias and Audio Motherboards). Were there a standard set of upgrades to the JH-110A that were frequently done or was it just as much as whatever someone felt like doing?