Fried Erase Head on Tascam 38?
Posted: Tue Mar 22, 2016 7:00 pm
Hello all,I have a Tascam 38 8-track 1/2" deck, which I accidentally fried. Now tracks 3 & 4 don't erase. I'm wondering if it's possible that it's because of physical damage to the head, or if it's an electronic issue inside the machine?I fried the thing last summer after having issues with a track dropping out during a recording session. To try to fix it, I pulled out the removable Rec/Play amp cards, cleaned the contacts, and re-inserted them for starters. Unfortunately, when reinstalling them, I bent one of the pins on one of the boards, which went where it shouldn't (the pins have no guides and it's impossible to tell if you installed them correctly.) End result was no audio input or output, but the mechanical side still worked fine. A little bit of burnt electronics smell. The thing took a hit big enough to blow a couple 1 amp fuses. My more competent friend who has experience with tape machines (mostly older, simpler 2-track tube stuff) got the audio working; all 8 tracks record and play fine, but he doesn't know enough about my machine to know about the erase head issue. The head is clean of oxide and other gunk.Can a big shock to the system like that blow up a tape head? Or is the problem likely on one of the boards?I'm really hoping it's not the head...those things are next to impossible to find...