tandberg reel to reel

al novotny

New Member
Jan 18, 2016
2
0
0
indiana
I have a Tandberg 9000x reel to reel I bought in 1972 for $750. I have tried to get it working without any luck. It was wrapped in plastic for 30 years until I started working on it. I press wind and rewind both motors spin fast, the capstan seems to be working ok, little sluggish when turned on. The problem is when I press play the left reel motor turns, the heads don't come together. I also noticed when I hit play, the light under the play button is lit up as well as the light under the stop button. I was going to take the clip off the head mechanism and oil it but I can't get the clip off. I oiled the other motors. In Indiana they want $500 or more to repair them, I can't see paying that much. I used to make 60,000 albums and cassettes a day for a living but can't figure out this problem. thanks, al
 

rbbert

Well-Known Member
Dec 12, 2010
3,820
239
1,000
Reno, NV
Most likely any number of capacitors have failed. Any capacitor, and especially "consumer-grade" from that era (as opposed to military-grade), will leak significantly and be mostly worthless unless it has been used regularly. The 9000 wasn't a bad deck, but it was Tandberg's first effort to use 3 motors and electronic controls for the transport, and they didn't really get the bugs worked out until the next couple of models.
 

al novotny

New Member
Jan 18, 2016
2
0
0
indiana
tandberg reponse

Most likely any number of capacitors have failed. Any capacitor, and especially "consumer-grade" from that era (as opposed to military-grade), will leak significantly and be mostly worthless unless it has been used regularly. The 9000 wasn't a bad deck, but it was Tandberg's first effort to use 3 motors and electronic controls for the transport, and they didn't really get the bugs worked out until the next couple of models.

Is there any way to test these capacitors? If the heads won't go up could it be the grease is dried up? I love this old deck a lot of memories and old Midnight Specials recorded on it. I guess its time to make a decision whether to invest $500 in it. If anyone knows a repair shop in Indianapolis, I would appreciate any information. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post, it is greatly appreciated.
 

stellavox

Well-Known Member
Apr 23, 2010
284
61
1,583
I don't know how/if the 9000 is similar to the TD-20 but that deck had a problem with the "white" lubricant in some of the mechanisms "hardening up" - particularly the worm gear in the mechanism that operated the pinch roller, You mention that the "heads don't come together" - what drives them? If it's a solenoid then it's shaft could be "frozen". Can be cleaned/relubed/freed up but does take getting at it/removing it/servicing it, which can be quite a bit of work.

Charles
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
37
0
Seattle, WA
Is there any way to test these capacitors? If the heads won't go up could it be the grease is dried up?
There are. You can start by using your eyes and nose. Look for anything leaking out of them or bulging of the cap. This is a very extreme case in the Wiki page:



On the heads not moving most likely that is dried up grease. Usually you cannot repair it with addition of oil. The mechanism needs to be taken apart, dried up grease wiped clean and new grease put in. A temporary solution may be if you know what the mechanism is supposed to do, is to leave the unit powered off and try to push it by hand that way. If you succeed, then do it a few times and it may loosen up. Note that you can easily bend or break something this way so do so at your own risk!

I love this old deck a lot of memories and old Midnight Specials recorded on it. I guess its time to make a decision whether to invest $500 in it. If anyone knows a repair shop in Indianapolis, I would appreciate any information. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my post, it is greatly appreciated.
I don't. In general refurbishing these decks requires skill, time, parts and patience. $500 is a very reasonable price if they can fix it to like new operation.
 

Curt Palme

Well-Known Member
Jan 25, 2012
86
1
83
I'm going to say grease as well, not the caps. Everyone loves blaming caps, (sometimes for good reason) but I am currently working on a 1974 3M 2" 16 track machine, where there was gunk coming out of all the logic board caps, and while I was going to recap anyway, it turned out that NONE of the caps were off value. Pretty impressive for a 40+ year old machine.

I'm not a big fan of working on Tandbergs, but I have 4 myself. 2 work fine, two need work..
 

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