Space Echo mechanical issue.

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Rob Flinn

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Joined
Jun 3, 2004
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Between Sussex, UK & Aude, France.
Just wondering if anyone can shed any light on this issue.

Electronically it's working fine.  It has a new tape & the heads & guides have been thoroughly cleaned with isopropyl alcohol.

The issue is that the tape periodically sticks to the the heads to the point where it stops moving.  A brief tap on the tape with a pencil gets it going again.  When it stops the capstan still turns.   
 
Yes, either not enough pinch roller pressure, or the pinch roller itself is dried out and hard, so it doesn't have enough grip.
Or you are using the wrong tape... ;-)
 
There are screws that you can loosen, move the roller closer, and re-tighten.  A new roller is often a better long term solution.  Shane at echofix.com has all the Space Echo parts.
 
Rob Flinn said:
The issue is that the tape periodically sticks to the the heads to the point where it stops moving.
If the tape really sticks to the heads, then it isn't new. New tape shouldn't do that - unless the manufacturing process is faulty. It is a common problem with older tapes. Some do it, some a re fine. I'd try a different one.

Michael
 
As above, perished pinch roller, pinch pressure or maybe the felt pads are all gacked up and sticky?
Another common fault, is the bottom bearing on the motor gets worn out and capstan tends to "lean" over a bit. Wiggle it to see if there's any movement? 
The bearing can be replaced.

 
Also, over time, the  pinch roller can become “bowed”.  So the pinch roller will only apply pressure at the top and bottom of the capstan, which is above and below where the tape actually is.  Therefor not pulling tape along very strongly.  A quick and dirty (but permanent and potentially disastrous) fix is to cut away the top 1/16 of an inch from the top and bottom of the roller.  (Where the most contact is being made)

 
I'm learning a lot about tape machines right now. One of the major issues seems to be old tape. Go to splicit.com and get a small plastic reel of LPR35 and a splicing kit so that you can just make a new loop once in a while. Also, isopropyl is not always aggressive enough to get oxidation off of the heads. Try 100% acetone and a q-tip. But be careful. Some head gap binder can be dissolved by acetone so don't get crazy with it. Also make sure you hit the capstan shaft. If you do all of that and get a new pinch roller I think it would be in pretty good shape.
 
Ive worked on a few roland echoes , usually a good clean and a fresh tape got them back up , sometimes you will get a stubborn build up on the pinch wheel I usually put a small piece of fine emery cloth flat against it and rotate manually until the residue is removed give  it a few more turns till your back to clean rubber ,should grip again . If after a good clean it runs but gradually the sound gets worse and it starts clogging the heads and finally stops moving Id strongly suspect the tape itself to be the problem .The tape in the roland is loop binned so after sitting for years it will take on a set which will impede its movement around the guides/rollers it could also have absorbed moisture ,telltale sign is stubborn gunky deposits around the tape path after only a short usage time . With good tape it should be hours before any build up on the heads becomes a problem , a bad tape can shed loads of crap in 30 or 60 seconds playing time and your echo becomes muffled /indistinct.
 

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