TK50 and stuck tape

From: Chris Cureau <cureau_at_centuryinter.net>
Date: Mon Sep 6 13:17:22 1999

An update, for the curious... ;-)

> A blinking red light means that something is very wrong with the
> tape drive. There are several possibilities, including electronic
> failure and power supply failure, but the most likely case is that
> the take-up leader has come unhooked. You'll have to remove the
> drive from the enclosure and look inside the drive to figure out
> where to go from here.
>
> Some questions whose answers will determine what you'll have to do
> to fix this:
>
> 1. Is there much tape wound around the
> take-up reel? (You can remove the metal cover over the takeup reel
> by taking off three screws.)
>
> 2. If the answer to "1" is "No", trace out the plastic leader
> from the take-up hub and figure out where it's going (or not
> going!) Replacement leaders are only a buck from DECDirect.
>
> 3. If the answer to "1" is "Yes", apply power to the drive and see if
> any tape motion takes place. If you're lucky, it'll rewind the tape
> back into the cartridge. If you're not lucky, you'll have manually
> wind the tape back in (or just pull it out and trash the tape.)

    There is plenty of tape around the reel in the drive, so I tried to apply
power to see if it would rewind. The drive would wind for perhaps a second
three times, then stop completely and flash the red light. Looks to me as if
the motor isn't spinning properly...suggestions?
Received on Mon Sep 06 1999 - 13:17:22 BST