Onkyo tape deck with weird problem

[Jim Shaffer]

I have an Onkyo TA-RW244 dual cassette deck that's developed a couple
of problems, one of which is very strange. The other day I was
working on my equipment stack and I heard a whirring noise. I knew
none of my components has a fan, so I looked for the source of the
noise and I found that the capstans on deck B were spinning. A few
power cycles revealed that the capstans on deck B now spin anytime
power is applied to the unit, even if it's in standby mode. I then
tried playing a tape to see if this problem affected the use of the
deck. The tape played, but only one channel produced audio, the other
one didn't even register on the built-in level meter. I didn't try
recording anything. Deck A works fine.

Has anyone ever encountered a problem like this? The unit is less
than 4 years old and has been used very lightly. It's only plugged
into a cheap surge protector, but I've never had any surge damage
whatsoever to any other equipment, even items not protected.

 

[James Sweet]

I have an Onkyo TA-RW244 dual cassette deck that's developed a couple
of problems, one of which is very strange. The other day I was
working on my equipment stack and I heard a whirring noise. I knew
none of my components has a fan, so I looked for the source of the
noise and I found that the capstans on deck B were spinning. A few
power cycles revealed that the capstans on deck B now spin anytime
power is applied to the unit, even if it's in standby mode. I then
tried playing a tape to see if this problem affected the use of the
deck. The tape played, but only one channel produced audio, the other
one didn't even register on the built-in level meter. I didn't try
recording anything. Deck A works fine.

Has anyone ever encountered a problem like this? The unit is less
than 4 years old and has been used very lightly. It's only plugged
into a cheap surge protector, but I've never had any surge damage
whatsoever to any other equipment, even items not protected.

Sounds like the sort of problem cased by a bad connection, or possibly dried
out electrolytic capacitors. Highly unlikely it was damaged by any external
cause.

 

[David Farber]

I have an Onkyo TA-RW244 dual cassette deck that's developed a couple
of problems, one of which is very strange. The other day I was
working on my equipment stack and I heard a whirring noise. I knew
none of my components has a fan, so I looked for the source of the
noise and I found that the capstans on deck B were spinning. A few
power cycles revealed that the capstans on deck B now spin anytime
power is applied to the unit, even if it's in standby mode. I then
tried playing a tape to see if this problem affected the use of the
deck. The tape played, but only one channel produced audio, the other
one didn't even register on the built-in level meter. I didn't try
recording anything. Deck A works fine.

Has anyone ever encountered a problem like this? The unit is less
than 4 years old and has been used very lightly. It's only plugged
into a cheap surge protector, but I've never had any surge damage
whatsoever to any other equipment, even items not protected.

It is not uncommon for the capstan motor to turn when the power is on and a
cassette is in the mechanism. Try removing the cassette and see if the motor
stops. Either way, there's not much you can do about disabling the motor in
stop mode.

Simple explanations to your one channel out problem could be a dirty tape
head or a broken head wire.

 

[Jim Shaffer]

It is not uncommon for the capstan motor to turn when the power is on and a
cassette is in the mechanism. Try removing the cassette and see if the motor
stops. Either way, there's not much you can do about disabling the motor in
stop mode.

The capstan motor runs without a cassette in the deck. The one on
deck A doesn't.

 

[webpa]

The capstan motor runs without a cassette in the deck. The one on
deck A doesn't.

Not familiar with this particular machine. So, this is worth what it
cost you:

1. Some machines use leaf or micro switches to sense the presence and
type of inserted cassettes...usually on the back side of the
cassette. Check to see if one or more of these switches is blocked
with debris or bent.

2. If the unit uses a mechanical push-push power switch, are you sure
it is actually turning off? I've seen dual cassette decks in which
one side is designed to run continuously with the power on.

3. Other than nostalgia, why are you still using cassettes?