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Akai GX-747
I might have just done something stupid. I got ahold of the above
reel-to-reel machine to play with. It's got a foreign power plug (two round prongs), requiring 240 VAC. Years ago, my friend had it working on 120 VAC with an adapter, but the machine has been unused for a long time. The adapter he used is shot, so I bought a new reverse 120 V to 240 V converter, rated at 40W. The Akai unit is rated at 140W. Without checking the wattage ratings, I plugged the thing in, powered it on, put a tape on and pushed the play button. The mechanism engaged briefly, but the meter lamps got dim, and the mechanism immediately disengaged. My concern is whether or not I might have done damage by under-powering the unit. There were no pops or smells or bad noises. Does anyone know if the behavior I described above could be related to broken belts or something else? Thanks, Dave Corsello www.davecorsello.com |
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Dave Corsello wrote:
I might have just done something stupid. I got ahold of the above reel-to-reel machine to play with. It's got a foreign power plug (two round prongs), requiring 240 VAC. Years ago, my friend had it working on 120 VAC with an adapter, but the machine has been unused for a long time. The adapter he used is shot, so I bought a new reverse 120 V to 240 V converter, rated at 40W. The Akai unit is rated at 140W. Without checking the wattage ratings, I plugged the thing in, powered it on, put a tape on and pushed the play button. The mechanism engaged briefly, but the meter lamps got dim, and the mechanism immediately disengaged. My concern is whether or not I might have done damage by under-powering the unit. There were no pops or smells or bad noises. Does anyone know if the behavior I described above could be related to broken belts or something else? No, but you will notice that the output voltage from the autotransformer you are using is probably dropping down to 50V or so as soon as you overload it. The cost of a 150W autotransformer with good regulation, though, is going to be more than a quarter-track consumer recorder is worth. --scott -- "C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis." |
#6
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Thanks to all for the info. There is no voltage selection switch on
the outside of the unit. I did find that the foreign plug is an adapter that fits over an ungrounded US (North American?) plug, so maybe there's a switch inside the unit. I also learned that this machine does contain belts. Actually, the behavior I'm seeing, except for the dimming of the meter lamps, is very similar to what I saw when I pulled out a 4-track cassette recorder after years of lying unused. That machine had a broken belt. The mechanism would begin to go into gear, but then at the point when the broken belt would have kicked in, it disengaged. It's probably best to remove a few screws and see what's happening inside. Thanks again for all the advice. |
#7
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Sure enough. I pulled the back off the unit, found the power setting,
changed it, and now the machine is working. Thank you very much! |
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