Tape Stuck w/ Error Message - Sony PCM-R300 DAT

[skinneej]

Hadn't used my R300 home deck in awhile... plugged it in the other night to check out some old recordings and maybe transfer a few. Popped in a DAT, spot checked a few sound samples (it played fine), rewound the tape, and when it rewound the beginning of the DAT, I went to eject the tape and all of a sudden got a "CAUTION" error message...

now the tape is stuck in there.. cant eject it, cant play it, cant fwd/rew... nothing is spinning or moving. It just powers on with a "CAUTION" message.

I popped open the cover of the machine, the top of the tape "shell" is still open and the actual tape is still positioned through all the rollers inside.

never had any problems with the machine, but like i said hadnt used it in awhile.

any ideas what to do?

[Luke_of_Mass]

I'm assuming you tried cutting all power to it, and reconnecting...

if the tape is still strung through the rollers, you might need to completely dismantle the unit to get it out... what tape is it? if no other copies exist, then I imagine it's worth the effort to somebody

[Unidecker]

take it to a svc center and get the heads and transports cleaned

[skinneej]

Originally Posted by Unidecker

take it to a svc center and get the heads and transports cleaned

thanks for the reply... what type of place would service a DAT machine?

[skinneej]

Originally Posted by Luke_of_Mass

I'm assuming you tried cutting all power to it, and reconnecting...

if the tape is still strung through the rollers, you might need to completely dismantle the unit to get it out... what tape is it? if no other copies exist, then I imagine it's worth the effort to somebody

thanks for the reply.. yes, i tried cutting power, reconnecting, etc..
Of course I'd love to salvage the tape, but I just want to get the tape out and get the deck up and running again

[GRC]

Much will depend on the deck, but my inclination would be to get some plastic tools, cocktail sticks, toothpicks, etc. and CAREFULLY unpick the tape from all the guides and rollers, taking X care not to touch the head drum.

If you can access the reel hubs and get the tape back in the cassette, all good and well. If it becomes necessary to cut the tape, do so.

Then power up the machine and try to eject it

[Luke_of_Mass]

Originally Posted by GRC

If it becomes necessary to cut the tape, do so.

Would it be possible to reconnect the tape with some type of adhesive or carefully with scotch tape to salvage the recording? I would imagine you'd lose a couple seconds if this is the case

[GRC]

Originally Posted by Luke_of_Mass

Would it be possible to reconnect the tape with some type of adhesive or carefully with scotch tape to salvage the recording? I would imagine you'd lose a couple seconds if this is the case

Most every maintenance source counsels against splicing tape which functions with a rotary-head system - VHS, Betamax, DAT etc.

If it comes to this, I would recommend losing more than a couple of seconds - join the tape, and play back to a point before the splice, and stop. Fast forward, and replay from a point after the splice. Do not, absolutely do not, play over the splice.