Brenell Purchases

[DMcMahon]

Had a mini disaster 3 days back. Was doing some DIY work in my bathroom prior to forthcoming family visit. While regrouting some of the tiles, found that the hot water tap on the bath was very loose, i assumed it was just the tap securing nut that had worked loose because have had a similar problem before and decided to sort it later once I had finished grouting etc.

Couple of hours later after having returned from B & Q with some DIY supplies I went into my garage to get some tools and discovered there was a major flood of water coming through my bathroom ceiling into the garage

There was water everywhere, it was like a mini Niagara falls. Found that the hot water tap flexible connection pipe was loose. At least 25 recorders (amongst many other things) had got wet to very wet, am still slowly drying everthing.

One of the wetest ones was my Brenell Mk. 5 Series 2, the grey one in Post 1.

Once it is reasonably dry, I will slowly power it up to see if any obvious problems.

David

[Cruisin Marine]

Sorry to hear of the flood mate- hope all is recovered and back to original nick as much as possible.

[murphyv310]

Oh dear David.
That is bad news indeed. Please don't rush and power anything up too soon. A dehumidifier could be useful, I'd consider hiring an industrial one for a few days, a hairdryer or fan heater is good too. Getting them dry is the essence.
Keep us up to date on the progress.
Good luck.

[murphyv310]

Hi
I intend to give the deck a final check over today and make sure all the lubricating points are not totally dry. Initially the mechanism was very stiff which no doubt was the reason the play knob was in three bits, it actually repaired OK with good quality super glue.
I'd also like to get hold of an 8 1/4 inch spool and some Maxell triple play tape if humanly possible.

[vidjoman]

Triple play tape is not the best idea on decks with very fast rewind/wind. They are too thin and easilly snap or stretch. I never used any tape thinner than extended play on my Brenell decks and sometimes even the managed to snap one.

[Ted Kendall]

A common technique in period was the "Brenell flick", where the fast wind control was quickly set to the opposite direction to slow the tape before returning it to centre as the tape stopped. Try it on thicker tape until you have mastered it, but it makes tape handling a lot gentler. I still wouldn't be too happy with triple play on this deck, but at least this increases the chance of it staying tape rather than becoming plastic string.

[Reelman]

Ah, so sorry to hear of this David, you have my sympathy. I hope the damage is as minimal as possible. Your early discovery of the problem will be very useful.

Good luck!

Peter

[murphyv310]

Originally Posted by vidjoman

Triple play tape is not the best idea on decks with very fast rewind/wind. They are too thin and easilly snap or stretch. I never used any tape thinner than extended play on my Brenell decks and sometimes even the managed to snap one.

Hi
Thanks for the advice, duly noted. Most of the tapes you see are used, even NOS ones I suppose could be dubious.

[vidjoman]

The other problems with triple play tape is that not only is the base very thin and easily stretched but the coating is also very thin and this can only be recorded at a low level before distortion sets in. Add in the low level of bass response due to the thin coating, low playback level means more noise.
I think the triple play tape was only meant to give extra recording time on portable machines with small spools.

[jamesperrett]

[QUOTE=murphyv310;1556617]

Originally Posted by vidjoman

Most of the tapes you see are used, even NOS ones I suppose could be dubious.

Probably about the most appropriate brand new tape would be something like

https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Reco...REC0013158-000

but it isn't cheap.

Used tapes are a bit of a lottery - most tape types had one or two bad batches while some types have all gone bad. Older tapes are often better than tapes from the 70s onwards although avoid acetate tapes.

[Ted Kendall]

Originally Posted by vidjoman

I think the triple play tape was only meant to give extra recording time on portable machines with small spools.

BASF marketed 7", 3600ft spools in the 60s and 70s, but I agree it's best avoided. And then there was quadruple play...

[Analogue man]

You mentioned Maxell, as a brand I have found that their tape survives well with age and have bought quite a number of their tape second hand with no problems thus far but I would never buy anything more than extended play for the reasons mentioned.

I have sitting behind me some BASF tape on 8 1/4 inch spools which contain Radio Caroline from the MEBO II recorded at 3 3/4 IPS and on 4 track and despite their age and the fact that I didn't make the recordings they still play well.

[Ted Kendall]

I'd stick my neck out and say that BASF in general lasts better than just about any other brand, which is not to say there have been no problems - an early batch of LH had excessive shedding, and there was an unlucky batch of SPR50, but these are tiny spots on a visage of robust quality. Also bear in mind that buying used thin based tapes inevitably makes you a hostage to the quality of the transport on which it has been used.

[TIMTAPE]

Yes and the combination of thin tapes, on small hub diameter reels, played on machines (often semi pro machines) never designed for such fragile tapes can be a tape damage incident waiting to happen.

[brenellic2000]

I agree with the above! Briefly engaging 'reverse' while fast spooling was recommended by Brenell to slow down the spools before braking... (or snapping!)... especially 10-1/2"!

I have never used anything thinner than Long Play, sticking religiously to BASF LGS or LH - and avoided matt-backed tapes: they serve no purpose on a Brenell, even the IC-2000! I have never had problems with second-hand BASF tape (except Super and matt-backed) or early Welsh-made Scotch. I now avoid Ampex/Quantegy regardless of age!

[DMcMahon]

The recommended procedure of switching to the opposite fast wind direction taken from the Mk. 5 Series 2 Operating Instructions manual.

David

[DMcMahon]

The page (page 10) above was taken from a downloaded PDF manual. It can be seen that the information on switching the fast wind switch to the oposite direction for a short period to achieve gradual slowing down of the tape, has been added like a Post It note.

Checking original hardcopy "Mk. 5 Series 2" and Mk. 5 Series 2 & Series 3" Operating Instructions manuals that I have, show just a blank space at the bottom of page 10.

The Mk. 5 Type "M" Operating Instructions manual has the identical information (i.e. the Post It note type info) as original typed text, under the "Re-Wind Tension Control" section on pages 4 & 5.

David

[murphyv310]

Hi
Well after making great progress and making some really good recordings the machine is back with this very LF oscillation on playback. It takes about 30 minutes of playing before it shows up and progressively gets stronger. Looking at the scope it's around 5hz and varies with the volume control, disappears at low volume settings. Anyone else had this and managed to find out the cause?

[vidjoman]

I don't think it's been mentioned, the shorter spring has nothing to do with the pressure applied to the pads but is to pull back the slider plate with the pad lifter pins on.

Murphyv310 - have you checked if the oscillation stops if you pause the tape? It might be caused by the pressure pads having the knap facing the wrong direction. Gently stroke the pad with a finger and it should be easier to move over the pad in one direction than the other way. It needs to be in the direction of tape travel or it might cause a flutter between the pad and tape.

[murphyv310]

Hi.
Thanks vidjoman. The problem occurs even with no tape at all.
Mia Culpa. I've found the problem. Of all things I forgot to replace the coupling cap off the volume control. It twigged when turning up the volume fast, a loud thump occurs and gets worse the longer the machine runs then it starts to pulse. The cap was leaking but not the worst I've come across. Replacement completely cured the thump and the oscillation. Now been running solidly for an hour.
I still get a little odd crackling which I'm sure is the R/C network suppressors. The crackling is only noted when the tape is stopped, best idea is to remove the supply and test.