Echoplex EP-3 passing signal, but no effect?

[em1987]

Hey all,

New to the forums (posting anyway), I was looking for an answer to this but can't seem to find one...hopefully someone will be able to help me out?

I picked up an EP-3 recently off ebay, it's serial# 9881 so I'm assuming that is the second run of them...It powers on, the motor is working and the tape will move through the heads and all, but I am not getting any effect? It does pass signal, but I've found that cranking the Echo Volume pot all the way up causes the signal to stop passing right around the 9.5-10ish mark. That is the only pot that does this.

A friend mentioned this could be a bad cap somewhere? I am just getting started in electronics so I wouldn't really know either way but I'm wondering if anyone has heard of that before? Is there a common way for me to test for bad caps with my ol' multimeter? I understand that this may just be the tip of the iceberg, but I bought the thing with the idea in mind it would be a good project to get learning.

I apologize if that is vague, feel free to ask away if you need more details?
thanks a lot for the help in advance.

[52 Bill]

So it will pass straight signal but no delayed signal?

The Echo Volume control is like a balance control, all the way CCW is all straight signal, all the way CW is all echo signal. So when you turn it up you will kill the straight signal.

You will need to find out where the problem with the echo signal is, in the recording section or the playback section.

Does the Recording light turn on?

[pcmurphypc]

So, how was this problem fixed? I've got an ep-3 that has now developed the same symptoms after a tape chage-the record light comes on and the tape is loaded correctly. Any help would be much appreciated.

[52 Bill]

Is this a new tape or did you reload the cartridge?

If you have the old cartridge put it back on the machine and see if it works.

[pcmurphypc]

It is a reloaded cartridge. It was working fine when I reloaded it with a short loop of tape-about 45 seconds. I reloaded it with about 2.5 minutes-I used a jig- and the tape moves fine, but now, it only passes the direct signal.

[Mark Black]

Sure sounds like the tape got flipped over - could it be that simple?

[52 Bill]

That's what I was thinking. Is it possible that you have the wrong side of the tape facing out?

[pcmurphypc]

I hope it is that easy - I will double check when I get home.

[pcmurphypc]

So, I'm an idiot - it was the tape. All works perfect now. Lesson learned - don't reload your cartridge while watching a movie in the dark! I thought I double-checked the tape. Thanks for your diagnosis and sorry for my stupid mistake.

[52 Bill]

Glad to hear you got it working. The giveaway here was "it worked until I...".

The first thing I check when something stops working, is the last thing that I did.