Help With Roland Space Echo re 201

[Dennis Michaelis]

Hello Everyone,

I purchased a space echo a few weeks ago and it was working great.
However tonight I was jamming with it and the delay just stopped.
My guitar signal was still being amplified and the Reverb still worked so I opened the hood and saw the tape had stopped moving.
I've got the thing half apart on the Kitchen table and I could really use some ideas.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dennis

[rockinrendell]

i dont have any experience with space echo but i do with echoplex and univox units. using that knowlege, the motor pully turns flywheel pully with belt. on space echos they may be direct drive im not sure. the capstan post is attatched to flywheel pully. the tape is sandwiched between pinch roller(black rubber wheel) and the chrome capstan post. if the tape stopped moving there is either a blockage/tangle in tape or the capstan stopped turning. if there is a blockage/tangle the motor will still be trying to turn till it cant and damage can result. or the flywheel pully stopped turning, either cuz the belt broke or motor burned out. you said the tape stopped moving so, i assume the unit still was powered up?

[Dennis Michaelis]

Space Echo

Yes the Space Echo was still powered on.
My guitar signal was still being passed through to the amp.
I can't see any belts...The motor is in a protective casing should I try to get in there.
In order to get inside the motor I will have the thing almost completely apart.
If it turns out the motor is burnt out can you get replacement motors??

Thanks for your help!

Dennis

[rockinrendell]

ive done a bit of research on tape echos and theary behind them. from what ive read there are no roland space echo parts availible anywhere much. you basically have to find a donor and good luck with that too. you may be able to find one if you search good and follow all the leads you can find. i havent seen too many parts units on ebay either. there are tape loops availible out the wahzoo, but heads,motors and stuff like that no. so keep fingers crossed maybe its not motor. if it is i wonder if it could be rebuilt out of neccisity. unfortunatly im not a electronic tech. i have some knowlege and experience. ive been servicing echplex's and univox units with good results so far. there arent parts availible for the univox units either.

[rockinrendell]

NEVER SAY DIE! dont give up easily though. it could be something in circut too.

[oc disorder]

Try putting Space Echo in this forums search engine.
There have been quite a few posts on this subject.
The motor may be hard to find but it may not be that.
You may have to take it to a tech but here is a link to the service manual

http://manuals.fdiskc.com/flat/Rolan...e%20Manual.pdf

[rockinrendell]

if im not mistaken theyre direct drive motors some how. i wouldnt jump to conclusion that motor is bad untill you test all you can. look for obvious burnt areas on pc boards and components. smell to see if you smell something burnt or hot. check for a fuse or blown diode and yes most of all do search on this forum for past postings and do google search. theres bound to be a group dedicated to space echos as they were the echoplex's number one competitor.

[sonichermit]

help with roland space echo re 201

I have an old 201 and am the original owner, I recently been working on it trying to get it back to peak performance and have done a considerable amount of research on these units.
first off I doubt you have a bad motor. What kind of tape loop are you using? Is it an original RT-1L or one of the replacements being offered by a host of sellers? First thing is to see if your capstan is turning when you have the unit switched on. If it is the motor is probably fine.
Not long ago I purchased a tape from 201 loops. Worked fine for a few days and sounded really good, then the tape bound up and the machine would not work. I happened to have an original RT-1L left. Cleaned the heads real good and put in the RT-1L have not had a problem since.
The other thing that is critical with these machines is the tape head adjustment. If you do not have a service manual yet you can download one from creationtapes.com. By the way this guy in New Zealand has some parts too. In addition there is a guy in Japan selling original tapes. I bought three from him for around $36 which to me was pretty reasonable. They are authentic Roland loops and he was class A on shipping as well. I got the tapes in less then a week, all the way from Japan. He is selling a 201 right now on e-bay.
There are a few other places in the U.S that do service on these machines. Look up orbitelectronix.com and you can also check with analogman.com as well. They probably know of U.S. based businesses that will repair the machine if it really needs it. Did you put a bit of oil on the pinch roller screw? Don't get it on the rubber please. A drop down the shaft on the capstan won't hurt either. But just a drop of fine machine oil. If you persist you will get your machine running in all likelihood.

[jrfrond]

I have refurbished MANY Roland Space Echo machines, as well as other tape echos over the years. The Roland motor is direct-drive, and I have yet to see one that failed. Lots of wow and flutter? Yes, that I have seen, primarily caused by worn and/or dry bearings, which can usually be helped by lubricating properly.

While it is possible you have frozen bearings, there are other things to check. The motor, of which the original already was not available by 1978, (!) is of the DC Brushless type and has it's own separately-fused power supply and drive/control circuit. You might just have an open fuse. You might also have a frozen pinch roller, which can cause the motor to stop when the roller is engaged.

You possibilities, in order of annoyance are: frozen pinch roller, open motor fuse, frozen motor bearings, drive circuit problems and lastly a dead motor. Like I said, I have never personally seen a dead one, but ANYTHING is possible.

[bryans]

John,

How do you go about changing the motor bearings? My old 201 has a seized one in it and I can't seem to figure out the best way of removing it... damn annoying I tell you...

[Bill Moore]

Worked in a small studio part time in the 80's. A lot of guitarists were using the tape echos, and we would make loops from the end of our reels for them, as well as the studio unit. I used an SRE-555 for years in our PA system, most of the time with non factory tape loops, never had a problem. Could it be the quality of the tape?

[slor]

I have a Roland 555 that I love, but lately its been extremely finicky (even by Space Echo standards).

I'll get the pinch roller tension set just right, but after 10 minutes or so the tape will typically stop (or at least slow way down). Also there are audible variations in tape speed, more than I would like.

The pinch roller itself is in decent, not great shape. A few indentations here and there. I've soaked it in mineral spirits to try and revive it a bit.

But maybe more to the point, it's not unusual that to get the capstan going on startup, I have to wiggle it slightly into place with a slight "thunk" before it wants to spin.

I'm guessing this means the top motor bearing is worn out?

I'd appreciate any thoughts and advice as I'd really love to keep this thing running....

[Kazooman]

The balky capstan is a concern. Perhaps a god cleaning and lubrication would help. If there is a starter cap I would check it as well.

As for the roller, you can buy a replacement or have yours rebuilt here:

Terry's Rubber Pinch Rollers & Wheels

[slor]

Got it, thanks for the tips!