Have a Victor UA-7045 tonearm coming


I've been searching for either a Victor UA-7082 or a UA-7045 tonearm ever since I purchased my Victor CL-P2 plinth with two arm boards.
The rear arm is almost ready to go, it's a Audio Technica ATP-12T mounted in a custom aluminum armboard. I also had to machine a bracket to add a Jelco JL-45 tonearm cueing device and a tonearm rest. This should be perfect for my low compliance DL-103.I have been looking at both models of the Victor arms and have posted WTB on several forums, watching Ebay but nothing nice has come up. So for the past month I have been keeping an eye out on the Japanese website Yahoo Buyee and finally saw something I liked. It's a clean looking UA-7045 that should work out nicely.
https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/v741873067?_=cnZxVG5GZVlFQTA3VEZVTDBjQnRCS1RGYWtnTW1ZOTZORUVmb2R...=I won the auction this morning for $202.81, way cheaper than I've ever seen one of these go for. estimated shipping is around $50.00 via DHL. It takes up to two weeks for the seller to get the arm shipped to Buyee and they will inspect and repackage it for shipment via DHL. So in several weeks I'll have this in my hands.
Since I know the spindle to pivot distance I will machine an armboard for it in advance.
Anybody familiar with this series of arms knows all about the rubber damper in the counterweight stub that degrades and causes the dreaded tonearm droop where the weight starts hanging down.
There are two types of this series of arms, those that have the droop (most) and those that will develop it soon. Aging rubber and gravity never let up. Every arm will eventually have this problem.
I've talked to my friend Elliott about this as he had one of these arms for a short time. He sent me a sketch of a rubber piece that he made from hardware parts that he used to fix his. Between Elliott and the internet I found enough info to figure out how this comes apart but I'm not entirely happy with the fix. Since Victor can't supply the rubber dampers I've been thinking about possibly making a mold and casting them out of urethane. I have samples of urethane coming to me from a supplier so I can compare the hardness of the rubber bushing to the urethane samples to find a close matching durometer value.
The mold will be a simple affair, machined out of aluminum. I need to dig out a vacuum pump buried in my garage to see if it works and I found a vacuum chamber on Ebay for 50 bucks.
Once I get the arm I'll pull the stub off and get some critical measurements and work from there. I can even do a temporary fix on the stub until I have a decent result as I have never cast urethane before.Anyway, I'm very excited to be getting this tonearm and at least one member here (chakster) talks very highly of it.

BillWojo




billwojo

@billwojo 

Did you ever have the mold made for the rubber bushing?  I would love to get in on it as well.  I have a mint QL-10 and I repaired it with o-ring, but would obviously like to use the correct part if I could get my hands on one.

I am also trying to determine effective mass for this this arm.  What cartridges are being used?  Can I get away with a Benz Glider with 15 cu on this arm?

Never made the mold up. I’m hoping to get on that project soon as I have 2 Victor tonearms that need one. I will let the forum know if and when they become available.

What tonearm is on your turntable. From what Chakster say's, the UA-7045 is suitable for medium and high compliance cartridges and the UA-7082 is suitable for low compliance cartridges. I don't know of any published specifications that gives the recommended compliance values.

 

BillWojo

I think it's one of those cases where someone at some time mentioned here that the UA7045 was suitable for high compliance cartridges, and from that moment forward it became a "fact".  I was surprised to read that statement, because by eye the UA7045 appears to be at best medium mass, maybe even high mass.  But I also have not been able to find actual data.

My QL-10 has the UA-7045. @billwojo please let us know, it would be greatly appreciated. From the vinylengine site, " permits low-mass, high-compliance cartridges to accurately track even the most complex groove undulations."