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Thread source for Loricraft RCM's;also seeking f/b

Replacement thread for the Loricraft and Keith Monks RCM's can be expensive or difficult to obtain. The original British-made thread is no longer available. Gudebrod is becoming scarce. I found some at shofftackle.com . Their website says that not all colours are available. Make sure you get non-NCP and size D. Shoff's catalogue # is 524D . I have run a few hundred LP's through my PRC4 with this thread and it has worked fine. A couple of 450 yd. spools should last you a lifetime.

Cabelas.com no longer carries Gudebrod thread and their current nylon non-NCP thread is only available up to size C. I don't know if it will work. Size A WILL NOT WORK!

On a related topic, I've had my PRC4 for almost 2 years and consider myself a heavy user with about 3000 albums processed. While I am currently very pleased with the performance of this RCM it was a long painful journey to get there. Fortunately it only cost me a couple of moderately valuable albums. I would be interested in hearing from other Loricraft owners about how much work they have had to do to their machines to get them working properly. The reviews I have read all imply the machines are plug and play. That is not my experience at all. BTW, my machine came from the manufacturer.

Spread the word - for anyone with a large LP collection a RCM is a necessity, not a luxury. Cheers. Al
fjferal
fjferal OP
7 posts
 
dhcod 12/13/11 That's great that you had an easy time getting thread. It was largely cost that led me elsewhere and to posting here about it. The last time I looked, Smart wanted $10 for 100 yd. of thread. Then I would have to have it shipped to the Great White North. I have a friend with a PRC-4 as well and for $60 all in we got a 6-pack of 450 yd. spools. We'll never have to think about thread again. Al
fjferal OP
7 posts
 
peterayer 12/14/11 If you are talking about the 2 hoses outside the catch bottle, I guess it would make a theoretical difference. That extra inch of tubing leaves you with a bit of wiggle room when it comes to movement in the arm or removing the lid from the catch bottle. I plan to leave mine as it is. The piece of tubing inside the catch bottle is there to prevent used fluid from being sucked into the pump and should be left in place at all times.
mintlp has some interesting ideas for increasing suction. I have not tried any. Now that my rig seems to be working I plan to just enjoy it as is. I'll leave the hot-rodding for other parts of the audio system. Al
fjferal OP
7 posts
 
There was another reason why I didn't go direct for a small amount of thread. As I mentioned in my initial post the Gudebrod thread is becoming hard to find (for whatever reason). I put a lot of time and effort into trying to source thread locally with no success. With the lifecycle of products being so short now and inventory being so tightly controlled, in a couple of years when I might need more thread I have no assurance I will be able to get it so I got a lifetime's supply now. In the big scheme of things the cost was trivial and now I can forget about the issue. Cheers. Al
tibilois
1 posts
 
Al,

I have recently encountered a different type of problem. The arm seems to be stuck. Do you have any ideas as to why? The machine worked just fine until now.
Somehow, the Arm button was left on!

Cheers

Tibilois
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
What do you mean with "stuck"? It can be possible that the VTF of the suction Arm is too high, in combination with the sucking force that Arm can skip (or stuck?). The solution here is simple, adjust the Arm to zero VTF.
When it is an internal problem with the Arm mechanism I think, best is to contact Loricraft, probably it needs a repair or they can give you some help via Phone.
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