Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

Pablo, You wrote, "I would say it hasn’t been turned on in the last 15 years."  There's one clue to a possible problem.  The electrolytic capacitors do not like to get old, but more than that they do not like to sit on a shelf with no voltage across them for 15 years.  At the very least, you should have brought up the voltage on your motor gradually, using a Variac.  This can allow the electrolytics to re-form and possibly save the bacon.  At this point, I doubt that a Variac would help, because the damage may already have been done.  I would suggest you unplug it and then have a pro replace all the electrolytics, just to begin with.  Other guys here do not like me to preach this particular gospel (replace old 'lytics with new after acquiring an aged DD turntable), but even most of them would have to agree that this should be done in your case where you know the history of disuse, before you blow up more unobtainable parts.  The 'lytics are dirt cheap. The integrated circuits needed to make the tt run correctly are very difficult to source, if not impossible.

Lewm, thank you for the quick response.
So every capacitor should be replaced on every board?
some of them are pretty tiny.
I see a few big ones by the power supply.
i have replaced caps in the past, but they were much bigger and it was on my amp.
When I took the TT-101 apart, it really scare me, everting seems so tight and there are wires everywhere! 
I’m used to seeing amps, which are much neater inside.

 Of course you can check each electrolytic for its integrity, before replacing it, and thereby save some cost and bother. But also you need not replace film capacitors. As a rule, they last virtually forever, if the unit has been stored at a reasonable temperature and humidity.  If you read elsewhere in this thread, you will see other problems that commonly arise especially with the solder joints and especially with the printed circuit boards used in the TT 101 which are known to be hygroscopic. And to be fragile.

But if you first replace the major electrolytic’s and see what you’ve got, then you can assess what other problems may apply. Also in my first post I neglected a very important point. Most TT101s were built for 100VAC. If you plugged yours into 120VAC that too might cause the failure mode you observed. You’ll need a step down transformer before you go further, if you haven’t already got one.

Look near the AC cord outlet to find the recommended AC voltage.

Yes, 120v 60hz 23W.

I used contact cleaner on each pot, moved them back and forth and set them back to where they were.
it did not take care of the problem.
the motor seems to speed up to top speed and then come down to almost a stop.
the digital display does not change because it seems that it’s taking an average.