Vintage Technics SL-1300 poltergeist--help!


Unpredictable auto-return problem shown in 25 sec .mov file publicly shared from my Microsoft OneDrive.

Shop has tried fixing twice, still a problem. They have tried cleaning and lubricating what the believe is relevant. I am searching for guidance / specific input as to what the problem is as well as new shops to try probably.  I'm in Indianapolis but not reluctant to take it where needed.  Otherwise this old friend is in great shape (dusty from having been stored in a seldom cleaned room). Before this developed, new Grado added and took off the auxiliary screw-in tonearm weight, set 1.5gm VTF.

Thanks,

Warren

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Is the onset of the malfunction temporally related to when you removed the counterweight?

And yes, I think the channel could be there to enhance structural rigidity.

I forgot to return here (OP is me).  In my strange case and video, 3 people minimum did not notice that the Ortofon headshell had a lift arm that protruded higher than the standard Technics headshell.  In fact--that was the problem, full stop.  I discovered the headshell's arm was dragging on the surface of the dust cover until it progressed far enough the dust cover and headshell no longer had interference with one another.  No problem with the SL-1300 works at all.

I am a moron.

That was a joke, by the way. I don’t use a DC during play because the ones I’ve used add an unpleasant coloration and/or feedback related sonic problems. Others take a different (minority) view.