Eminent Technology ET-2 Tonearm Owners

I looked a little more tonight and it is much worse than I thought... not un-recoverable, but needing a LOT more TLC than I expected knowing that it does run and produce pressure.

First the sound-absorbing foam has REALLY deteriorated. In the bottom, it is gooey & sticky & will be a real pain to get out and off all of the components there.

In the top, it is crumbly... will be easy to remove, just probably dusty.

Then the pump not only has broken loose, but has banged around a good bit and what I believe is part of the plastic housing or trim around it has broken into medium to small bits... of course, all imbedded in the foam.

I need to clean the foam out and off the pump and other internal components and take stock of whether that destroyed housing is a critical part of the pump's function (I suspect it helps in cooling the pump) and whether I need to replace it. Good thing is that I think I see the motor mounts (looks like they were not part of that housing) and if they are not sound, the pump has a standard mounting flange... I can always put it on a piece of MDF and mount that to the springs

And then the whole thing probably needs a rebuild.

Well, MUCH more work than I planned and expected, but that it runs means there is still hope.

It looks like the motor broke loose and banged around a long time ago, given how the pieces of the broken housing are distributed through the foam fragments. Shipping probably didn't help, but I doubt this much damage was caused in just one trip.

Greg in Mississippi

Greg -
I get ebay alerts on the Timeter as I am always on the lookout for a second one.
The link you posted - I remember that one and thinking - man that is rough.
For the shelf the motor hangs off to rot to the point that it came loose and it banged around makes me wonder what type of environment it was kept it and whether it was left in the rain for some time.
Water under the bridge now - no use thinking about - this is what I would do.

I'm assuming the motor and fan still operate ?
Remove all insulation as you say.
Put in another shelf (it slides in and out easy enough) and remount the hanging motor.
Once this is complete and this part is very important.
Get an empty regular hand size water bottle.
Fill 1/3 with CLR. insert the water/moisture spring loaded exhaust nozzle into the bottle.
Leave overnight.
Next day you will see what kind of environment it was run in by how much crud gets dislodged into the container.
Remove the bottle and cap it for reuse later.
Start it up and the pump will blow the remainder of the crud out through the nozzle if any remains.
The pump will now purr better and run cooler if the nozzle was partially clogged. Turn it on and see how hot the motor gets.
It is hot to touch normally. Make sure there is no obstruction on the bottom under the fan.
The air exits from the bottom.
The housing shape above the motor (that broke to pieces on hours) helps the air run through shelf opening and by the motor - there are wide slots on the top of the upside down half bowl shape to help with this. By removing the insulation you will also have helped cooling as well I believe.
Let me know how you make out.

(that broke to pieces on hours)

should be (that broke to pieces on yours)- wish there was a way to edit.

Greg - the current pump issues aside.

I not only have 2 ET, but started with an ET-I back in the day!

Holy Moly !

you are in a very unique position.

This thread is at well over quarter million views. I am sure many would probably like to hear the differences you experienced between the two. I know I would !

when u have some time ....

Cheers

LOL.

I'll try to respond to the ET-I vs II in more detail later this week... bottom line, I really liked the way the air bearing and arm base mounted mechanically on the ET-I and have always thought that upgrading the arm-spindle, arm-headshell, and cartridge interfaces while retaining the ability to adjust VTA and the secure bearing mounting might have made a more rigid arm.

Back on the pump, I looked at it again and see that the pump has just come loose from the springs. The intermediate shelf looks solid and the springs are still attached there. What I can see of the spring mounts on the pump look ok too.

I suspect it was banged around or dropped and that pulled the pump loose from the springs... and then it was banged around a lot afterwards to nearly pulverize the plastic housing.

I really have to pull on some rubber gloves and scrape-out all the remaining sound-deadening foam, then use lacquer thinner to remove the residue in the pump compartment as it is very gooey and sticky (and hard to clean off). It may be a few weeks before I can get to that... need to be able to do it outside and during the day in the light. But only after I do that will I be able to see the full condition.

Again, I appreciate your help and suggestions, especially on the checkout and the info for getting another regulator (I have confirmed the one I already have IS a Schrader Bellows, but again, I need a 2nd one).

One other area where you could assist... you linked to a composite picture above. One section showed the opened pump compartment. I've downloaded it, but it is pretty low-res and I can't enlarge it to see more details. Can you send me the hi-res version of that picture via email? I'll contact you by the A-Gon system to provide my email.

Again, many, many thanks!

Greg in Mississippi