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Hum from Empire 698

Hi guys.

I'm having a hum problem with a 698 that was given to me. The motor is not completely quiet either.

When it was given to me the headshell was broken so I replaced it with a standard removable type. This required trimming the length of the arm about a .5 inch and rewiring the arm. The internal wire was replaced with van den Hul. The arm works great and is quiet on it's own. I did have to add a ground wire from the chassis to the tonearm ground to stop a loud hum from occurring.

When playing a record there is a constant hum until the arm is returned to the armrest. As long as the arm is in the rest it is quiet. As soon as the arm is raised from the rest there is a hum. There is also some noise from the motor but it can't be heard from a couple of feet away.

I took the circuit board out and looked at the caps and it appears the power switch capacitor has been changed to a Sprague .2uf 600v.

Any ideas?
rwwear
rwwear OP
2,850 posts
 
I have connected the tonearm to the preamp before installing it into the turntable and there is no noise. I have taken the arm apart and reinstalled the wiring and can find nothing wrong. The turntable only hums when the arm is lifted from the rest. I haven't replaced the grommets yet.
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,633 posts
 
The motor grommets often cause hum- but usually when the needle is on the LP surface (we have new grommets BTW).

So if you lift the arm from the arm rest and then lower it in such a way that it does not touch the platter or the arm rest, does it still hum?

Does it hum with the motor switched off?
rwwear OP
2,850 posts
 
Thanks for replying Atmasphere.
I can’t recall if it hums with the motor off but I think it does. I’ll re-check.
I have new grommets but have not installed them yet.
There is hum as soon as the arm is removed from the rest even before it’s placed on the platter.
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