Micro Seiki MA 505 vs Triplanar MK VII UII

One question about the MA505: I've seen samples where the counterweight is drooping. Mine is fine, but if it does happen, is there a fix for it?

Hi sam,

A few years ago I got a MA505S which I discovered had a counterweight stub which was not secure and therefore drooped.  Closer examination revealed one of the tiny screws near the connection point was missing (it turned out it had be broken off) and the stub could be physically moved by light finger pressure.

I posted a question about this online and a couple of replies assured me this was normal.  But even if I don't remember much from high school physics I didn't see how this could not be harmful.

Fortunately I contacted Jim Howard at Applied Fidelity who had experience making this repair.  He was successful with mine and luckily his charge and the bargain I got with the arm initially totaled close to the going rate for a good one.  The unfortunate news is we lost Jim Howard recently.  But hopefully some other tech may be able to handle such a repair, I have proof it can be fixed correctly.

I have no idea what the cause might be for this malfunction.

Pryso: Thanks, this is good to know. 

@pryso,
Now that you mentioned it, what would be the going rate for the MA 505 in good condition?

jsman,

Since I'm not looking to sell my MA505 I've not made any attempt to keep up on current values.  My comment was based on experience a couple of years ago.