Vintage DD turntables. Are we living dangerously?

Chak, Your symptom sounds a bit different from mine, although maybe close enough to have the same cause.  As I wrote somewhere here, my TT101 would start up fine and go to correct speed, but it would very soon thereafter start to "hunt"; the tach would show 33.32, then 33.34, etc. Very shortly after that, the tach would go dark except for the decimal point, and the platter would coast to a halt.  This whole process from start to stall never took more than 2 minutes, tops.

Like JP says, in "HOLD" mode, the tach stays blank until it sees the set speed; then it displays.  Thus it is not abnormal to have a short time delay before the tach lights up, but at that moment, it should show the correct set speed.  In RUN mode, it counts up from zero to set speed, visually from the moment you press the button, so there is no delay in that mode.

Don't give up.  We are not living dangerously, just frustratingly.

SO WHAT CAN I DO? Is that require some sort fo special knowlegde or experience to fix it locally with some tech?

IMO, you probably don't require a man of knowledge. What you require is someone with soldering skills and keen eyes (aided by a magnifying glass). I haven't been following this thread very closely lately, but I believe a goodly percentage of tt 101's documented on this thread have been resurrected solely by resoldering all the joints. 

You need to find someone who will undertake that task. And make clear to him that even if a joint appears to be fine that he should re-do it anyways. My hero, Dave Brown, called it the brute force method

@lewm

Chak, Your symptom sounds a bit different from mine, although maybe close enough to have the same cause. As I wrote somewhere here, my TT101 would start up fine and go to correct speed, but it would very soon thereafter start to "hunt"; the tach would show 33.32, then 33.34, etc. Very shortly after that, the tach would go dark except for the decimal point, and the platter would coast to a halt.

Indeed, Lew. My drive "hunt" for a few seconds in the start only with "HOLD" mode (when it can be displayed 33.32 or so just for second), but then display correct 33.33 or 45.00 continuously up to 1 hour with no changes, then just "go dark except for the decimal point". So just a little difference from yours.


@jpjones3318

If it’s stopping as Lew described you’ve a situation where too much current is being supplied to the motor. Time won’t fix this; it’s likely there’s a bad connection on the board.

Thanks for letting me know, hmm

@banquo363

What you require is someone with soldering skills and keen eyes (aided by a magnifying glass). I haven’t been following this thread very closely lately, but I believe a goodly percentage of tt 101’s documented on this thread have been resurrected solely by resoldering all the joints.

Good to know, i hope so! I will look for the proper technician locally at first. 

@downunder 

Hi Misha
Come to Sydney for a holiday and bring your turntable.
Yes, Chris is in Sydney.

Haha, i imagine those guys on security control in the airport when they will meet me with TT-101 in the bag :) 

@halcro 

Regensburg in Bavaria may be closer to you chakster......That's where Thuchan's Tech resides and I've witnessed his work first-hand. It's first class and he now knows the TT-101 inside out....

The closest route, worth to visit personally, sounds good. How long it could take to fix the drive? Was in too long in your case?