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New Maplenoll Ariadne owner needing advice

I have recently purchased a maplenoll ariadne. I have tried to learn a little about the table but find very little information. I know the table was discontinued in the 90's but the little i have found indicated it is a very good table. I am interested to learn if there are any tricks or problems to optimizing this table. As most of you probably know, it is an air bearing platter and tonearm. I plan on putting my zxy airy 3 on the arm once I get it set up.
oilmanmojo
oilmanmojo OP
472 posts
 
oops, 37 liters/min (1.31 cfm), its actually pretty small with the exception of the tank. I really like the large air tank, got to help the stability of the air system.
stereobug
2 posts
 
any recommended source for a round belt I believe is aprox 1/16" or 3/32" x 38"? circumference drive belt that wraps around lead platter on Ariadne to plinth pulley. Let me know if measurement is different and best source. Thanks
oilmanmojo OP
472 posts
 
the ariadne belts are usually flat, but LPgear might have a round belt of that dimension
baranyi's avatar
baranyi
719 posts
 
Life has gotten in the way and I finally acquired a Silentaire 20A pump for my Ariadne. I hooked it up this morning with a friend and the Silentaire could not keep up 45 PSI in the turntable. This is obviously ridiculous and there must be a leak somewhere. I wonder if this is how I fried my original silent pump. My question is if you typically can hear air flow under the turntable? I definitely can hear this but really can't isolate where it is coming from. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I still have all the original Maplenoll filtering scuds are air chambers.
oilmanmojo OP
472 posts
 
sorry, took to long to get back to you. couple of points. First if you hear air from the bottom then you are either leaking at the connection or you have too high of pressure at the platter. One way to optimize is put a needle valve on the platter and close it. At this point there is no air going to the platter. See if you can hear any. There should only be air going to the arm. you should be able to keep 45psig with the arm alone. Assuming this is the case, turn on your motor and slowly open the air until the platter lifts. You might have to spin the platter with your hand to get it started. Listen for a rub. if it is not rubbing, lower the air until you hear a slight rub. then raise the air slightly to the rub sound stops. remember the arm can siphon a lot of air away from the arm.The needle valve will help you fix this.

Finally make sure you are perfect level. If not, it takes a lot more air to float the platter.also, make sure you clean the arm spindle and arm bearing housing. You will find that you can lower the air some by doing that also.
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