The automotive store might not have anything that small, but I would think a good hobby shop that sells RC cars and planes would have everything. They are also used to working on small parts and might be a great help.
Paul
Paul
Help me fix my cartridge
This was my first cartridge installation experience and it went very bad. I was installing my new Dynavector 20x on to the tonearm of my Pro-Ject 9.1 by screwing the screws into the threaded holes when I noticed that they were getting tight. I tried the other hole and the same thing occurred, oh oh I thought, better unscrew these screws, they're slightly too big. Then things started to really go bad. The screws inexplicably became very tight as I unscrewed them. I had no choice but to apply more force since the screws were only halfway in and the cart was dangling from the tonearm. Unfortunately the aluminum screw wasn't designed to take that much torque so it broke off in the hole! Darn! I tried to gingerly remove the other one but snap, the other screw broke off also. Man, now I'm screwed I thought. (no pun intended) I have two broken screws stuck in my cart with no way to remove them. I thought I didn't have anything to lose at this point so I tried to drill through them with a tiny drill bit. The first one worked, great, now to do the second one. With great precision I drilled clean through the center of the screw, but now the outer edge of the screw was attached to the threads. So now I can't screw in any screws. Do you have any solutions to removing the remnant of the screw? Can I tap the hole somehow? Right now the cart is attached to the tonearm with one screw but I'm sure two are ideal for the best sound.
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Finding taps that size is not a problem, but finding extractors that size may be tough. It is going to be really tough to fix the cartridge correctly while it is still attached to the tonearm. It may be worth trying to contact Peter at SoundSmith and see if he has any ideas. Or, perhaps you could send the whole mess to him. Just lift the tonearm and send it all to him. He could check out your cartridge at the same time. Proceed carefully and you may just be able to recover from this screw up. ;-) (I couldn't resist.) |
You'll have to go online to get taps that small. Here is one place, for example. precision taps Then again, many cartridges are attached with a screw and nut. Just be careful not to over-tighten. |
So there is a happy end to this story after all! I tried calling the Canadian Distributor of Dynavector and explained my situation. However, when I told them that I bought it used off Agon, they basically said I was SOL, they didn't give a hoot even though the cart was still in the warranty period since I didn't buy it from them. However, Jim Pendleton of Osage Audio Products saw my post above and did some calling around and contacted Mike Pranka, of Toffco-USA in St Louis, the US distributor of Dynavector. Mike has experience repairing these carts so Jim suggested that I send it to Mike for him to take a look at it. After receiving it, Mike promptly re-tapped the cartridge mounting block, cleaned up the stylus and even gave me two sets of new (proper fitting) screws. He refused to charge me for his service and postage and sent me back the cart, good as new. Wow! talk about going above the call of duty and what service! I don't know these two guys and they went out of their way to help a stranger in another country. Needless to say I'm very grateful that there are still some nice guys in this world. Thanks again guys for all your suggestions and especially to Mike and Jim for helping me out of a jam. |
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