2. analog
  3. 1225265825

Help all ye Triplanar Gurus

I received my Triplanar VII U2 from Singapore over the weekend and I may have screwed up big time while mounting the arm.Basically, the screw that adjusts the height of the cueing platform broke in the hole with the screw head coming off,with the result that if I use the cueing platform to lower the arm on the record it seems to descend from Mt. Everest. Manually lowering the Lyra Skala on the record is not good for my health.
Have sent a mail to Triplanar and also the Dealer(Audio Note, Singapore).
I doubt if any A'goners have experienced a similar situation but there is no harm in asking.You have to be particularly cretin like to have achieved what I have done.
Am also unable to align the cart using the Best tractor supplied by my friend Yip in Hong Kong coz the mounting holes on the wooden armband are a bit askew. This can and will be resolved.
Will appreciate any help/ advise to lift my deep depression.
Many thanks
128x128sunnyboy1956
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Ouch!

The proper method to remove a broken off screw is to grind the butt end flat, drill a hole (by hand) into it, tap reverse threads into that hole and insert a matching, reverse-threaded rod. Screwing the rod in (counter-clockwise) will safely back the broken screw out without damaging the original hole or threads.

The two challenges are the small diameter of the cueing height screw and the difficulty of clamping the piece it screws into without damaging the arm. This is do-able for someone with the right tools and skills, but don't try it yourself unless you've done similar work before. You might turn an annoyance into a disaster. Worst case is having to drill out the entire screw and re-tapping the hole for a larger screw.

You need a good machinist or (better) a skilled watchmaker who still uses traditional tools, like Herb Papier was. My partner's dad would have enjoyed helping you. He was a master tool and die maker and a wizard with small tools. The obvious choice is Tri Mai himself. If he doesn't respond to your email try calling him.

Doug

P.S. Not to salt the wound, but that screw just presses against a rod. It needs to be snug, not tight. As Frank Schroeder likes to say, the next step after really tight, is really loose. :-(
lewm
13,110 posts
 
Doug, He says he broke "the screw that adjusts the height of the cueing platform", not the set screw, which stabilizes the vertical shaft in place, once one has adjusted VTA, and which seems to be the one you describe. Fixing the set screw would be a piece of cake compared to fixing the actual VTA adjuster. I hope I'm wrong for Sunnyboy's sake. But in any case, I would guess that Tri can fix it.
dan_ed
2,451 posts
 
Absolutely a no brainer. Send it to Tri. Maybe someday I'll send mine to him to replace the stock arm rest. Or, maybe not. ;-)
thom_at_galibier_design's avatar
thom_at_galibier_design
729 posts
 
My read is that we're all talking about the set screw which locks in the cueing height bar and not the knurled VTA tower locking screw.

No matter ... Sunnyboy speaks of a set screw, and even if we're misunderstanding him, the procedure for backing out any stripped or frozen screw is as Doug describes. Furthermore, he needs someone with the tools and skill level to do this for him.

The exception to the above involves a total disaster which would involve having to enlarge the hole and either replacing the existing screw with the next larger size, or alternatively installing a helicoil (if they exist in such small sizes) in order to use the same size screw.

What town do you live in, Sunnyboy?

There might be someone on this list with a connection to a good machinist. You might well save a whole lot of time in shipping and such.

Cheers,
Thom @ Galibier
More to discover