Technics SP-10 TT motor capacitors?

Hi Strathorncat:

I'm just about to order the eight electrolytics for the power supply with my SP-10 Mk2A. What brand did you use and did you have any problems with size fitting the board?

I assume you have the Service Manual for your Mk2. If not, you can download a copy on VinylEngine. You might want to check again, I count 25 electrolytics on the Main Unit Section of my Mk2A and it was alleged to have a simplified circuit compared to the Mk2.

I'm also on the fence on replacing the 'lytics on the Main Unit. Talking with a few friends who know a great deal more about electronics than I do; one recommends replacing all electrolytics over 15 years old, a second recommends it would be OK to do just to give me peace of mind, while the third says, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. That is why I'm still firmly on the fence for making that change.

Have you built a plinth for your SP-10 or do you have a Technics or other manufactured plinth?

The cap replacement on the SH-10E was pretty straight forward. I used Nichicon caps. No size issues, except finding a physically large enough replacement for the can cap with the chassis mount.

Yes, I have downloaded the service manual and all of the other Doc's. Great resource here! Thanks for the heads up on capacitor quantity.

Currently, the deck is in a furniture style plinth with a marble armboard. I've got a teak plinth to try and will be moving into that next. I sure like what I see with regard to slate plinths...

Thanks, Bill.

FWIW, While I am an old hand at DIY, I have too many projects and so farmed out the capacitor change to Bill Thalmann at Music Technology in Springfield, VA. Bill is very experienced and way way more knowledgeable than I am. He thought it was prudent to replace them all. We used Panasonic FC types, which Bill likes; they have lower ESR than any that were made back in the day. He is so much more skilled than I and works so fast that the cost was quite reasonable. My Mk2A had been completely refurbished by Technics in 1989 and was never used thereafter. Ergo the lytic caps were "new" but 20 years old. For a unit that has been in constant or even occasional use all these years, one might justify replacing only the bad caps. Unused caps go south quicker. Now I have to go do income taxes, yet another night that I cannot work on my SP10.

Lewm, thanks for the insight. I intend on replacing all and I saw reference to the Panasonic caps elsewhere, so that's the plan. Need to part with the machine long enough to open it up and verify package types/values and get a lay of the land.

There is a certain piece of mind in knowing the lytics are not going to leak and take out an irreplaceable IC. (Most of the ICs in that circuit are no longer made, and some of them were custom built for Technics specifically for that circuit, so not easy to find subs.)