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Apocalypse Now?—Technics sp10 problem s

I’d been enjoying my Technics sp-10 mkii for a couple of months now but recently it’s sending out signs of giving up the ghost.

When I first bought it, the start/stop function was halting in the sense that I would have to push the button several times in order for it to perform the function. Independently of that, I bought bearing grease and after adding some drops, the halting start/stop problem more or less disappeared. Great.

But then the strobe light went out. It still comes on occasionally but it’s intermittent. Unless that’s a sign of deeper ailments though, I could care less about that.

Worse: if I play a record now after first turning on the TT, the speed is obviously haywire. One symptom is that the gear mechanism is clearly audible in the form of an unusual and grating grinding sound. Playing records when it’s like this is of course out of the question. The good news is that, for now, if I let the motor spin by itself (without the cartridge on) for about 10 minutes or so, the issue goes away. That is, the speed is dead on for the remainder of the listening session (I played it for almost 8 hours yesterday with no problems), and the grinding noise is gone. The bad news is that all this may be just a sign of an impending apocalyptic failure.

So, I'd like to deal with the issue before it gets to that stage. Can someone suggest the cause? Or better: the cure. Or, alternatively, and best of all since I’m not handy enough to actually fix anything complex, can anyone suggest a reputable service shop where I could bring it? I live in Los Angeles. I’m hesitant to ship it because I don’t have the motor clamp for shipping. For all I know, that may be the original cause since the seller shipped mine without the clamp. I guess I could have a clamp fabricated if that’s my only choice.

It’s a wonderful TT and would hate for it to die so soon in our journey together. Final question: if there’s a repair shop, should I go ahead and replace capacitors, etc..? What are people’s opinions on that?

Thanks.
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ct0517's avatar
ct0517
2,041 posts
 
Banquo – thx for the feedback on my setup. Most family members think I am losing it so it is good to hear encouragement - thank you and yes the black button is a cover to keep it from being pressed accidentally when it was used in a broadcast studio. .
Lewn – I have a couple of turntables the other being a VPI TNT - it has a plinth and I enjoy it.
Great that you are giving the plinthless a try and if you use a pivot arm can’t wait to see how you set it up so I can get a second set of ideas for mine.

For the record I mentioned in an earlier post - I did AB testing with my TNT and SP10 in a plinth. I used two two ET arms and a Dynavector xv1.
This AB testing confirmed to me that my SP10 plinth performs as it should - using the benchmark that the TNT plinth is a good one. Could it be made better - maybe - and I was thinking since it was DIY about another plinth but then I saw Halcro’s thread and that got me going, like you, and I tried it. It sounds better to me so I am sticking with it for now – who knows where I will be a year or two from now.

Finally - Standards, Guidelines, now the word principles – its all the same – think out of the box - go with what your ears tell you.

From my thinking even if the plinthless setup is as good as your current set up - it wins due to the all the advantages going plinthless brings when it comes to your choice of experimenting with different arms.

If you don’t like it - its cost you about a tank of gas to find out – at Canadian prices : )

Cheers Chris
lewm
13,118 posts
 
FWIW, My slate plinths are huge, and I could mount as many as 3 tonearms with much much less effort than it would take to de-plinthify my SP10, if I wished to do so. The DP80 is a better candidate for deplinthification. (George W Bush, where are you? Never mind. I don't want to know.) But I think I am guilty of going way off topic. On the other hand, Banquo seems happy and that's what counts.

Ct, Plinth for belt-drive is a whole other kettle of fish. I had come to prefer no plinth for belt-drive, when last I owned one.
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banquo363 OP
371 posts
 
I visited the guy who will try to fix my TT. His name is Mirko Djorkevik and he has a shop in Huntington Beach, CA. He listened to the noise emanating from my TT motor and says it's the shaft that the spindle sits on. It's the same thing I said, earlier in this thread, was worn when I opened it up a couple of days ago. Since he arrived at that judgment independently of my mentioning anything, I feel we may have hit upon the actual cause. We'll see in a couple of days after he opens the thing up and closely examines it.

Mirko is a great guy and I think he primarily restores Thorens and Garrard TTs. He has an eBay store (user name: sq38s) that sells newly machined parts for those. You can contact him through ebay or if anyone wants his phone #, PM me and I'll be happy to give it to you. It is good for me that he has those skills, since when I opened the Technics up and saw the wear on the top of the shaft, I judged that there's no way to fix it but to replace it with a new one. Hopefully, it's possible. I'm also having him machine me a tonearm pod and some new counterweights for my tonearm. No problem, he says.

At any rate, I'll update this thread when I see how things turn out. Fingers crossed.
lewm
13,118 posts
 
I think Mirko made or used to make a titanium idler wheel for the Lenco L75, and he probably makes space age parts for Garrard and Thorens as well. You are in good hands for a machinist, but I would STILL recommend an electrical overhaul, when time and money permit. I hope it all works out well for you.
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banquo363 OP
371 posts
 
Thanks, Lewm. I emailed Bill about costs for replacing all caps in power supply. I'll do that even if Mirko fixes my current problem. Are there electronic parts in the TT itself that need to be overhauled as well? I dread having to pack and ship the entire TT. I should really call Brooks Berdan.

I had Mirko make me the motor clamp just in case I ever have to ship it. But still...

Yeah, he showed me some idler wheels he had lying around. Titanium he said, if I recall correctly. From the looks of his eBay store, it seems like he can machine just about any part for those idler drives. Tempts me into getting one.
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