Calling all Garrard 301's owners/ sophisticated


Hi all,

I just scored a cream, oil bearing Garrard 301 from Ebay Australia. The deck was shipped on Monday and it was delivered to me in California yesterday. After taking the deck out , put the correct pulley on, I gave the deck a run just to test its working condition. As what the seller said, it ran fine, quiet. I was trying to familiar myself with the switches and how the deck work so I did turn it on and off a few times. After deciding that everything was fine, I turned it off and the power cord was still plugged in. About 10 min later, I smelled something burning and sizzling and it turned out that it was the "Spark suppressor" (!Q@#!@) . I quickly unpluged the unit and felt the spark suppressor and it was a bit hot and sticky. Since i have heard of Garrard 301 and Thorens 124's Spark suppressor go bad sometimes, I quickly checked the deck and it still works!!!

Luckily, I found a replacement sold on Ebay UK and I already order 2 of them.

My question is: Is it safe to just go ahead and replace the Spark Suppressor or should I check for anything else before replacing it?

Do you know what is the reason might cause the Spark Suppressor to burn?

Thanks so much in advance!!!
jaytea
assuming the garrard is not your primary table(next to the sme), i would take it to a turntable specialist(even if it takes a while) for the once-over. Even if you are a DIYer at heart, i would still do this.....nice system
I truly hope I'm stating the obvious, but what voltage is the table? Australia is 220-240V 50HZ. The US is 120v 60HZ. You didn't mention it so I thought I would.
Yes, the spark suppressors go bad. All it is: a capacitor across the switch contacts. A replacement capacitor would be easy to source, but it wouldn't LOOK like the original Garrard part.

A typical electronics hobbyist probably has something suitable in his "junk box." Just make sure it is of high enough voltage. On 120v in the USA, a 400 volt capacitor would be safe, allowing for spikes, most surges, and the peak-to-peak AC voltage.
Thanks ..I have already order a replacement replica from the UK..(2 of them ..just in case). it works fine now.