Lew, I too have the PE Eagle PSU and Roadrunner tech running my VPI and Townshend Audio tables (Bill, I’m the fella you made your last Eagle for after you closed up shop, from the parts you had left lying around ;-). But this new DC motor w/ Condor PSU really has me excited. That Hurst motor VPI uses (in even their most expensive non-DD models) is rather low quality in both design and build, and Townshend’s isn’t much better. DC seems to me the way to go.
Roadrunner reapearance
I saw on the latest edition of Analog Planet on MF’s video of the show he attended that at the SOTA booth, they had a working product of the Roadrunner w/motor/pulley as a drop in for a VPI. Anyone here have more info or even better, have one in use? It was reported it is now a product for sale @ $1k. No mention of it on SOTA’s website.
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For the record, I thought Mantis was talking about driving a wall wart and controlling the motor with the wall wart on the output side of the PE-sourced gear. This was based on my initial misunderstanding of the verbal diagram posted by Mantis. Thanks to Bill for his thorough explanation of what is going on. I am the very happy user of the original PE products on my Lenco. Would not be without it. |
@mantistech- The 3 phase motor from SOTA is a low voltage motor (24V); the standard VPI motor is 115VAC. The Condor controller is powered by a 24VDC wall wart and produces 3 AC waveforms for the motor, the frequency, voltage and phase depends on the speed and load of the motor.I saw your pics on the VPI forum. The Eclipse motor has 3 flying leads that are normally soldered to a 3 pin male chassis mount plug. The Condor has a cable with a 3 min female connector. You will need to make up a short cable to replace the captive AC cord you have currently. One side of the new cable will connect to the 3 wires on the motor using small wire nuts inside the SAMA housing, and the other side will need a connector like this: https://vetco.net/products/3-pin-male-inline-mic-connector soldered to the 3 wires of the new cable and will mate with the 3 pin female connector of the Condor. The wire order is almost immaterial, the worst that can happen is the motor runs backwards. If that happens, swap any two of the three wires and the motor will turn correctly (you can also change the motor direction in user program mode on the Condor). The Condor/Eclipse motor cabling can be seen here: http://www.vpiforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=10919&start=30#p52440 |
@lewm That is direct from SOTA. Like I said they have been great at answering my emails. The Condor PSU gets it power from the wall wort which in turn powers the SOTA 3-phase motor. Here is the info form the email.
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Never mind on the above...I'm an idiot. The PSU is what handles the power to the motor. SOTA has been great at answering my questions. All the wiring from SAMA to wall goes away because the new set up would be: Wall plug >> Wall wort/cord >> PSU >> SOTA Motor >> Belt >> Platter I believe the only function of the VPI, housing once converted, is height and weight. |
Give SOTA a call, I hear they're great to deal with I got an email back from them saying a screw driver is all that is needed depending on motor/housing configuration. That seemed too good to be true so this morning I got more adventurous and removed the bottom plate of the motor/housing. Looks pretty simple wire nuts with a few electrical bits (cap/resistor I think) up to the switch and in turn to the motor. So maybe drop in the motor, fish some wires through and some SOTA specific bits to make it change from 2-phase to 3-phase...though I'm not very electrically inclined I get there is a difference. They also said in coming weeks a VPI specific options for IEC plates and pully options. I'm still not clear on what is the difference is between the wall plug and the motor base. If there is a wall wort and small wiring then I guess in the case of an IEC connection something is needed. Mine is just a standard cord passing through the SAMA housing. No removable IEC connection on the outside of the housing. Long time reader of AGon forums but never posted. So I can't seem to figure out how to post pix. As they say worth a thousand words. I've got a round motor on top which sits under a round decorative plate covering a black, square plate with 4 holes about 2" on center. Wires run to the switch which runs to the "stuff" at the bottom in the top part I mentioned in this post. |
Bill of Phoenix Engineering says the mounting hole dimensions of the SOTA DC motor are very, very close to those the Hurst VPI uses, and can be swapped easily. But there is also the matter of electrical conversion, about which I don’t know and myself need to find out. I would love to convert the motors in my Aries 1, HW-19 Mk.3, and Townshend Audio Rock Elite. |
@mantistech, If you’re able to read the S/N# and other info on back of your motor....go to www.hurst-motors.com They will have the schematics there. |
Thanks pdp24. The VPI forum is where I found out about it. New VPI owner lots to learn....long time viny guy with a Basis TT. The SOTA site gives me the feeling you could almost DIY it. Hoping that is the case as to not send my motor to them if at all possible. I'm hoping the VPIForum member paved the way for the rest of us. I did remove my 4 screws on my SAMA and it seems the motor is a lot smaller than the housing and might just swap out. |
I've got an older VPI motor from a TNT 3 with captive electric cord. How can I determine if the SOTA will fit and what modifications I might need to make? I've never looked under the hood of my current motor if I just remove the 4 screws will the motor lift out of the base? I'm hoping the SOTA one just drops in. Anyone done this? |
@slaw- The PBN tach is a bit of a misnomer. The tach counts pulses from a high speed clock (18.518kHz) so it will produce a reading of 33.333 when it takes 1.8S for one platter revolution. However, it is counting the period of rotation, not RPM, so as the platter slows down, the reading will increase and if it speeds up, the reading decreases. The only time the reading is correct is at exactly 1.8S/rev. There is a separate clock for 45 RPM, so the tach must be switched between 33/45. If you can live with those limitations, it is a fairly clever design. The RR does not need to be turned on or off; the tach comes alive automatically when the platter starts spinning and goes to sleep when there is no activity for 5 minutes. It also has an accumulated playing time counter that can be used to track stylus wear and can be reset when the cart/stylus is replaced. |
@rodman99999- You can download the motor spec sheet here: https://sotaturntables.com/products/eclipse-package/ The mounting holes are nearly identical to the Hurst 59 series motor (within 40 mils on center). The motor has a ¼" shaft, but comes with an aluminum pulley and uses a flat belt rather than multiple round belts. |
@phoenixengr- Good information(thanks)! I built my own SAMA, installing an original HW-19 motor, in a 16lb, solid slab of brass(base/adjusters/etc, added another few pounds), with just(barely) enough clearance for silicone heat sink compound. What are the dimensions of your 3 phase motor? I’m wondering if it’ll fit my SAMA housing, without further machining. |
SOTA had inquired about producing the Eagle PSU that would be compatible with existing 120VAC synch motors and they are free to pursue that option if it makes sense. When I originally discussed this with Christian, we came to the conclusion that it made more sense to offer the 3 phase Condor PSU matched with a MUCH better motor for $725, than to offer a good PSU for $600 to drive a mediocre motor. The RR tach is offered as a stand-alone option for use on any table. Check with SOTA for details, but I believe the motor will be offered as an upgrade into existing plinths/SAMAs as well as with a SOTA SAMA (stand-alone motor assembly). Why go steerage when you can ride first class for $125 more? |