Record Cleaner won't clean?? Or is it me?

Hello and thank you for these comments....

I do use a gel stylus cleaner that seems to do a decent job of getting rid of dust and gunk on my needle. Do these wear out over time? 

I will try the distilled water wash on the Music Hall at the end of a cleaning. And also be mindful I do not vacuum for too long. 

Could you all point me to a brush which is stiff enough to do a deep cleaning while on my music hall? 

I am also thinking that my cartridge alignment or weight may be off and will check that. When I lift the needle using the lever, the needle has a habit of jumping up (as if it was stuck in the groove) and then it slides to the right (as if the table itself is not level but it is)

thank you!

Richard

^^^^^

Check your anti skate setting

Anti skate... thats right. 

I looked up this: Tonearm Setup Guide — TurntableLab.com

Question: in the tutorial it says the stock is 17 grams, if my stylus is a Goldring Eroica lx cartridge, is my setting different than this?  https://goldringusa.myshopify.com/products/goldring-eroica-lx-moving-coil-cartridge?variant=40286403297469

When I look up my cartridge, it says the playing weight of this cartridge is: 1.5 - 2.0 g (1.7 g nom.). 1.7 Grams! The video says the stock cartridge is 17.0 grams. Is the Goldring Eroica LX cartridge really requiring a super light touch on the record? Or am I misunderstanding something? 

When I follow the video, it doesn't work properly. The needle when raised drifts off the record, and there is no weight on the record when the needle is allowed to lower. 

Getting a scale in the mail today (as my old scale broke)

thanks,

Richard

I think that the video you watched is misleading regarding setting the tracking force.  The scale on the counterweight is in tenths of a gram, not grams.  That video is so basic that no definitions or reasons are given for what it tells you to do.

The anti-skate adjustments are pretty crude on the tonearm in the video, and no justification is given for the position they say to set to.

If you have the documentation that came with your table and/or cartridge, I would follow instructions from those.

I personally never use the scale on the tonearm when setting tracking force.  I always use a scale.

It sounds like your anti-skate is off from your description of your tonearm moving when you raise it.  Try the next available setting and see what happens.  You cannot harm anything by experimenting if done in increments.

Bill

BTW the ONLY reason you are told to balance the tonearm before setting tracking force is to be able to set the dial on the tonearm to zero so you can use it to set tracking force.  If you use a scale to set tracking force, the settings built into the tonearm are superfluous.

Bill