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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.
Ag insider logo xs@2xbanquo363
Ag insider logo xs@2x
banquo363 OP
371 posts
 
Thanks Pryso, I'll call Brooks Berdan tomorrow. I've also emailed Bill Thalmann.

Lewm: nothing is loose and there's no wobble that I can detect. When the spindle housing is lifted off the motor, there is a shaft that is revealed. The top of that shaft (which comes into contact with the bottom of the spindle housing) is worn. It's not smooth and there's uneven wear. I don't know whether that it is to blame for any of the symptoms. This was a studio TT so it doesn't surprise me that there's some wear. What does surprise me is that the brake looks brand new (maybe they rarely used it?).

What puzzles me is why the buzzing noise and speed issues go away after running the motor for a bit. I'm happy that it does, of course, since it would be useless to me otherwise.

And I've noticed another symptom just now: when the buzzing reaches its peak level, the entire TT vibrates (I have no plinth; the motor rests on 3 Audio Technica feet).
rwwear
2,847 posts
 
You may want to check here:
http://www.artisanfidelity.com/Detailed-restoration-photographs.html
lewm
12,483 posts
 
Dear Banquo, Your verbal description does not paint a picture I can remember from having been "inside" my own SP10 Mk2. Perhaps I will take a look to refresh my memory. In any case, it is a relief to know that you don't have any spindle or platter wobble.

Now you say you have no plinth, it is possible that the vibration you experience at start-up is normal, if it goes away within a few seconds. The high torque of the motor WILL cause the chassis to want to spin in the opposite direction from platter rotation. (Remember Newton's 3rd Law of Motion?) At turn-on, max torque is elicited until the platter moves off from rest. During that brief period, it is quite normal for the un-anchored chassis to vibrate irregularly. I don't know whether this is the complete explanation for your dilemma, but it certainly sounds like this normal phenomenon is playing a role. In my own case, my Mk2 acted like it could walk off the shelf, when I started it up prior to its installation into a plinth. I daresay the Mk3 might actually take off in that scenario. Try physically restraining the chassis, and tell us what happens then.
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banquo363 OP
371 posts
 
Dear Lewm: if you look at the site rwwear linked to, and open up the second pic down on the left, you'll see what I was trying to describe. The spindle goes into the hole and the piece of metal above the hole is what is worn on my TT.

The vibration I notice today is definitely not a result of being plinthless. It doesn't go away seconds after start up, but rather remains as long as the dreaded buzzing noise remains. That is, for minutes after starting the motor for the first time. If I play records for hours after that the buzzing more or less goes away and so does the errant vibration. You are right though that being plinthless causes a very brief little shake right at each start up, but that's not what I'm referring to.

You've seen, I'm sure, the thread on the 'nude' Victor TT. I'm trying to see whether I like the Technics nude. So far no complaints. The Audio Technica feet are excellent, and serves to restrain and isolate the TT. Even with the errant vibration, the TT hasn't actually moved its location. And during play, I can drum on the platform the TT rests on without sonic penalty. I might try fabricating a plinth later but I see no reason to right now. The set up is ugly as sin, especially my makeshift armboard (which sits atop 4 Herbie's tenderfoots), but sounds delightful. Now if I had a MkIII, as you say, the motor on that is much more powerful and probably requires a plinth.
thekong
203 posts
 
A couple of months ago my friend’s SP10 MKII had the same slight grinding noise at the bearing. At first, he thought it was the problem of either the main bearing or some of the chips under the turntable chassis. However, when we switched the separate power supply to the one I had, the problem went away. It turned out that some of the electrolytic caps in his power supply had gone bad. After he changed all the caps in the power supply, all is well, and even the strobe light, which hasn’t work for a long time already, is now working.

On the other hand, I have a SP10 MKII which has erratic speed due to a bad speed control chip. I was told this is not fixable since even Technics doesn’t have that chip in stock anymore.
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