Turntable Cleanup Project

hearingimpared

So, I spent the entire day cleaning up my turntable/tonearm/cartridge combo. She has been in storage for aprox 17 years and had lots of oxidation and mold and fungi and whatever else grows on things that remain motionless for a period of time.

I had decided to break the table down and start from scratch but once I realized I was no longer in my 30s and that my hands shake now, I decided to keep the tonearm in place as well as the cartridge and just really clean the heck out of it as well as Deoxit whatever would stand up to the stuff.

I took a bunch of pictures.

First thing to do is to place the turntable across two chairs so I can get underneath it also.

Secondly this type of job is not for the faint of heart nor is it good for a guy who is almost 20 years out of practice setting up turntables as you will see from the pictures below.

First off was scrubbing and polishing every delrin or acrylic piece. Second Deoxit part of the turntable like the motor spindle and a slew of other parts on top of the deck and underneath. Lubed up the bearing and shaft with 40W motor oil. Then I broke out the wooden q-tips and cleaned every nook and cranny of the tonearm.

I then decided to get bold. I removed the audio leads one at a time between the cartrige and tonearm. . .AGAIN NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. I tried Deoxit but couldn't control the spray and it was getting all over the tonearm and I had an emergency on my hands because the chemical was eeeking its way towards the cantilever and I needed to stop it before it ate away the suspension. At that point I decided to replace the leads with the friggin cartridge mounted . . . AGAIN NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, nor the shaky of hand . . . but I did it anyway very sucessfully I might add.

Next came full attention to the tonearm. I replaced the old damping fluid with new and made sure of the alignment. I was coming down the home stretch and could smell the vinyl spinning when . . . . HEARTBROKE just a little. I somehow managed to loose the VTA adjustment tool. Without this tool I cannot adjust the height of the tonearm and I must have decided years ago to raise the tonearm higher, probably because the stylus had no protector or plastic guard. So I could continue my cleanup but I was not going to be able to adjust the tonearm or the cartridge. . . NO MUSIC FROM THE TURNTABLE TODAY. . . I called and emailed my SME dealer and ordered the part.

Anyhow I won't allow that to get me down, I continued with the plan. I got under the table and cleaned the motor and electronics with Deoxit, alcohol and Windex. I then Deoxit the cable harness (looks like a din connector) and plug in the audio lead and leave a nice loop so as to dampen any vibrations running up the wires.

Next I used the Zerodust to clean the stylys. . . about 8 dips in the goo.

Cleaned up the dustcover and place sorbo gels that I acquired from a podiatrist and made four new stops for the dustcover to rest on. I have more if anyone is interested in doing the same.

Well that is it for now. I'm going to have to wait for the VTA adjustment tool before I can start the leveling process, tonearm and cartridge adjustments.

Despite the disappointment of not being able to play records today I HAD A BLAST.

_____________________TO BE CONTINUED______________________:)

danger boy

looking very good there Joe. I bet she sounds sweet too.

Enjoy!

hearingimpared

danger boy wrote:

looking very good there Joe. I bet she sounds sweet too.

Enjoy!

The last time I heard her she was a smooth as velvet. Waiting on VPI, they have a new "affordable and easy to install" upgrade for the HW 19s. It is supposed to make the HW 19s sound infinetely better.

schwarcw

WOW! That's a beauty! Does your clamp fit on that tall spindle?

Tell me more about the sorbo's!

hearingimpared

schwarcw wrote:

WOW! That's a beauty! Does your clamp fit on that tall spindle?!

Of course. . .as I said in my write up on it, I also made the collet so that some, "lunatic er ah, audiophile who likes record changers can use it."

schwarcw wrote:

Tell me more about the sorbo's!

The sorbo gels are what Podiatrists use to pad toes and feet. It's squshier than sorbothane and its clear. I used to use sorbothane sheets melded together as dust cover pads so that the "bathroom" effect on your tonearm and cartridge would be minimized or eliminated. I think these things will work better because of the height, (lets air escape) and they really seem to dampen the vibrations.

I'll mail you some if you want. You just need to cut them to the size you want with a razor blade or box cutter.

BTW the spindle on the VPI is so high because VPI used to give a poor excuse of a clamp with the HW 19s, this was one of the reasons I set out on my mission to make a better clamp. I still think it should be illegal for a turntable manufacturer to design and manufacture a turntable without a good clamping system.

schwarcw

Are the sorbo's the same as Dr. Scholl's? Someone told me his gel pads are very good. I want to try a couple underneath my Quad player.

SCompRacer

In my best Belushi, The arm, how much for the arm?


Very nice Joe.

billbillw

I'm glad you posted this because I have an HW-19 Mk2 on the way here now (Yes, I'm moving on from the Oracle). Its nice to see partially disassembled shots. Keep 'um coming!

I think VPI's easy to install upgrade is the MkIV platter and inverted bearing assembly. Its supposed to make the table essentially a MkIV. Of course, you need the taller armboard too. Not a cheap thing to do. By affordable, I guess they mean $700+armboard+sorbo pucks (if you don't have them), or maybe they are talking about the SAMA, for $400. Maybe I'm wrong and they do have something new up their sleeves for the HW-19 series.

hearingimpared

billbillw wrote:

I'm glad you posted this because I have an HW-19 Mk2 on the way here now (Yes, I'm moving on from the Oracle). Its nice to see partially disassembled shots. Keep 'um coming!

I think VPI's easy to install upgrade is the MkIV platter and inverted bearing assembly. Its supposed to make the table essentially a MkIV. Of course, you need the taller armboard too. Not a cheap thing to do. By affordable, I guess they mean $700+armboard+sorbo pucks (if you don't have them), or maybe they are talking about the SAMA, for $400. Maybe I'm wrong and they do have something new up their sleeves for the HW-19 series.

What initiated the contact with VPI was I wanted the sorbo pucks and cones as well as the motor upgrade. Elusive disc hadn't had them in over a year so I went right to the horses mouth and asked. You saw their reply. The sorbo puck and cones upgrade was $80, I call that affordable. . .if that is what they ment but I don't see VPI letting anything go for less than an arm and a leg.

hearingimpared

billbillw wrote:

I'm glad you posted this because I have an HW-19 Mk2 on the way here now (Yes, I'm moving on from the Oracle). Its nice to see partially disassembled shots. Keep 'um coming!

I think VPI's easy to install upgrade is the MkIV platter and inverted bearing assembly. Its supposed to make the table essentially a MkIV. Of course, you need the taller armboard too. Not a cheap thing to do. By affordable, I guess they mean $700+armboard+sorbo pucks (if you don't have them), or maybe they are talking about the SAMA, for $400. Maybe I'm wrong and they do have something new up their sleeves for the HW-19 series.

Ya gotta love VPI almost as much as Polk. They still support a great product 20+years later.

hearingimpared

SCompRacer wrote:

In my best Belushi, The arm, how much for the arm?


Very nice Joe.

That friggin arm new goes for $4500. I paid $1080 back in I think 1985. That cartridge back in the day was a keeper and considered quite the high end back in the day. They don't make them anymore or retip them. I'm praying the cantilever suspension has held up.

Fireman32

Looking good Joe. Lookin good.

hearingimpared

schwarcw wrote:

Are the sorbo's the same as Dr. Scholl's? Someone told me his gel pads are very good. I want to try a couple underneath my Quad player.

I think they are a little more firm than the Dr. Scholl's. Well at least that is what my cousin says, he's the Podiatrist. He says Dr. Scholl's stuff is crap.

I have sorbothane pods you can try out on the Quad if you like.

I'm not having much luck with them anymore. I have a concrete slab. Everything needs to be decoupled with cones and points. When I use the sorbothane pods it muddies everthing up. The only thing I am using them for are outboard power supplies and power center.

hearingimpared

I ordered the part that I need to adjust the height of my tonearm and it was shipped today. You should see this silly thing. It is no bigger than a three or four inch screwdriver. It has a small squared oval black handle and the blade is threaded. . . $33 + $5 shipping. . . .aaarrgggghhhhh.

Fireman32

It's the last part that you need to get it up and running right? It will be worth it once you start getiing to listen to it im sure.

hearingimpared

Fireman32 wrote:

It's the last part that you need to get it up and running right? It will be worth it once you start getiing to listen to it im sure.

You hit that nail right on the head!!! I hope:eek:

I need couple a prayers shot up to the Big Guy that the cartridge is still good. . . if its is I'll will definetely be in vinyl heaven. Do you believe I don't have a clamp ready for myself??? How typical is that?

Fireman32

I'm praying for ya man. I'm sure the cartridge is in good shape.

pblanc

I'm telling you, sacrifice a live goat ot two.

billbillw

I'd really put something in the budget as far as getting a new cartridge.
The Talisman may play, but I doubt that its quite as fresh as it was before. It doesn't sound like the cartridge was stored in a tightly sealed, dry environment. I would expect the cantilever suspension has probably been deteriorated, maybe not completely, but to some point.

hearingimpared

billbillw wrote:

I'd really put something in the budget as far as getting a new cartridge.
The Talisman may play, but I doubt that its quite as fresh as it was before. It doesn't sound like the cartridge was stored in a tightly sealed, dry environment. I would expect the cantilever suspension has probably been deteriorated, maybe not completely, but to some point.

That's been my fear. . . however the good folks at turntable needles .com bolstered my confidence by telling me they have cartridges that are 20 to 40 years old and are just fine. I've put my hopes in the Talisman because it is a very very good cartridge but if it fails I already have my sights set on a Dynavector 10 X 5.

billbillw

I hope the Tali does work well for ya. My brother has told me the same thing about people getting 1000s of hours out of a good moving coil. I'm hoping the same for that Accuphase AC-3 that is coming my way (for free).

hearingimpared

billbillw wrote:

I hope the Tali does work well for ya. My brother has told me the same thing about people getting 1000s of hours out of a good moving coil. I'm hoping the same for that Accuphase AC-3 that is coming my way (for free).

Free is ALWAYS good! Good for you.;)

billbillw

hearingimpared wrote:

Free is ALWAYS good! Good for you.;)

Well, not totally free, more like it was a bonus thrown in with the VPI table that I paid a fair price for.

I was expecting it to come with no cart. After the seller shipped it, he told me he threw in the AC-3 and thought maybe I could get some use out of it. If its no good, I got my trusty AT15Sa to fall back on.

Now I just need to sell my Oracle Alex. Dang, almost a week on A-gon and not even 1 offer. I've lowered the price 2 times and threw in my almost brand new M97xE. Don't know if its just a slow time of the season or what.

hearingimpared

billbillw wrote:

Well, not totally free, more like it was a bonus thrown in with the VPI table that I paid a fair price for.

I was expecting it to come with no cart. After the seller shipped it, he told me he threw in the AC-3 and thought maybe I could get some use out of it. If its no good, I got my trusty AT15Sa to fall back on.

Now I just need to sell my Oracle Alex. Dang, almost a week on A-gon and not even 1 offer. I've lowered the price 2 times and threw in my almost brand new M97xE. Don't know if its just a slow time of the season or what.

Wow Bill I just checked your gon ad that is one beautiful turntable. . . You have a PM.

hearingimpared

I received my VTA screw which I believe can be the last hurddle in getting my analog rig going. . . this farcking thing cost me $38. My wife can't believe it but I told her you buy a Chevy you pay for Chevy parts. . . a Lamborghini you pay through the nose for the same parts.

Tonight I hope to get the rest of the job completed and start listening to records again.

See pics below.

pblanc

God, this is great, I can't wait to see how this turns out. I mean I'm on the edge of my seat here! But this thread really needs a more appropro title, like "As The Table Turns", or perhaps "Lust for Vinyl".

hearingimpared

pblanc wrote:

God, this is great, I can't wait to see how this turns out. I mean I'm on the edge of my seat here! But this thread really needs a more appropro title, like "As The Table Turns", or perhaps "Lust for Vinyl".

"As The Table Turns" LOL

hearingimpared

:cool: :cool: :cool:

hearingimpared

'nuff said!!!

hearingimpared

BTW I need to get a humidifier in this house. . .I just dusted my whole rig about an hour before taking those pic and the static is awful. Ticks & pops in abundance, all static related.

Midnite Mick

That's awesome. I am happy and jealous at the same time. I have been craving a vinyl setup lately. So many obstacles nowadays. We'll see what the future brings I guess.

Mike