ryanm84 Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Listening to some vinyl last night. Mid song, the RPMs slow considerably from 33 1/3 to something much less. I didn't trouble shoot much last night but after removing the rubber platter and starting and stopping the player it appeared to return to normal. Tonight I put a record on and not playing at the correct speed. I'm assuming the motor is the problem...that I wouldn't see a drastic speed change due to belt mid song. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Would need a model number to even hazard a guess. Is it belt driven, quartz locked, automatic etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tromprof Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Belts are cheap. I would start there and hope you get lucky. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanm84 Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 It is a belt driven pl a45d pioneer. I've got a new belt on the way. I've barely used the table since I've moved so its a little surprising that the belt would go that quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted November 2, 2013 Share Posted November 2, 2013 Have you oiled the motor in the last decade or two? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanm84 Posted November 2, 2013 Author Share Posted November 2, 2013 I purchased it about 5 months ago and the unit was supposedly serviced a bit. I believe it was but since I've not done it, maybe a drop or two would help here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Sorry Ryan to be just getting back to you. First thing to do is see if it has this problem in both "automatic" and 'Manual" play. So play records in both modes and see if it happens in both modes. Check out this thread: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?151771-Re-Capping-Pioneer-Turntable Also download the operation manual after you register at Vinyl Engine. Yes, yes, yes, lubricate the shaft and maybe a drop or two of 3 way oil over the motor shaft and just let it sit for awhile to see if the oil works its way into the motor. Also, if you are conformable opening it up, see wast, if any lubrication and/pr cleaning is needed for any switches and contacts. Make sure any, and or all switches operate over their full range. In other words, you could be getting a partially opened or closed switch say between say 45 and 33 and thus erratic speed. Unless the motor is shot, the table is not complicated enough to not be able to fix with a bit of fiddling. Oh., also clean the motor spindle, the belt, hopefully a new one if you don't know the age of the old one, could catch in its travel from built up gunk. Vintage-Electronics is the best source for accurate belts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Don't neglect the bottom bearing on the motor either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanm84 Posted November 6, 2013 Author Share Posted November 6, 2013 New belt made no difference. No noise running motor without belt/platter attached. No noise spinning platter w/o belt. So with those two things it seems like there are no physical reasons for the slowdown. However, when belt and platter are hooked up, definite noise from the motor. Not grinding but effort not matched in the situations I just listed. Thanks for the link I will check it out. I have the owners manual and will look into lubrication and contact points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Since you probably have less than 50 bucks in this thing (just a guess), I would say retire it and move on. Buy a nice used Rega. Shakey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 Since you probably have less than 50 bucks in this thing (just a guess), I would say retire it and move on. Buy a nice used Rega. Shakey QFT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shakeydeal Posted November 6, 2013 Share Posted November 6, 2013 QFT I had to look that one up...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanm84 Posted November 6, 2013 Author Share Posted November 6, 2013 I'm not ruling out a new table... However, I don't think I've given this thing the full once over yet. On a biz trip but a couple hours this weekend will be spent cleaning, checking, and lubricating to the service manual just to see what's up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanm84 Posted November 8, 2013 Author Share Posted November 8, 2013 Some denatured alcohol and lube. I cleaned the spindle shaft and belt shaft. Dirty surfaces to be sure. Oiled both. Prior to lube the table seemed to spin at the right speed. Oiled and ran the platter with the mat and then again with a record playing too. All seems at the right speed. Funny that a little grit and lack of oil could impact so drastically. I really like the look of the vintage players, especially this one with wood base. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 indeed dirt can... these are not high torque motors, hopefully just high accuracy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tromprof Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 Glad an easy fix was all you needed. I had never thought about cleaning it as you have described, might be a good thing for me to do on my old Yamaha. It was my brothers from his college dorm days in the late 70s and has never had a problem. Your issue kind of make me think the motor might be working harder than it needs to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanm84 Posted November 9, 2013 Author Share Posted November 9, 2013 For all the years my dad had a turntable I know he never serviced it and it seems like it ran forever! I will keep an eye on it as it seems like a regular cleaning and oil will help this thing last a lot longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Bearings are made porus, and oil is injected under pressure. As the bearing wears new oil is exposed. Once all the oil is gone it will need to be oiled on a regular basis. I have a cheap fan I bought at Wal-Mart. It went dry after one year. Now I have to oil it after each use or it will not start. I had another fan that went dry after 20+ years. Same deal with now oiling daily. The bearings were large enough that I could drill them and insert some felt wick material and only oil it once a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebes Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Yep. The first thing I do when I get a new table is replace the belt, if it has one, clean the old oil out of the bearing hole, oil the shaft and clean the spindle. It's like everything else in life. A little TLC now and then is always in order. Glad you got it going again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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