Loose tone arm - fixable?

Dearest phonophiles,

I have discovered that the tone are on my Columbia is loose. Does anyone know of a way to fix this?



I think because of this looseness, the tone arm itself occasionally lacks the leverage to move along the record while playing. I've taken the tone arm off and used Liquid Wrench to fix this, but it only for sure tracks along the record when the screws are removed from the base of the tone arm allowing the entire contraption to move at once instead of rotating on a solid base.

Any ideas?

TM

I was hoping someone knowledgeable about Columbia bayonet style tonearms would chime in! Normally, the problem I've seen has involved semi-frozen arms that prevent the tonearm from moving across the record. A too loose fitting could throw the balance off, and even cause the sound box to sit at a slight sideways angle, but I'm not sure if it would stop the turntable.

The arm should be free to move sideways. If not, it could produce enough drag. Other causes could be a frozen sound box, weak springs, dirty motor, worn record, worn needles, etc. That's where a book like the Compleat Talking Machine comes in handy.

One test to make sure that there's enough power in the turntable is to give the machine a near full winding and then pinch the turntable spindle with your thumb and index finger. It should take quite a bit of force to stop it. If it stops easily, then the motor could probably stand a good cleaning and re-greasing.

As for the arm, I'm not sure what adjustments could be made to tighten the joint. It may be easier to hunt down a good quality replacement from a parts dealer. You might also want to check with some of the repair shops listed under the Accessories/Repair section of this page -- http://www.proaxis.com/~settlet/record/links.html -- to see if they could help.

HTH,
JDS

I don't think he means the turntable is stopping. I think he means the arm stops and repeats the same groove.

Record-changer wrote:I don't think he means the turntable is stopping. I think he means the arm stops and repeats the same groove.

If that's the case, then the tonearm may be sticking at the base. The joint he's pointing to in the photo controls the up and down movement of the arm, while the joint at the base controls the sideways movement. Both joints should move freely.

TM, I'm not sure how the coupling you're pointing at in the photo is mounted, since I've never disassembled a Columbia tone arm. You could try removing the entire arm, and check to see if it's a threaded coupling. If that's the case, one or two turns may tighten it up to get rid of any unwanted shake or looseness.

JDS

Hey all,

Thanks for responding, sorry Ive been away for a bit.

I did in fact mean that the joint I'm pointing to is moving side to side even though it should only move up and down. It is not a threaded piece, nor is it welded firmly in place. I see no way to take it off and replace it or tighten it. Since it is loose, this only allows for the tone arm to move a small distance before it begins skipping.

So far my remedy has been to remove the 2 screws at the base of the tone arm and let the entire contraption move across the record. Other than replacing the entire tone arm, I have run out of ideas.

Any other ideas?

Thanks,
TM

The tonearm elbow is tight in the base, caused by expanding pot metal. It needs to be disassembled and machined to fit again.
www.shenandoahrestoration.com/phono.html