New to me, need some advice

Hey folks,

My wife likes about 5 songs total. I love music. She decided that if she could listen to music on vinyl, she'd like it, too.

So she went out and bought some records and started looking at Crosley players.

I said no. I went out and said if we're going to do this, we're getting something better than a turntable with some laptop speakers on the side.

So, I went out and found a VM 275AV educational player that looked to be in good working order.

I bought it and brought it home, took it apart, cleaned the motor and relubed it, checked the idler wheel which looks great and feels supple, bought a new mono copy of Rubber Soul and fired it up.

It plays...the sound is great...at first. But it appears to run slow. Or maybe it's eratically slow? But definitely not right.

The motor looked great, cleaned up great, and seems to spin without issue.

The idler wheel, as I mentioned, seems to be good, is not rock hard or shiny on the end.

The platter will spin for 5 minutes if you free-wheel it with your hand.

I'm kind of at a loss of what I should do with the thing. I'd like to fix it myself, but I guess I don't know where to go next.

Was wondering if anyone could offer me some troubleshooting advice?

Thanks!

Did you oil the motor (fill the felt retainers-top bottom) with 20 wt. ND oil ? Also oil the turntable "shaft", and the idler wheel shaft . Ron Rich

Ron Rich wrote:Did you oil the motor (fill the felt retainers-top bottom) with 20 wt. ND oil ? Also oil the turntable "shaft", and the idler wheel shaft . Ron Rich

RON!
Nonono "20wt" oil for these small shaded 2 pole motors - ever!
Screws them up!

The ONLY oil that should be used on these is Zoom Spout "Turbine Oil".
....And that is AFTER the bearings are flushed with solvent, then remaining sludge boiled out of the sintered bearings and flushed again.

Hi Matt,
Gotta agree to dis-agree here--I have used nothing but 20 wt. oil in this type motor ( and most all motors) for years, without any problems--The reason being that sometime ago (probably late 60's), we were running up against "slow motors". A very "large study", involving at least three motor suppliers was done--long story, shortened--conclusion was that any brass/steel surface was best lubricated wit 20 wt. ND oil. Do agree that if "something else" was used, it MUST be flushed well, before using 20 wt. ! Ron Rich

20 wt oil is best for larger, sub-fractional HP motors such as in fans, washing machines, and yes, juke motors.
It can also be used in the 4-pole motors of some record players/turntables.
But IMO it's too thick for those small, low torque 2-pole shaded changer motors that run at high speeds.
They require a thinner, lighter oil, one that easily flows through their porous sintered bearings.

You're up a little late aren't you Matt??

So, it was running great for a few days. hehe. Basically, I had read that you don't want to necessarily touch the idler wheel or motor shaft after cleaning it, as the oils can allow it to slip.

Well, I cleaned her up real good again, made sure I didn't touch and it sounded good for a number of days. Yesterday it started slipping again, and the sound really suffered. If you speed the record up with your hand, it'll speed up and stay that way for a while, but upon starting another record, it doesn't get up to speed properly.

Subliminal wrote:So, it was running great for a few days. hehe. Basically, I had read that you don't want to necessarily touch the idler wheel or motor shaft after cleaning it, as the oils can allow it to slip.

Well, I cleaned her up real good again, made sure I didn't touch and it sounded good for a number of days. Yesterday it started slipping again, and the sound really suffered. If you speed the record up with your hand, it'll speed up and stay that way for a while, but upon starting another record, it doesn't get up to speed properly.

The ONLY way to insure these turntables are reliable is to replace the idler and motor grommets, along with a complete flush and proper re-lube.
Anything else is just wasting time.