Technics 1200 copped a knock :(

[Bolsty]

Hey guys, a small computer speaker fell off the wall onto the tone arm of one of my technics 1200mk2's last night, it's very minor damage but causing the record to skip and the needle to pull back towards the start of the record rather than away.

here's a close up



two distance shots



heres another 1200mk to compare





The repairer in my town is expensive and takes a long time (month odd if not more). I'd rather attempt to fix this myself as is doesn't look huge. Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks:)

[Alec124c41]

At the top of the arm pivot frame, you will see what looks like a screw in the middle of another screw. This is one of the bearings, and it looks like it is out of place.
Very carefully,loosen the outer screw. This is actually the locknut for the inner screw.
Then remove the inner screw, and inspect for damage. Also check the place it should rest, through the hole. Do not move the arm out of place.
When replacing the bearing pin, do not overtighten. There should be the slightest amount of play.

Cheers,
Alec

[Bolsty]

thanks, ill give that a try

[cafe latte]

A new arm is 60 odd dollars and that is what I would be doing. The bearings have a clearance of 0.5 a micron I doubt you can get the clearance correct and looking at the pic the bearing does not look happy to me anyway, but I may be wrong. Changing the arm is easy and if you need help either post here or PM me and I can talk you through it. If you do decide to replace the arm it is a good oportunity to rewire the new arm with decent wire and add a little internal damping, again easy and I can help with this.
Hope this helps.
Regards
CL

[Bolsty]

i'm not particularly good at soldering though.

I have a spare turntable for now in use but i could have to give that back at any stage so i would like to get it fixed relatively quickly.

I will give the first suggestion a go to check it out anyway. How would i unscrew the outer screw, its rather strange?

Definitely look into changing it if it's cheap and easy as you say.

[cafe latte]

I have never messed with those screws, for the reasons I said, but looking at mine if I was going to undo the outer screw I would sharpen a large screw driver on a grinder, then using a dremel tool I would grind out the central part of the screw driver blade so the screw driver could just turn the outer nut while not touching the middle screw.
Regards
CL

[alanomt]

Time for a new tonearm.

Pictured is a Technics pivot screw and locking collar. In my experience these usually have some locking compound (Loctite?) and can be very difficult to remove/adjust, you will never get it right anyway. holding the pivot screw perfectly in position while locking the collar requires, I'm sure, very precise jigs and fixtures.

The other picture shows a typical Technics bearing insert, they are similar in the damaged part of your tonearm, you can imagine that this will have been distorted with the damage to the arm, not repairable IMO. One other thought, on the arm that I used for the pictures, which had suffered similar damage, it was the lower pivot which had suffered most as it is more substantial.

I used the opportunity to fit a Rega arm.

Alan

[cafe latte]

I really would not go Rega as IMO the arm offers no real upgrade and is far less versitile.I agree with the rest though your arm is not fixable. The stock arm is very cheap to replace and far better than many give it credit and if you wish you can upgrade it with a damper. If I was going to change a Technics arm for another arm I would be going Jelco, but how much better is it with a damper fitted to the stock, my guess is not much (I also have a Commonwealth with a 12 inch Jelco too).
Soldering the wires for the new arm is not hard, but you can always fit the arm (Do not attempt it without posting here first as there are possible pitfalls) and if you really are not confident I am sure any DJ shop or TV repair shop would charge very little to solder 5 wires if you are doing the rest.
Regards
CL

[avole]

A bit early to think about changing arms at the moment, I think! You can probably pick up the parts from http://www.kabusa.com/frameset.htm?/ if you can't find them anywhere else.

[missan]

Do as Alec124c41 says, maybe You have to try a few times when adjusting the bearing play, but it´s not that difficult.
missan

[alanomt]

CL, only used the Rega because I already had it.
New replacement Technics arms are good value IMO.

Alan