Realistic Lab 400 speed issue

[cwsmith68]

Good Morning all
I have a Lab 400 tt and I have recently noticed that after a few minutes of use it slows down a bit and a couple minutes later it speeds back up to the pitch it was running at before. It only started this in the last couple weeks. Does anyone know what could be causing this or have any tips or tricks to try and resolve this issue? I have another tt to use if I need to take the 400 out of service but I really like it and would love to fix it.

Thanks

[cwsmith68]

Well, I decided to disassemble the tt and see what I could see. I took the platter off the removed the 3 screws that held the motor and spindle in place. I flipped the assembly upside down and removed those 3 screws to remove plate above the flywheel. After that there was a small clamp the prevented the flywheel from coming out of the motor. I removed that and pulled gently to remove flywheel and spindle from motor. I then took some pinpoint lube from a tape deck repair/service kit and put a couple drops onto the shaft/spindle end that went into the motor, reassembled and it works just fine now. All it needed was some lube.
This tt sounds great and performs as well as my Technics SL1350.

[EtheKey]

Thanks for the post! My lab-400 is doing the same thing. I'm gonna try this fix.

[EtheKey]

Removing motor

IMG_2187.jpg (379.73 KiB) Viewed 708 times

Hey Cw,

I owe you on this one. My turntable is running like a dream.

I popped the 3 screws on top, then I lifted out the motor completely and disconnected the electrical socket. Then I removed the retainer on top of the motor and found I could very easily just pull the spindle and it pops right off of the bearing! Bearing and inside of spindle were covered with stick black residue that was probably oil at one time. I cleaned it all out with Q-tips, re-lubricated with some Audio Origami oil (stuff is amazing) and boom! Turntable is right on speed and has never sounded so good.

I hope someone else with a Realistic lab 400 series will try this, as they are truly under-rated and great sounding tables.

[Dualpioneer]

I just did this to my Lab 400. The speed was fine, but I thought it would be nice to get the gunk out of the bearing. Lo and behold, the bearing and shaft were still covered in a very thin layer of pristine oil, no sticky gunk anywhere. I got this TT free a couple of months ago. The stylus is still perfect and it runs as new. I have to say it is 10 times the Dual 504 it has replaced.

[jhg540]

Dualpioneer -- that's funny, I had to look twice to make sure that reply wasn't mine. I'm in St Paul and just replaced a 504 (which I like!) with a lab-400. Couldn't agree more, it's a great turntable.

[swbratcher]

I have this slowing show up periodically on my LAB-400 and assumed the age of the motor was at fault. When this happens I have fixed it by barely moving the Fine Speed Adjustment Control Knob off position and back to position. This causes the audio/rotation slowing to correct back to normal speed. Does this still sound to you guys like a symptom of the "lacking lube" issue lined out above? And, do you think it may be fixed with the above solution? I'm likely to try it anyway, but just wanted to see what you think first because of how it works itself out when I adjust the speed knob.

Thanks in advance for access to your experience.

[Alec124c41]

I have this slowing show up periodically on my LAB-400 and assumed the age of the motor was at fault. When this happens I have fixed it by barely moving the Fine Speed Adjustment Control Knob off position and back to position. This causes the audio/rotation slowing to correct back to normal speed. Does this still sound to you guys like a symptom of the "lacking lube" issue lined out above? And, do you think it may be fixed with the above solution? I'm likely to try it anyway, but just wanted to see what you think first because of how it works itself out when I adjust the speed knob.

Thanks in advance for access to your experience.

This sounds like you need to get a bit of contact cleaner inside that control.

Cheers,
Alec