Mischivous Cat kills Elac H50

[beacher6]

Yesterday I picked up a Elac 50H II from the original owner. I had been searching for a Technics SL1350 or 1650 as I wanted another record changer. I had been pretty lucky in EBAY but its a crapshoot on what your getting once its arrives. The local owner of the Elac was very honest and upfront saying one of his cats knocked the tuntable to the floor and it hadn't been working right since. He described the symptoms as a rubbing/knocking sound, and a slow speed which could not be adjusted. As he did I also removed the platter and changer from the base and could not find the cause. I looked at the motor assembly, idler drive assembly, suspension springs, and anything underneath that I could feel vibrating. The only thing I found was one broken legs which I re-glued. Taking a break I plugged it into the receiver, the sound from the original Elac cartridge was horrible and the record played slow and uneven. I think I have it fixed but am giving it another day or so before I can say I brought it back to life.

[Alec124c41]

Have you tried cleaning and re-oiling bearings, and cleaning all contacts?

Cheers,
Alec

[Chambi95]

Perhaps the pulley must be re-aligned.

[beacher6]

Elac 50H II now working! After falling 4-5 feet I figured it could be almost anything causing the rubbing/knocking and slow/uneven speed. My gut feeling was it was coming from the top of the changer. I took a 10 inch level to the base and changer platform and it checked out ok. I then balanced the level across the spindle the platter rests on and rotated the level. It was off enough to make the platter not rotate true. I couldn't find anything underneath that looked bent and if I un-assembled the spindle to investigate further where would I get replacement parts. Soooooooooooo, not having spent too much for the Elac I shoved a philips screwdriver down the spindle and gave it a bend. Got lucky, rubbing/knocking gone, and speed was dead on. Had a used Pickering V15 D-1507DJ cartridge to replace the worn Elac cartridge and it sounds really nice. Life is good again.

[Chambi95]

Great news !! These turntable are amazing !