Zero 100 Automatic Flaw...

[Ernst3510]

Hi Chan,

Today arrived my Empire 2500, i must say it's quite a difference with my 2000/III.
Sounds a lot better, more brilliance, smoother basses etc... has even the original stylus with the guard.
Only too bad there is no information about it at all on the whole net.
A few pictures of it:







At the moment i'm busy with a handmade console for the Zero, hope the template i found here at the Engine is good.
Once again, thanks for all the input and help on the Zero, i enjoy it every evening...

Ernst

[Ernst3510]

Hi Chan,

About the Z2000b i have put pictures here. The problem with this one is that the guy who sended it had not tighten the transportscrews, so it was bouncing around in his box from the States to Belgium.
The speedselector was completely bent, i put it back right but now the shaft where the idlerwheel etc is mounted on is loosen now and i can't get any movement to tighten it up. The idlerwheel has a bad spot too, someone has not parked well the turntable, so you can hear the bumps...

The SL95 has only one fault: the nylon peace on the picture is moving sticky, i cleaned it up enand mounted it back, oiled it but keeps sticky, so the automatic is not working. Everything on this turntable is cleaned and relubed...

So if you have any suggestions, they are welcome as usual ...

Regards,
Ernst



The Z2000b


Still looking good


The Idlerwheel of the Z2000, you can see the bump at 6.00


The shaft.


The opposite of the shaft.


The SL-95


The "stycky" nylon piece

[chan1]

Hi ernst. Nice looking 2000. Too bad about the shipping problem. I think you may be talking about the mounting shaft for the idler wheel next to the nylon rod and that it is loose shown in your picture labeled "the shaft". The mounting rod is held by a large washer on the top side of the machine that I believe was pressed on by a machine to hold it in place. It may be possible to firmly place the bottom side of the rod against a hardwood board or piece of metal and use a socket from a socket set that is bigger than the rod and smaller than the washer and drive the washer tight again to hold the parts below. Placing an colored arrow on exactly the part in the pic that is loose would help me understand which part is loose however. More information is needed here.

As far as thew 95 goes, make sure that all oil is removed from the nylon part and the surrounding area it rides on except the very center of the shaft it rides on as just a little can cause it to stick just enough to cause a problem. Use alcohol to remove any oil, above below and all around until it is completely dry. I think this will fix the problem.

PS: Anxious to hear how the 2000 performs in comparison to the 100.

Later,chan

[Ernst3510]

Yep, i put a few new pictures... the problem is red encloses.

ernst

[chan1]

Hi ernst. I think my previous response method should work. Give it a try. chan

[Zaimejs]

This is a great thread. I have loved looking at the pictures of these beautiful vintage turntables. I haven't been here for awhile, but I have the 95-B.

I was hoping to find clues as to why my auto stop works fine with one record, but when I have the multi-record drop spindle in, it will just keep playing forever.

I haven't seen anyone mention the springs, and I wonder if they could be the issue. I know I had to tighten the spring on the idler wheel to get it to make proper contact. I'm wondering if the long spring that connects to the auto drop mechanism could also be stretched out and not as stiff as it should be?

Another issue that goes along with this and makes me suspect is that the auto drop will usually end up dropping two records when there are two left on the stack. If there are three or more, they will drop fine, but for some reason, it drops the last two together. I don't think the clamp that holds the stack is firm enough to keep that last record stable.

If anyone has any clue about this, I'd love to hear from you.

[chan1]

Hi zaimejs. You probably do not want to hear from me again about your problem and I have not gone back to look where we left off regarding this but:

#1. Regarding the long spindle and playing multiple records- the weight of more than one record pushes the long spindle down onto the blue metal strip on the underside of the machine and this in turn keeps the machine in the auto drop mode and therefore keeps dropping the records and playing them until there is one left. With only the weight of one record left, the blue metal strip gets pushed up by the auto part moving past it and prevents the auto from seeking another record and then the tonearm should return to the rest and the machine should turn off after the last lp. If that does not happen, then the spring pulling the part past the blue metal strip may be weak and or the spindle end may need a little oil to help it work right. You could try removing the blue metal strip and bending it in the right manner to help it push the long spindle up? Your spindle may be damaged also. This all assumes that the remainder of the parts below are working properly and all parts are lubed correctly. It is possible that the long spring attached to the auto is weak and the part does not have enough force to pull it past the blue strip and push up the spindle. If you could place the machine in a position where you have access to the bottom while it is running so you could push on the auto parts at the right time and help the spring and see if that allows the auto to work correctly you may be able to identify the problem. At least that is how it works on the Zero and I assume that it is the same with the 95b.

#2 Any other problems with the auto play long spindle like the platter stopping or going slow are separate problems and need to be addressed before moving on to the auto problem.

#3 Yes, the last two records dropping at once could be related to the amount of force holding them in place on the clamp. Tighten up the clamp spring a little and or drop a little oil there and see if it solves the dropping problem.

Hope this helps, chan

[DSJR]

In the pics above, the nylon pawl assembly on the main cam gear looks to have lubricant on it. This MUST be removed from this part, the metal piece on the other side of the cam and only a tiny drop of oil should be allowed in the rotating pivot hole - after it's been thoroughly de-greased.....

As for the speed change assembly, my AP76 was free to slide up and down here, but check that the idler-height spring-steel adjuster isn't binding on the sliders anywhere. Also, there should be a pivoted lever around the speed-change knob which acts as the indent-stop on the speed control itself (each "click" position for record size and speed change). On my '76, this had totally seized up solid and took some removing to clean out.



Hope this helps..

[DSJR]

The wheel is a little smaller than the original Zero wheel, but plays also perfect.
So i do not understand the problem that other people have with the wheel... seems the Zero can use any wheel with a slight difference.



The left one is from the SL95, the right one is the "new" one.

Regards

Ernst

The smaller wheel with cast inner is similar to that fitted to my first AP76 and I think it retracts better from the platter in "stop" mode. The larger wheel looks to be similar to that fitted to the Autoslim variety of decks and one this size is fitted to my current AP76 and, judging by the untouched state of the deck on receipt, must be original. This larger diameter wheel doesn't retract from the inner hub when stopped, although it's pulled fully away from the motor. I don't think this is an issue because the pressure on the inner platter is very slight indeed and not enough to cause "flats" on the driving surface.

[Zaimejs]

I will check the stiffness of that spring. I think it is black on my player, but I know what you are talking about. There is a screw that tightens into it... if you tighten the screw, the spring bows. I am not sure how tight this should be...

I will try tightening the tower spring and oiling the tower. The auto-drop spindle is lubed and moves freely. Just doesn't know when to stop. That's my only real issue now. Everything else is swanky.

I had to solder a wire onto the cartridge holder that had come loose... no right channel. That was rough, but I got it to work. So far so good.

[chan1]

Hi Zaimejs. We are on the same page now.

The black spring steel(in your case) has that adjustment screw to do just that, adjust the amount of force needed to push up the long spindle after the last lp has dropped and there is no weight on the spindle. On my machine, there is a black piece of plastic with tapered sliders on each end mounted on the topside of the large brass part the spring steel part is attached to. The end of the spindle protrudes through to this black plastic slider and onto the spring steel. When the last lp has dropped and played, the whole brass part the black spring steel part is mounted to moves back and forth allowing the now weightless spindle end to move past the tapered sliders and push the spindle up just enough to tell the machine that there are no more lps to drop and that it can now turn off and the tonearm can return to the rest. All of these actions set into motion many other parts to swing and move and any holdup with any other part will cause the auto to malfunction.

Tighten the spring set screw until has enough force to push up the auto spindle and it works correctly.

The auto drop record clamp on the Zero leaves quite a bit to be desired just as yours probably does. I took my clamp apart and filed off all the rough spots and sliding areas until they were smooth and operated nicely all the way through the operating range and then added a smear of grease there as Garrard likes to call it in their manuals. It now has a very smooth release and drop as opposed to a pull, jerk and uneven fall.

The c-3 cartridge carrier for the zero 100 has 4 metal strips the cartridge wires are soldered to and yours probably does as well. They can be carefully removed for soldering and then reassembled on the c-3. This eliminates the possibility of damaging the plastic during soldering. A dial in soldering iron is handy for this type of work.

Hope this helps, chan

[Zaimejs]

Wow... you are amazing. I just don't think I have the skill for that. I wish I had a decent soldering iron. But I did get it to work... so that's awesome.

[bertiesme]

I've read every post on this thread and the knowledge aired by you guys on the zero is brilliant-I have a Zero 100s and also the belt driven version- The belt driven Z100 has been stashed away for the moment as it doesn't function at all well-but the idler drive Z100s is a real beauty except I only use it totally manually because the auto-mechanism does not work at all-The previous pages have inspired me so much, that I'm going to have a go at servicing it- I just hope I don't break anything- Wish me luck!

[bertiesme]

I've added some pics of my Zero- as it is now