Dual 1229 Damaged RCA terminal board

[cactusfriend]

Hello, new to the forum, just received a Dual 1229 today. Luckily, automatic play and return seem to work very well. Unluckily, upon setting it up at home, there was a horrible buzz in the right channel (this didn't happen at the seller's house, though he mentioned it happening in the past and tried to get it to occur). If I remove the ground connection to the amplifier, I get a SUPER loud buzz in the right channel but I also hear the audio playing through it (when grounded, I get no audio, and a faint buzz).

This led me to believe that there was a bridge between the right channel and ground. I cleaned the cartridge and tone arm contacts up top, and then stabilized it to the base to flip over and check out underneath. That's when I saw something that appears to be damage upon further inspection. The stabilizer bar that the RCA terminal board is attached to had been bent, and unfortunately the area where the board is took the most damage (the board is actually broken in two places).

Here's links to images that show what I mean:
http://fanglers.letsneverdie.net/i/src/132816879275.jpg
http://fanglers.letsneverdie.net/i/src/132816874315.jpg


The multimeter seems to confirm the problem. I assume that I am going to have to make some sort of makeshift replacement board/terminals or something. I was hoping that someone here might have a 1229 and could maybe show me a picture of an 'un-bent' RCA terminal board. That'd help a lot! Also, if anyone has any feedback as to the importance of that stabilizing arm (it seems sturdy, just bent in a few places) or ideas as to how to setup a sort of replacement, please let me know!

[Alec124c41]

As far as I can see, the board is merely the support for the 2 RCA connectors. What is important is the connection of the tone-arm wires to the connectors. You might have a bad solder joint. Also, make sure there are no shorts.

Cheers,
Alec

[cactusfriend]

Well, here's a little replacement jack/wiring I whipped up:
http://fanglers.letsneverdie.net/i/src/132823763051.jpg

I believe it's helping (still some faint hum) but I haven't been able to test as somehow the stylus was broken during all the flipping around (even though tonearm was locked). Bleh

Alec: Thanks for the response. Yeah, I believe that the bending of the support arm crowded the right RCA connector and caused a short there. Multimeter seems to agree. Bad solder joint is another good call, I will research this once I can listen to the darn thing again, if there's more hum. The replacement jack seems to have helped (I'll just zip tie it to somewhere stable and out-of-the-way when done.

[Alec124c41]

BTW, with a Dual, it is always a good idea to keep the headshell connections clean.

Cheers,
Alec

[mrow2]

The board is simply a rectangular PC-board type of masonite mounted to the frame, can be replaced and new jacks put on as well if you wish. You can buy little terminal boards with these jacks on them at the electronics stores, and some pretty high quality gold plate ones are available too. Duals get hums when connections are not perfect. Start with the headshell cartridge-holder, the tiny clips on the tiny cart wires, work all the way back to this board. Each connection needs to be perfect, and none of them grounded. The RCA cartridge ground does not touch the turntable chassis ground.

[cactusfriend]

Thanks, guys. Yep, I started with cleaning the headshell contacts; on the tonearm side they were so black that I couldn't even see the metal contacts on the board until after some cleaning. I think the remaining hum might have been from me using alligator clips to test my replacement jack before soldering it all together. Once my new stylus arrives I can be sure.

Thanks again for the help! After all this is taken care of, I am going to have to teach myself how to get the motor to stop clicking...

[dualref]

If the motor is chirping like a bird, most likely it will need to be taken apart and cleaned and relubricated.

[cactusfriend]

Thanks for all the help, everyone. Unfortunately, I've noticed far too many problems with this table, and I just want to listen to records soon. I'm going to do my best to get it to someone who does this for a living, since it is very pretty externally, and I think someone who knew a lot about this model would be able to get it going nicely. What's the best forum to ask about recommendations for a more recent used turntable that would probably be in fair shape?

[gg383]

I would hope that you give it a lil time and search the forum a lil bit more before you get rid of the 1229q TT for another one. I have a 510 and a 1229q that I recently dug out of the basement. I'm using the 510 after cleaning the head shell connections and replacing the RCA cord, lil hum yet but the vinyl sounds so good!! I haven't really messed with the 1229q yet as it is a more complex machine!! They both need a re-lub and maybe a lil more on the 1229q. A pro will charge you a lot to get it spinning flawlessly again, give it a shot yourself B4 you spend a lot of money to have someone else do it!! Good Luck!!!

[cactusfriend]

Ah, maybe I should be a bit more clear. I am going to give/sell it to someone who wants a month-long project or a repair place that could repair and sell it or use the parts to repair others

I ended up getting a slightly newer table with strobe and auto-return (a Pioneer) that I was able to repair pretty quickly (i.e. in one night), so I'm happy now Glad your 510 is working out for you! Yes, the 1229/1229Q are quite complex inside...and I'm not so good with mechanics (just electronics)...and mine was dropped as a baby or something...