Empire turn table drop solenoid woes.

analog music reproduction discussion

Empire turn table drop solenoid woes.

Postby oilman » Sun May 31, 2009 6:34 pm

I have a 70's era Empire turn table. Which works well enough. But the solunoid that lifts / drops the tone arm needs attention. It drops like a ton of bricks.

As best I can see, in drop mode, the solenoid is charged and in up mode its uncharged and an internal spring lifts it up. Voltage going in to the solenoid is around 6.5 volts. There is a variable resistor for adjusting. But it seems to do little. I hit it with tuner cleaner.

So could some one suggest a fix? I know very little about electronics. But can solder well enough. Would adding a resistor do the trick? The pot is point to point so would be easy to add a resistor to one of the wires going in or out. But if I drop the voltage too much would that cause the solenoid to over heat from trying to fight that spring with less voltage? Or should I just leave the voltage alone and put a bigger spring in??

I guess one more question. It looks like there might be a photo cell in the gimbal(?pivot point) on the tone arm. Is there some sort of auto off at end of record? I don't recal it shutting off by itself. But then its been a while since I used it. And at the moment its in little bits on the work bench.

Ideas?
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Postby Ty_Bower » Sun May 31, 2009 6:56 pm

Many (most?) Technics turntables have a little oil filled cylinder attached to the tonearm lift mechanism. When the arm is released, a piston moves in the cylinder. The oil acts as a damping fluid and prevents the arm from dropping like a rock. Over time, the oil finds a way to escape. The cure is to get some more oil (what kind?) and figure out how to get it back inside the cylinder without making a big mess.

Maybe your Empire has a similar issue?
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Postby oilman » Sun May 31, 2009 7:11 pm

Some sort of dampening would make sense. Perhaps the spring was stronger at one time or.... I don't think there was any oil in there before. I tried putting dielectric grase on the shaft to try and slow it down. It goes up slower now. But that was already ok. The top of the shaft would be an easy spot to add a spring. But reducing voltage would be the best bet I think. I'm not sure what kinda current draw this solenoid would be. And I guess to chose a resistor that would be helpfull.
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