Ariston RD40

[Ol' Ken]

I have been offered a Ariston RD40 with a Mission arm and an unknown cart. for $50.00 CDN. The motor seemingly runs quietly with the platter off. Other than lots of dust and two scratches on the plinth it apparently in good shape. ( I admit to a lack of TT knowledge however). The table was being used prior to a divorce and was then placed in a corner of a recroom for about 4 or 5 years. Should I be wary of anything here or would it be too good of deal to get and repair/restore.

Anyway it has to sound better than my plastic/fantastic Sony

TIA

 

[ByrdWyngs]

There are a couple of things to look for but it's almost certainly too good a deal to pass up. Check to make sure the motor runs quietly and that the shaft is straight and runs true, and check to see that the platter spins smoothly and there isn't any play that would indicate a worn out spindle bearing. Check the arm to make sure it moves smoothly without excessive play in the bearings. The Ariston is by all accounts an excellent table and unless there are serious problems it's easily worth rescuing for 2 or 3 times that price.

 

[melofelo]

the main platter bearing on the aristons are machined to a pretty fine tolerance....i think the bearing housing is machined from bronze ..so if you look 'head on' at the deck as it spins you should see NO movement or only very minute undulations of the rotation at the edges...either up or down or side to side..as a basic visual test..
the motor is pretty good quality too and should still be noise free & provide enough torque at start up to get the platter revolving without too much 'wobbling' which is normal with suspended aristons...a light half rotation with your hand as you press the on /off button should eliminate any rotational 'wobbling' very soon after start up...its just a quirk of using a belt drive with a heavy platter on a suspended subchassis and common to other decks..
aside from that....
check the arm bearings by gently holding the arm tube 'between' its vertical and horizontal limits of travel..and VERY VERY VERY gently try to push and pull the arm forwards and backwards a few times...& i mean VERY gently
...what you are trying to 'feel' is if there is ANY noticable movement whatsover usually heard as a faint 'clicking' at the pivot end of the arm..
that would suggest bearing wear in the arm...please do this very GENTLY as you dont want to damage the arm in the process of checking...imagine running your forefinger and thumb back and forth along a pen barrel without your fingertips sticking to get an idea of the amount of pressure you should use with the arm while testing it..
there should be NO freeplay at the bearing end except that of an arm fixed rigidly to a pivot and yet moving freely in any direction without you being able to feel any tiny movement in the pivot bearings themselves..
if all is well on that front and the deck just look like it needs a clean then thats an excellent score i reckon...maybe all she needs is some fresh oil in the bearing and a new cartridge or stylus and she should run for years to come...
hope she tuirns out to be a beauty..
..make sure you separate the platter from the base before transporting and also secure the arm and suspension so they dont move around or experience any shock in transit...turntables are extremely delicate things to transport around..
good luck :thmbsp:

 

[Nat]

Which mission arm is it? Their original arm, the model number of which I can't recall (774?), but which is easily distiguished by its very peculiar horizontal bearing (which sticks up vertically from the arm which is held to it by a clamp) was designed by John Bicht and is a first rate arm. It has variable damping, and the counterweight is isolated by a sorbothane insert (its first commercial use, I think). The bearings are actually from auto racing engine production. If it has this arm, it would be worth buying even if the table was utterly dead. Even other mission arms are good, so to me its a no brainer.
Manuals for at least some of the Mission arms can be downloaded at Vinyl Engine. Maybe the Ariston too.

 

[hifi_nut]

I totally agree with Nat.
And yes, the User´s Manual for the RD 40 is available for download at www.vinylengine.com
And yes, for that price grab it.
Jorge

 

[Ol' Ken]

Thanks for all the responses. I'm not sure sure of the exact arm although I suspect it is the 774. I have downloaded all the info from Vinyl Engine - Thanks for the link.
And I will be very careful when bring it home and down to my basement workshop. The person who has it is only about a five minute drive from my house.
Question- What would be the best way to clean the exterior/interior since it has 4 or 5 years of accumulated dust and stuff on/in it and is there a prefered brand of oil.

I will take pictures of the table but you will need to wait it is not digital.

Ain't AK a great place thanks again for the info

 

[melofelo]

i imagine with its skeletal frame there isn't much to clean inside ? :scratch2:
perhaps a slightly damp non abrasive cloth and patience plus a few cotton buds for tricky areas...the rubber mat once removed can be cleaned with ordinary hand soap then rinsed under a cold water tap and left to dry thoroughly before use...
i'd keep all liquids away from the arm lead and cartridge

 

[Ol' Ken]

i imagine with its skeletal frame there isn't much to clean inside ? :scratch2:
perhaps a slightly damp non abrasive cloth and patience plus a few cotton buds for tricky areas...the rubber mat once removed can be cleaned with ordinary hand soap then rinsed under a cold water tap and left to dry thoroughly before use...
i'd keep all liquids away from the arm lead and cartridge

The table is mounted on the isolation base (optional extra?) and the area beneath the platter has some dust etc. There isn't much accumulated inside but I want get the table as clean as I can. This is my 1st attempt at reviving a table or even owning a table not made of plastic-the learning curve has just started and I'm gonna enjoy every second of it.

 

[melofelo]

be sure to post some pics once you've got it all shiny again...
the fact that you got a dedicated isolation base too is makes it even more of a bargain...as i'm pretty sure this base was an optional extra..very few reviews i've read of the deck show or even mention the use of the ariston isolation platform...
another ariston fan in the making ! :thmbsp:

 

[reyneman]

I think you'll be well pleased with the Ariston. They are quite musical, well isolated from external vibe, and simple enoungh to be long lasting.

I'd jump on the table for 50, let alone table and arm. I put them in the same league as the earlier basic Linns.