Possible Cure for Collapsed Stylus Suspension

Whoops! Sorry, bimasta, I meant to cite funflyer and his MF100 fix! I've corrected my post. But valuable details on the AKG fix nevertheless!
 
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I haven't listened enough to make a pronouncement about sound quality yet (have only directly compared to a NOS AKG P25s,) but I' m definitely not disappointed.

Because of the way the stylus/suspension is made (Google the cartridge, look at the pics, there are several showing the construction) you really need to inject a drop under the part that is covering the suspension proper. There is no access from the backside. I'm not sure if a toothpick drop would get the WD-40 where you want it. I used a 30 gauge needle on an insulin syringe (insulin syringes can be purchased for cheap at most drugstores and don't require a prescription. They are commonly fitted with tiny 27 or 30 gauge needles.). I injected under direct visualization using a faily low-powered optical microscope, but I imagine that a digital scope would work as well. If your eyes are younger than mine, maybe with only a loupe/magnifying glass.

I re-treated about 2 days later as it looked a tad droopy. Seems stable now (for how long?) Looks like the seller has listed yet another one. No telling how long this supply willl last.
 
30gaugetastic! Thanks for the description of the technique. Everyone reading this should observe caution around sharps, dispose of them properly and avoid injecting themselves with WD-40 if at all possible. Obviously. But I felt it was necessary to underline it.
 
I haven't listened enough to make a pronouncement about sound quality yet (have only directly compared to a NOS AKG P25s,) but I' m definitely not disappointed.

Because of the way the stylus/suspension is made (Google the cartridge, look at the pics, there are several showing the construction) you really need to inject a drop under the part that is covering the suspension proper. There is no access from the backside. I'm not sure if a toothpick drop would get the WD-40 where you want it. I used a 30 gauge needle on an insulin syringe (insulin syringes can be purchased for cheap at most drugstores and don't require a prescription. They are commonly fitted with tiny 27 or 30 gauge needles.). I injected under direct visualization using a faily low-powered optical microscope, but I imagine that a digital scope would work as well. If your eyes are younger than mine, maybe with only a loupe/magnifying glass.

I re-treated about 2 days later as it looked a tad droopy. Seems stable now (for how long?) Looks like the seller has listed yet another one. No telling how long this supply willl last.

Thanks to you, funflyer and wualta. It won't be here for a couple weeks, giving me time to get the wife to snag a needle (nurse).

You say you injected under direct visualization....was this from the front, and directly ONTO ....what exactly? Will it be self-evident once I see it? And thanks to that link Wualta provided, I have pics, just don't want to mess up what seems to be a stellar cart.
 
You'll understand when you get the cartridge and look at it - there is a small "plate" protruding circumferentially from the cantilever in front of where one would expect the rubber damper to be, but it doesn't extend all the way to the edges of the holder (can't, or it would prevent the entire assembly from moving!) You can't actually see the damper, but that's the only place for it to be. I focused on the gap between the plate and the assembly edge and barely slid the needle tip between the two before delivering the bit of WD-40. Initially, I just did it on one side, but on the repeat, attended to the opposite side.
 
So here is my attempt to salvage my Stanton 681EEE with a collapsed suspension. I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks to Montycat for his excellent pictures back on page 7 of this thread.
 

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I have been watching this thread with interest and just putting this out there...

You guys realize that a very small unobtrusive cottonball will support the cantilever indefinitely and also provide needed give? I tried this with a MA 2002 and it works like a charm, no need to apply WD40 or anything. This works for a collapsed cantilever, it will not help a hardened block which is a different problem anyway. You don't even see it unless you dismount the cart and look

Great thread here gentlemen!

I have a MA 2002e and unfortunately for me she's starting to look a bit low. I know Northwinds technique is a little off topic but wanted to call him out for an update as to how things are working out for the MA 2002 that he was tweaking all this time after his OP. I'm probably going to do some experimenting and general preventive maintenance on my PL-518 / MA 2002e next weekend.

Thanks
 
Whoops! Sorry, bimasta, I meant to cite funflyer and his MF100 fix! But valuable details on the AKG fix nevertheless!
Whoops, this is an old thread but I just ran across it again. Thanks Wualta — I've read many of your posts on this and other sites and you really know your stuff. And you share it with strangers for free. I view you as an authority and never question your advice... (yet). Thanks again.
 
Thanks for the kudos. ALWAYS question my advice. That's the way I learn things, so I can go out and pontificate the more! Wait, no, I mean so I can share what I learn! Yeah!
 
Update on Astatic MF100. After about a month, the suspension got droopy again. I re-applied the WD-40 and stented the cantilever to overcompensate for the droop. After 24 hours, back to normal operation. Not sure how often it will need the treatment, but it seems to sucking up the WD-40 as I apply it. Due to the construction of the cantilever, I can't directly view the elastic suspension.
 
Sometimes a second treatment is necessary. The ADC RXM-I which began this thread did but it never needed another application after that.

John
 
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30gaugetastic! Thanks for the description of the technique. Everyone reading this should observe caution around sharps, dispose of them properly and avoid injecting themselves with WD-40 if at all possible. Obviously. But I felt it was necessary to underline it.

you sayin I shouldn't enjoy this buzz.....................:confused:

:beatnik:

:D
 
Hopefully sombody can help me I have used search and have very quickly read most of this thread. I have a shure V15-IV with the V45MR. The stylus has not collapsed but has hardened the highs are shrill and the mid and bass are lacking.Does the rejuvenate work to solve this problem with the shures?Thank in advance
 
Hopefully sombody can help me I have used search and have very quickly read most of this thread. I have a shure V15-IV with the V45MR. The stylus has not collapsed but has hardened the highs are shrill and the mid and bass are lacking.Does the rejuvenate work to solve this problem with the shures?Thank in advance

Not the WD-40 method. That's only useful for firming up a soft suspension but wualta has developed a method for softening a hardened suspension using one of a couple of different rubber restorers, products intended for rejuvenating drive belts, pinch rollers, idler wheels and the like. The products are Tech Spray in a 55ml bottle, not a spray, and Rawn Re-Grip in an earlier formulation containing methyl propasol acetate. Even though it's an older formula, it's still possible to find it for sale. I got my bottle on eBay.

Using either of these is a risky proposition and should be reserved for styli that are unusable in their present condition on the theory that nothing is lost if you ruin the stylus but there are great gains to be had should you succeed.

My recommendation is to apply as little as you can manage to the front of the elastomer, using a syringe, eye dropper or pipette. Then let it sit for a minute or two and blow the excess away with canned air. Then let it sit overnight and be prepared to repeat the process. What you want to avoid is allowing the chemical to dissolve the suspension grommet or swell it to the point that the suspension locks the cantilever in a death grip making it even less compliant than it was before. Both these seemingly contradictory results can occur. I've managed to achieve both and both are the result of too heavy an application of the chemical and are not reversible.

I just had fantastic results with Rawn over the weekend on an ADC stylus that had gone hard. It took two applications to achieve the necessary results but the results transformed the stylus.

John
 
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How exactly would one know that the suspension is too hard? I suspect my 50 year old Shure M3 is probably a candidate.
 
How exactly would one know that the suspension is too hard? I suspect my 50 year old Shure M3 is probably a candidate.

Some of us have finely calibrated fingernails which can assess the compliance of a stylus by deflecting the stylus upward with the flat of a fingernail.

Another way is to see how much upward deflection there is in the cantilever when it lands on the record. This and the previous method are also useful for determining whether a suspension has become too soft.

A third way is to listen. Steven94 offered a very good description of the way a cartridge sounds when the stylus suspension has gone hard at post #583 above.

John
 
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Yep, bass goes all to hell and it sounds like the cantilever is not damped well enough. You could say it's echoing or buzzing, unable to shake off the last vibration that went through it.
 
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The stylus has not collapsed but has hardened...
I posted earlier about an AKG-P8E whose suspension had turned to cement. Wouldn't play at all: as soon as it hit the groove, it stayed there, skipping back to that spot each revolution. The cart had a great reputation, so I experimented with lighter fluid to permeate and soften the suspension. It worked. It plays entire records now, no problem. You'll find my post(s) which outline the procedure.

But as Boreas notes above "should be reserved for styli that are unusable in their present condition."
 
Boreas I know the WD-40 is used to firm up a suspension.Thanks to this thread I used it on a stanton 681 EEE when this thread started. Still using it and working fine. This shure is suppose to be very good especially with the micro ridge stylus. It is totally useless now.
Wualta I would be interested in what you use and the results you get because of it being a shure hopfully the elastomers are similar
 
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