Dual tonearm horizontal travel problem
I just signed up to share my experience with Dual 1226 TT hoping that someone might find the information useful.
I picked up a Dual 1226 at a local thrift for 5 bucks today.
Same here, bro.
$4.99 for a Dual 1226 at Goodwill store last week. Mine was complete with Shure cart and dust cover. All in v. good cosmetic shape for a 35 year old TT, with a few minor mechanical quirks.
It is a great sounding table, and I guess it must be their modest looks what lands them in thrift stores when they grow older.
In my 1226 the tonearm would not travel by itself to the starting point and back. And yes, at the end of record it just went up and down as you described it.
I found out from some great threads here that there is a plastic pimple (or nipple) underneath the tonearm assembly to provide friction and make the tonearm travel to the edge of record and then back to its resting post at the end of play. Search this forum (or Google, or ebay) for
steuerpimpel to get more info about the problem.
I fixed mine in about half hour after I found out what was hurting.
Sharing my experience:
1. Don't bother getting "original"
steuerpimpel, DYO works just as well, if not
better. Here is what to do next.
2. Protect the tonearm from damage at all times, lock it in its home position and don't let the weight of the table rest on it at any time.
3. To open the TT remove the platter first (steel spring ring pry w. a small flat screwdriver) and losen (~3 turns each) two large shiny bolts on the top of the table (US quarter coin fits perfect) until you can move them up and down. Don't touch any other screws. Gently rest the TT on its side and tilt the two lose screws inwards until you can separate the table from its casing. Use hands (no tools) and be gentle. Use flashlight to see inside what's going on with the two screws.
Protect the tonearm from damage at all times.
4. Plan on cleaning and lubricating your TT. You will need some synthetic motor oil and white lithium grease. Use Q-tips and 91% rubbing alcohol to wipe off old gunky grease. Great info on lubrication is
found here.
5. Rest the table upside down (
tonearm!:nono
and locate a black plastic lever marked with red arrow on the first picture below. This is the only part to be removed to replace the steuerpimpel. A tiny C-clip on one side needs to be removed, use small screwdriver or scratch awl to take it out. It must go back there so don't lose it.
6. Make your own "original" steuerpimpel from whatever you fancy: 16-gauge wire insulation, small heatshrink tube, ball point pen refill: see different pictures how it was made. I used small clean section of the end of a ball point pen refill with GREAT results. The most important is the length of your steuerpimpel - this has to be about 1/2 mm above the metal tip - no more (see info on the last picture).
7. If you happen to lose or break the tiny C-clip, just wrap around the grove a piece of paper clip. Put it all together and enjoy your "like new" Dual 1226
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IMPORTANT EDIT =========
As mentioned by
bohhey below and shown in the last picture, the
steuerpimpel must not be too long or it will pressure the tonearm's bearing and might damage it.
In my experience, the steuerpimpel needs to protrude only about 1/2 mm beyond the tip of the metal pin, or as
bohhey put it, it needs to be "
only friction fit". A good way to test it is to see if the tonearm can still be moved with finger upwards during its automatic travel at the very beginning or at the end of play. If it stays lifted all the way up really hard with no further "wiggle room" upwards then the steuerpimpel is still too long and needs to be trimmed.
