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PL-530 tonearm not cradling

Fernzee

Fernzee

Heyyyyyy
Hey all.
I am a relative newbe concerning turntables. But ever since I got an SX-1250 I have been craving a nice turntable to go with it.

Well, I got it yesterday. A PL-530 in mint condition from the origional owner. It looks amazing. The vinyl is perfect, and the dust cover has only tiny scratches, probably from a Windexing or two.

Problem is the tonearm doesn't return compleatly back to it's cradle. I have been searching the forums for this problem, but couldn't find any solution. It looks like the tone arm isn't lifted up far enough to clear the inital bump of the cradle.

Other then this one thing, the unit is flawless.

Any suggestions?

Thanks much.
 
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In that case you probably need to set the maximum height of the tonearm on the lift cycle a little bit higher. On my PL-518 there is a screw that allows you to do this. It is at the base of the the plastic bar that lifts the tonearm. I also have had to make that adjustment before for the same reason.

When you put the raise lever in the up position it pushes the plastic arm lift up. When you loosen that screw and lift up then reset the screw at the new higher position it will allow the lift bar to raise the tonearm slightly higher, hopefully high enough to allow the tonearm to return to the craddle.

You also want to make sure that on the lowest part of the cycle the lift bar goes down low enough that it is not touching the tonearm while the needle is on the vinyl.
 
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There may be a "lead in" adjustment as well, not familiar with that table, if it's full auto, does it start in the proper position of the disc?
 
I had the same problem with my pl560 that I just picked up. All I did was dial in just a tiny bit more of anti-skate adjustment and it now returns to its cradle perfectly. Hope you find such an easy fix.
 
rulerboyz, tried what you said, but found out that adjusting the height of either the lifting arm or the cradle didn't matter. I lowered the cradle and if the tonearm had enough oomph, it would clear the cradle. Very strange.

Strawman, it is a fully-automatic TT, and it starts in the proper position each time. What is the would the "lead-in" adjustment still apply to this?
 
If the lead in, or drop point is functioning properly, it may have a seperate adjustment for the auto return, I think a service manual is in order here.
 
Hey all,
Figured it out. There is a rubber stop on the lifting arm that the tonearm rests on. Well, it had some residue, maybe from some old tape or something on it, that was providing just enough resistance to the tonearm. Once I cleaned that off and adjusted it, the tonearm swings right back to its home.

Thanks much for all your help. You guys rule!

My system is almost compleat. Now the search for HP-100's begins.
 
Awesome, it's great when you can solve a problem with a little cleaning/lubrication/common sense. I'm not trying to be a smart ass, I sometimes have to look at things 3 or 4 times and ask what is supposed to be happening when. Good job, and good luck on the HPM's. So far, all I have are 500's, but someday I'm hoping to snag a pair of 60's or 100's. :thmbsp:
 
I'm in the process of trying to repair my PL-530 also, when I came across this post. I noticed the same behavior of the arm not returning fully. There is a lever mechanism which returns the tone arm to its home position. It appears that at one time there was some type of pad, felt, cork, etc. attached to this lever. I noticed a sticky yellow/brown gummy substance where this pad may have been. I temporarily taped a piece of foam in its place and it appears to have solved the problem. To see what I mean you have to unfortunately remove to bottom cover. It's a very small area, about 0.25" square. I'll try to post a picture if needed.

Hope this helps.

Right now I have bigger problems, which leads me to post number B.
D
 
twistedXsistor said:
There is a lever mechanism which returns the tone arm to its home position. It appears that at one time there was some type of pad, felt, cork, etc. attached to this lever. I noticed a sticky yellow/brown gummy substance where this pad may have been. I temporarily taped a piece of foam in its place and it appears to have solved the problem. To see what I mean you have to unfortunately remove to bottom cover. It's a very small area, about 0.25" square. I'll try to post a picture if needed.

Hope this helps.

Right now I have bigger problems, which leads me to post number B.
D
Click to expand...

Hey Twisted,
Thanks for the tip. Do you think you can post a picture? I wouldn't mind seeing the pad in place before I open up the can. Thanks much.
 
The pad isn't there, only the adhesive, I think.

I just received my manual, so I haven't had a chance to see what the parts' name is.

Hope this helps.
D
 
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Tristed You are the man for noticing that. Check out fig 19 of the service amnual and you can absolutly see the pad in question is there. I will check my unit tomorrow to see if mine is missing or just squished.

I will post a picture of Fig 19 tomorrow.
 
Added a small pad to my unit, only about 1/4 was left, fixed the problem.

Kudos to Twisted :banana: :beerchug: :yippy:
 
Hey, I could not get those fastbyte picture to come up, are those links valid?

CDFixer, were you going to post some pix of your as well? I have the exact same problem with my 530......
 
Actually, as a test I just put some hot glue on the plate to test if that was in fact the problem, I am going to try to find a small rubber pad with sticky on the back to make a permanent fix. I will post some pictures, when done. I am trying to figure out how thick the pad should be.
 
My isp was having problems.
Fig 19 is a much better picture. I knew I saw a better pic.
It must be the same foam used for speaker surrounds, and just deteriorated. I think some of the pink, gray or blue foam used for packing hard drives and such would work, if you use a compatible adhesive.

BTW, how big of files can I post to the forum?
Thanks.
D
 

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Hey Twisted,
Finally got to it this weekend, and sure enough, I was missing the pad too. Replaced it and the TT mechanisms swings and sings like nothing before. Thanks much for all the information.
 
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