Bic 960 spins too fast

loudnoises

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Everything belt is cleaned with 91%, bearing fully cleaned and fresh lube.

And now it's spinning too fast...

The orange Bic belt doesn't seem to be the same as any other belt I've used, is excessive speed an indicator of an old belt? The 980 has a pitch adjust, the 960 does not sadly. It's at about 33.9 rpm, not horrid, but not quite right either.
 
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I'm having the same problem with my freshly cleaned and lubed 960. I don't know how fast, just that a strobe indicates that it is. I can say I don't notice a pitch issue with music.

What did you use to lubricate the spindle with? I used 90 wt gear oil and used a light touch to avoid a mess.
 
I'm having the same problem with my freshly cleaned and lubed 960. I don't know how fast, just that a strobe indicates that it is. I can say I don't notice a pitch issue with music.

What did you use to lubricate the spindle with? I used 90 wt gear oil and used a light touch to avoid a mess.

Just some sewing machine oil at the moment. Doesn't seem like grease is used anymore, but u have some parklube I was going to put on there. Maybe the increased weight will help?, but I think the speed issues are bigger than that.
 
I am considering moly grease. Its pretty heavy-bodied. I just don't know if I really of a mind to do a partial disassembly of the table again to try it.
 
I am using the orange belt supplied with the unit. If anything, I would expect that it would have stretched over time and the unit would be running slow.
OK, sorry, I didn't realize that orange signified the original belt. The 960 uses an AC synchronous motor powered directly from the wall, so as you say, no speed adjustment, the motor is synced to the power line frequency. How are you measuring the speed? Have you checked with other methods, like counting revolutions (mark platter and time 100 revolutions = 3 minutes while playing a record)? Or strobe disc? Does it sound fast? Many phones are inaccurate for measuring turntable speed.
 
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OK, sorry, I didn't realize that orange signified the original belt. The 960 uses an AC synchronous motor, so as you say, no speed adjustment, the motor is synced to the power line frequency. How are you measuring the speed? Have you checked with other methods, like counting revolutions (mark platter and time 100 revolutions = 3 minutes while playing a record)? Or strobe disc? Does it sound fast? Many phones are inaccurate for measuring turntable speed.

I used a strobe disc to verify that it's running fast on both speeds. I haven't done any further investigation than that.
 
BIC used 90 weight gear oil on the spindle bearing for damping purposes. It doesn't have a great effect on speed, however.

If the belt is stretched, it can have an effect on speed. The load on the motor will be reduced and it may run slightly fast with the reduced load.

Although the motor is locked to the line frequency, there are always tolerances. Most cities have the line frequency right on but...

I would try a new, genuine belt from Turntable Experts.

Doug
 
BIC used 90 weight gear oil on the spindle bearing for damping purposes. It doesn't have a great effect on speed, however.

If the belt is stretched, it can have an effect on speed. The load on the motor will be reduced and it may run slightly fast with the reduced load.

Although the motor is locked to the line frequency, there are always tolerances. Most cities have the line frequency right on but...

I would try a new, genuine belt from Turntable Experts.

Doug

I measured the speed with a stopwatch. Approximately 1% fast. I don't think that I'm going to sweat it since I doubt I will hear it. :)
 
BIC used 90 weight gear oil on the spindle bearing for damping purposes. It doesn't have a great effect on speed, however.

If the belt is stretched, it can have an effect on speed. The load on the motor will be reduced and it may run slightly fast with the reduced load.

Although the motor is locked to the line frequency, there are always tolerances. Most cities have the line frequency right on but...

I would try a new, genuine belt from Turntable Experts.

Doug

Thanks.

Once a table is cleaned up, it usually will run spot on with a new belt, my power is usually clean and stable. I go through a bunch...
 
A little bit fast and no one notices, a little bit slow and everybody notices... reflections from the service bench. Do you hear it... if not don't worry about it. Not measured it isn't a problem. We always verified with a strobe disc, if it was a little bit slow you dealt with it, if it was a bit fast you ignored it.
 
Yes, I remember reading about studies done and people prefer a bit fast to a bit slow or even right on the money because music sounds more exciting, or whatever, a bit fast.

Doug
 
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