Dual 1226 not placing stylus correctly?

[mhjmhjones]

Lately (now that I think about it, this started since I replaced the cart/stylus), when the TT automatically drops the needle (and also sometimes when I place the needle), the stylus rapidly jumps to the left and usually skips over a groove or two, which is a very rough, unpleasant start when listening to a record. Occasionally (once or twice) the tonearms was dropped to the right of the record, missing it completely. What could be causing this? The stylus almost looks as if it might be bent slightly to the right instead of being horizontal.

Also, and this happened before replacing the cart, sometimes when automatically returning the tonearm, the TT would drop the returning tonearm onto the middle of the records and even worse, twice it returned the needle to the record label. I'm not sure if and when the TT has ever been serviced or lubricated. Thoughts?

 

[tnsilver]

One word my friend - "steuerpimpel". Not trying to offend you in foreign tongues, it's the little cursed rubber nipple that binds the main cam shaft to the tonearm assembly and responsible for dragging it along in an ordinary fashion. When that thing wears out... All bets are off and you get... What you see. OK, the service manual is here. As I have learned today, the best Dual 1229 (good in this case) manual/guide is a part of AK's docs database and is here. Stock and replacement pimpels are available on eBay and with some shops like "turntable parts". Look it up - it's not a hard fix if you know what you're doing. You may have a bad case of an undamped cue lift - so check it out in the guide as well.

 

[mhjmhjones]

One word my friend - "steuerpimpel". Not trying to offend you in foreign tongues, it's the little cursed rubber nipple that binds the main cam shaft to the tonearm assembly and responsible for dragging it along in an ordinary fashion. When that thing wears out... All bets are off and you get... What you see. OK, the service manual is here. As I have learned today, the best Dual 1229 (good in this case) manual/guide is a part of AK's docs database and is here. Stock and replacement pimpels are available on eBay and with some shops like "turntable parts". Look it up - it's not a hard fix if you know what you're doing. You may have a bad case of an undamped cue lift - so check it out in the guide as well.

Excellent! I've heard of this blasted sournipple before. Good start knowing what to look for.

 

[Montycat]

Excellent! I've heard of this blasted sournipple before. Good start knowing what to look for.

Nearly all the older Dual tables use the steuerpimpel. I've made a pile of them as evidenced here: http://afishneedsastereo.blogspot.ca/search?q=steuerpimpel

Lately I've been using 2mm silicone tubing, like this. It's easy to cut and just stretchy enough to push onto the pin readily. So far it's been holding up well too.

 

[mhjmhjones]

Found on ebay and ordered a new seuerpipple! Would the bad steuerpimpel explaint the needle jumping to the left when it hits the record? I think I may not have described that well in my initial post. the stylus is placed onto the record and then it rapidly jumps to the left- after it is placed on the record surface.

Also, sometimes the audio output from the TT doesn't turn on fast enough. That is, the stylus will be in the grooves of the record for about a second before something clicks inside and the audio output clicks on (and music starts). Could that also be steuerpimpel-related?

Thanks again!

 

[JFRACE]

The sound is the mute switch, which should be sprayed with deoxit, and if I were doing the pimple, I'd also clean up everything else and relube the table.

 

[mhjmhjones]

The sound is the mute switch, which should be sprayed with deoxit, and if I were doing the pimple, I'd also clean up everything else and relube the table.

Thank you!

 

[tnsilver]

sometimes the audio output from the TT doesn't turn on fast enough. That is, the stylus will be in the grooves of the record for about a second before something clicks inside and the audio output clicks on (and music starts). Could that also be steuerpimpel-related?

Yes. Amazingly almost everything about this table revolves around grooves and hills in the main cam. The main cam shaft travels in these grooves and hills and much of it's motion is conducted to the tonearm through the linkage - the dreaded steuerpimpel. When it wears out, the tonearm is unsynchronized with the cam. Weird stuff can happen, like the little bugger pimpel untimely nudging the main cam shaft just a bit to make the TA skip. Worst cases are when the TA is lifted (sometimes unnecessarily) and dropped in some weird location on the LP. It's a good idea to clean the mute switch wafers (it's leafs actually) - but the late response is a synchronization issue tell tale sign, most likely... you guessed it - steuerpimpel. There's lots of other stuff that may go wrong - but start with replacing the pimpel. Then go on.