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Dual 1229 is just a touch slow and I can’t quite figure it out.

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PJHARRIS123

New Member
Hello. New member here.

So I cleaned up a Dual 1229 that was actually gifted to me and the motor seems to be a touch slow. I removed almost, if not all, the old grease and replaced it, took the motor apart to re-oil the felt, re-glued the strobe ring under the platter as well as a lot of aesthetic revitalization. I even polished the platter before finding out they never shiny. Whoops.

I even bought a new Cambridge Audio amp to celebrate and to my dismay, it’s just a touch slow. I played with the pitch knob and that didn’t do much. I’m nervous that when I put the motor back together, I went a couple threads too tight. Nothing is rubbing but it’s very warm to the touch which I’m assuming is normal?

I read there’s some sort of speed adjust screw that moves the pulley up and down on the wheel but I’m not seeing anything. Anyone have any ideas? I should mention the guy gave it to me because he thought the motor was dying and I’m assuming he had the same problem.
 
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How slow is a touch slow? Is it only slow at 33 or consistently slow at 45? It could be many things. Did you do anything with the idler wheel? If it's worn down that would affect the speed. If it's hard and not making good contact with the platter, that's a problem. Check the the motor spindle moves freely up and down when you change speeds. If it's something along those lines, the fixes are fairly simple. If it is the motor, you may need to go through it again.
 
Jeff Egg said:
How slow is a touch slow? Is it only slow at 33 or consistently slow at 45? It could be many things. Did you do anything with the idler wheel? If it's worn down that would affect the speed. If it's hard and not making good contact with the platter, that's a problem. Check the the motor spindle moves freely up and down when you change speeds. If it's something along those lines, the fixes are fairly simple. If it is the motor, you may need to go through it again.
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Slow enough that I thought I needed to adjust the pitch, didn’t consider that it was actually slower until I timed a song and it was like 11 seconds longer than it should have been.

Idler wheel seems good but I’ll have to check the other stuff. Thanks.

edit: what would going through the motor even entail? If it’s lubricated what else is there? And is it pretty unlikely it’s failing? I feel like these old motors don’t like fizzle out and die.
 
If it stalls when you use the automatic functions, the idler is bad. Put a few drops of light machine oil in the bearings of the motor. I do think there is a speed adjustment. As I recall it's on the linkage or arm for the idler. It's a flat head screw.
 
Remove the platter and take a look at where the idler contacts the capstan. Adjust the speed control to see if the idler hits the middle of each section when the control is centered.

The set screw on capstan is near the bottom of it and the manual shows it here:

Screenshot_20210707_200025_com.google.android.apps.docs.jpg
 
dr*audio said:
If it stalls when you use the automatic functions, the idler is bad. Put a few drops of light machine oil in the bearings of the motor. I do think there is a speed adjustment. As I recall it's on the linkage or arm for the idler. It's a flat head screw.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. What do you mean by stall? I’m having issues with the auto function. On the start, the tone arm lifts and I need to manually push it over. On the return it comes 95% of the way back but never gets to it’s home.
 
Montycat said:
Remove the platter and take a look at where the idler contacts the capstan. Adjust the speed control to see if the idler hits the middle of each section when the control is centered.

The set screw on capstan is near the bottom of it and the manual shows it here:

View attachment 2279438
Click to expand...
Oh wow. This was my best question. I’ve only tested the 33 option and that’s the slow one. There’s a sort of wear line in t
Montycat said:
Remove the platter and take a look at where the idler contacts the capstan. Adjust the speed control to see if the idler hits the middle of each section when the control is centered.

The set screw on capstan is near the bottom of it and the manual shows it here:

View attachment 2279438
Click to expand...


Hmmmm. I was wondering about that. The wheel is closer to the top 1/3 of each section. I think you nailed it. I didn’t notice that each section is tapered. That seems odd but I guess it’s this way for fine tuning? This is going to take a century to get it right, I feel like. I wonder if that that speed adjustment screw that I read about was for fine tuning once the wheel pulley is in the correct spot.
 
dr*audio said:
By stalling I mean the platter slows down.
I believe the problem you are having is the Steuerpimpel.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/262946849682
Click to expand...
Ah yes, I was going to ask about these. I’ve heard it’s the primary cause of the auto function failing. I’m nervous because I could have sworn the auto function worked before I started working on it. I’ll definitely be replacing it, though.
Another person pointed out that my pulley isn’t quite centered on the spindle. I hadn’t even noticed that each second for record speed is tapered so I’ll have to investigate this too.
Wow. So glad I signed up. You guys are so much better than Reddit.
 
PJHARRIS123 said:
Oh wow. This was my best question. I’ve only tested the 33 option and that’s the slow one. There’s a sort of wear line in t



Hmmmm. I was wondering about that. The wheel is closer to the top 1/3 of each section. I think you nailed it. I didn’t notice that each section is tapered. That seems odd but I guess it’s this way for fine tuning? This is going to take a century to get it right, I feel like. I wonder if that that speed adjustment screw that I read about was for fine tuning once the wheel pulley is in the correct spot.
Click to expand...

The taper is how the speed is adjusted. That's why the mid range on the control should equate to middle of that step on the pulley. The set screw uses a fine flat head screwdriver, so loosen it and play with the height until you get it centered.
 
Montycat said:
The taper is how the speed is adjusted. That's why the mid range on the control should equate to middle of that step on the pulley. The set screw uses a fine flat head screwdriver, so loosen it and play with the height until you get it centered.
Click to expand...


Ohh that makes sense. I have it bottomed out on the shaft. If I have to fine tune it, is this the only way or is there a way to get it right once the pulley is in the right spot? I’m new to these tables but is that what the tracking ring pasted to the bottom of the platter is for?
 
Normally you don't need to touch the pulley position but as the motor mounting bushings get old and compacted it sits lower. Once you raise it a touch any further fine tuning should be manageable by the control on top of the deck.

The set screw doesn't fine tune anything. It just holds the pulley at the height you choose. If you just loosen it the pulley will fall lower so hold it as you back the screw out a touch and then pull it up a mm or so, then retighten it. You might have to play around a bit to get it right.
 
Montycat said:
Normally you don't need to touch the pulley position but as the motor mounting bushings get old and compacted it sits lower. Once you raise it a touch any further fine tuning should be manageable by the control on top of the deck.

The set screw doesn't fine tune anything. It just holds the pulley at the height you choose. If you just loosen it the pulley will fall lower so hold it as you back the screw out a touch and then pull it up a mm or so, then retighten it. You might have to play around a bit to get it right.
Click to expand...

Ok cool. I think I misspoke. I was asking if the height adjustment is locked in place with the set screw. I guess I assumed a little set screw wouldn’t be enough to keep the pulley from dropping on the shaft and that there was a separate screw to adjust the entire spindle. Packaging technician mentality haha. Every set screw I usually deal with either has a notch to lock into or the piece bottoms out and is locked with the set screw.
Anyway, I get it I think. The pulley should be set by eye and feel and the set screw actually holds it into position. It seems odd to me that I possibly could set it incorrectly by a hundredth of an inch and I’d never really know.
 
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