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Dual repair: Dr. Dual or ???

11somekid

11somekid

Part-time Lunatic
I've been on and off attempting to fix my family's old Dual 1019. Every time, I look underneath and go "Nope!" and let it sit there for a while more. Today, I got an estimation by a stereo guy some miles away, and he gave an number of $150-$240. That's a lot for me so I, "thought about it." I've heard of Doctor Dual, but I don't know what kind of prices he gives. Including shipping for Dr. Dual, what would be the better option?

Oh, and the symptoms: the turntable spins correctly and sound can be heard in the headshell, but only a buzzing in the right channel and silence in the left. Could be a variety of things...
 
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Why not fix it yourself? Or at least try. First thing I would do would be to remove the sled from the headshell and clean the contacts with alcohol. That's a common problem and if that doesn't work, let us know. There's a lot of help here.
 
The headshell on mine gave me fits but there is a replacement available that I have heard good things about. I got lucky and fixed my before buying the new one. If the rest of the unit is working ok, I'd sure look at the headshell.
 
Nope, same issue. It might be an issue in the tonearm or something internal. I almost forgot to say that some pieces appear rusted, like the lever that removes the sled and the screw on top of the tonearm holder. It has been in a garage for a few decades...

EDIT: the humming is on both channels. I was using my test amp, and accidentally moved the balance slider.
 
There are contact strips on the underside of the headshell that the cartridge sled/carriers strips mate to. They need to get cleaned as well.
 
There are two AK members that are Dual specialists: NoTransistors and bohhey. Both come highly recommended by this board. Shoot them an e-mail!
 
ranf1970 said:
There are two AK members that are Dual specialists: NoTransistors and bohhey. Both come highly recommended by this board. Shoot them an e-mail!
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I'll do that now!
91r100gs said:
Bad Cartridge?
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I thought about that, but I'm not Shure* that that is the issue. I will probably need a new one eventually, but for now, I want to keep the costs as low as possible.

*bad pun on it's current cartridge's name: a Shure M95. Sorry.
 
Do you have a multi tester to read the "ohmage" on each channel- a pun back at ya
Don't know the specs of the M95 but if it reads read between 400 to 600 ohms its probably OK

Also might be the patchcords. the original Duals are pretty shot by now if that is what is on it.
 
Meaning they are clean and it didn't help or they were too difficult to access for cleaning? The latter is awkward but possible. A mirror would help to see what you're doing.

Something that might help is what I do once satisfied the contacting surfaces are clean.

Do this at your own risk but gently and slightly pry the strips on the cartridge carrier upwards. The objective is to bend them a bit so they press harder against their counterparts inside the headshell. Some care is necessary because as you've probably noticed, only one end of the carrier's strips are anchored to the plastic at the front end. I only use enough force to bend those strips enough to be 1 or 2MM higher than where they were.
 
Greetings, your turntable is close to 50 yrs old. The contacts on the headshell or sled has metal contacts pressed against plastic. Check to see if any or all have loosened with age. My 1010s uses the same sled. It had loosened with age. I used epoxy glue where the metal is connected to the plastic. A little dab will do. Let dry for 24 hours. Then, gently move the contacts out for better contact. Did this on the 1010 three years ago. No problems since. While at it, replace the RCA cables. The originals suck. If your meter has a contenuity check on it, use it to see if the wires in the arm are good to where the RCA connect underneath. After 50 yrs and sitting in a garage the wires may be bad. I had a 1219 where the wires rotted. Good luck.
 
I have several duals. I would not pay 150-240 to get my 1019 working. The parts can be found and are inexpensive and the advice on this site will enable you to get it working again.

My 2 cents
 
11somekid said:
I've been on and off attempting to fix my family's old Dual 1019. Every time, I look underneath and go "Nope!" and let it sit there for a while more. Today, I got an estimation by a stereo guy some miles away, and he gave an number of $150-$240. That's a lot for me so I, "thought about it." I've heard of Doctor Dual, but I don't know what kind of prices he gives. Including shipping for Dr. Dual, what would be the better option?

Oh, and the symptoms: the turntable spins correctly and sound can be heard in the headshell, but only a buzzing in the right channel and silence in the left. Could be a variety of things...
Click to expand...

If the turntable will be overhauled for that price, with a 1 year warranty, then go for it. If he's just going to fix the immediate problem you describe, then it's a rip-off.
 
Dual interconnects are notorious for going bad. I would replace those first and go from there.

On tip: when you clean the contacts in the headshell where the sled makes contact (the flat metal tabs), they may look clean to your eye. Snap a picture with your cell phone. Often times the camera will show black oxidation that your eye does not see. That helped me in the past.
 
Contact Bill aka Bohhey at Fix My Dual. He has the largest parts inventory for Dual tables in the US. I have always enjoyed dealing with Bill, a 721 direct drive and a 1219 idler drive. Give him a call or send an email to see what he would charge.
 
GearHead454 said:
I have several duals. I would not pay 150-240 to get my 1019 working. The parts can be found and are inexpensive and the advice on this site will enable you to get it working again.

My 2 cents
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My experiences with the "Dual Guru's" were less than satisfactory. Ended up having to fix it myself in the end with $100 in additional parts. One of them would not even work on it, after he learned that one of the other "Dual Guru's" had worked on it before. Said he didn't want to work on a "hack job" Folks, its not all hunky dory in the Dual World.
 
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I am not knocking anyone for having someone else fix their Dual nor am I knocking those guys that fix them for others like the two gentlemen noted above. In fact one of those two guys gave me some advice via email that assisted me in doing a fix myself.

I was just trying to say that if money is important to you and you are at all inclined to fix stuff yourself that you might want to try it yourself.

ok, now I'm up to 4 cents
 
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