EPA-110 Loose

[cafe latte]

I would not advise a small amount of play, correct is the no play point where it moves uninhibited.
Chris

 

[flavio81]

I inherited a Panasonic SL-1100 with the stock EPA-110 tone arm. It plays well most of the time but there's definitely a problem with the pivot which appears to be loose. See video. I've tried to unscrew the pivot screws but they seem very tight. They look like a small screw inside a larger one. Can anyone tell me whether I should unscrew the inner one first? I don't want to break it!

I saw the video.

Bad news, bad news. That arm is seriously broken. As if somebody dropped the turntable upside down and it the floor impacted the tonearm.

You should still remove the bearings and check out inside. It is probably that one of the bearing tips is broken. Perhaps tips from other Technics models would fit, after all many japanese turntables seem to share common parts such as these (!)

On the other hand the SL-1100 is ready to receive different tonearms thanks to the removable armboard. And it deserves a better tonearm than the EPA-110.

 

[Nat]

If the table were dropped on the arm, the antiskating knob would be bent or crushed. I can't account for the amount of play shown in the video, but if you were able to tighten the bearings a bit and they now behave, I can't help but wonder if someone previously tried to adjust the bearings and failed.
Put the level on the bearing (or measure from the plinth) to see if it is actually the bearings. If they are not parallel, I suspect you may have tightened the pivot pin into some location other than the actual bearing well - it happens since it isn't easy to see where the pin is setting itself - the proper place, or the notch between the pivot block and the lock pin or some other groove/slot. Surprisingly, at least for a while, the arm can appear to be pivoting with low friction. Until it is dislodge or jammed....
I think it more likely that the headshell is canted. Often the shell can be twisted slightly to adjust azimuth.
And use your eyes and a grid to look at the headshell when lowered onto a record. The up and down motion of the offset arm is actually an arc, not simply straight up and straight down, so the height at which you are checking the levelness may decieve you.

 

[Ken Boyd]

How did you go with this?

His pin was,siezed to the lock nut so removed from the arm.
Chris

I went with applying heat will sometimes help assist with loosening items that are seized by applying heat.

Now we can move on as the OP has been able to remove it by applying heat.