sabalennon
New Member
Hello,
Recently I picked up a quite dirty Technics SL-B20 for free, I am planning on restoring it and see if it's worth keeping it to replace my SL-BD20D or flip it. I would love to get some guidance since it is going to be still one of my first restoring projects. Sorry for the lengthy post, I bolded some of the important parts and questions if you want to skip to them.
Cleaning: I tried cleaning the body with a microfiber cloth and tons of isopropyl alcohol, it seemed to work but it still looks a bit dirty. Any tips to get it even shinier? Also, the dust cover is absolutely gunky and slimy, what's the best way to clean it? It's plastic so I would assume putting it straight in the water and using some dish soap and a sponge maybe? The cover I'm definitely keeping since my table does not have one and it fits.
Insides: I have heard of people greasing mechanisms inside the turntable. I have deoxit and canned air to clean the inside but what should I grease and with what? I would assume the mechanism under the spindle and the one under the arm...
Parts and cords: The prior owner said that it only needed a stylus, but the arm of the turntable doesn't stay down, it shoots right up as soon as I unleash it. I think the cueing mechanism works it's just that it needs a heavier counterbalance since the current cartridge looks like it's damaged or missing parts (See pictures, it looks busted but also someone put some tape around it, I removed it to notice there is a hole showing the inside which probably shouldn't be there. My guess is someone removed a cap-like part that was also part of the cartridge that added extra weight to it too). What would be a good cartridge to replace it with? Something cheap probably, just to make sure it works, my table has an AT-85EP but I'm scared to take it out and put it in the other, should I try it? I would also have to play around with the anti-skating and counterbalance, I have never had a turntable with those features before. In terms of cords, I can find the RCA and the power cords, but the ground cable looks like it has an RCA end to a ground fork end, what should I look for/What is this called?
Features: Everything else seems to work, it spins, the 33/45 rpm switch works, the speed adjustment works too. But the turntable starts spinning as soon as I plug it in, what could be causing this/how can I fix it? What should I look for when I open the turntable and start looking around? This one I have no idea what could be the cause of...
Next Steps: If everything works and I get this thing in restored status, what should I do with it? Is it better than my SL-BD20D? I have heard mixed opinions on this, on the one hand, it is on the low end of the p mount tables Technics had made, but it also has a lot more features than my SL. So is it slightly better than my table? or should I keep mine, which is working great, and sell the B20 instead? I will probably still try both and see which I like best but I would like second opinions on this as well.
Thank you so much for reading. I am excited to start and appreciate all of the help I could get on this.
Recently I picked up a quite dirty Technics SL-B20 for free, I am planning on restoring it and see if it's worth keeping it to replace my SL-BD20D or flip it. I would love to get some guidance since it is going to be still one of my first restoring projects. Sorry for the lengthy post, I bolded some of the important parts and questions if you want to skip to them.
Cleaning: I tried cleaning the body with a microfiber cloth and tons of isopropyl alcohol, it seemed to work but it still looks a bit dirty. Any tips to get it even shinier? Also, the dust cover is absolutely gunky and slimy, what's the best way to clean it? It's plastic so I would assume putting it straight in the water and using some dish soap and a sponge maybe? The cover I'm definitely keeping since my table does not have one and it fits.
Insides: I have heard of people greasing mechanisms inside the turntable. I have deoxit and canned air to clean the inside but what should I grease and with what? I would assume the mechanism under the spindle and the one under the arm...
Parts and cords: The prior owner said that it only needed a stylus, but the arm of the turntable doesn't stay down, it shoots right up as soon as I unleash it. I think the cueing mechanism works it's just that it needs a heavier counterbalance since the current cartridge looks like it's damaged or missing parts (See pictures, it looks busted but also someone put some tape around it, I removed it to notice there is a hole showing the inside which probably shouldn't be there. My guess is someone removed a cap-like part that was also part of the cartridge that added extra weight to it too). What would be a good cartridge to replace it with? Something cheap probably, just to make sure it works, my table has an AT-85EP but I'm scared to take it out and put it in the other, should I try it? I would also have to play around with the anti-skating and counterbalance, I have never had a turntable with those features before. In terms of cords, I can find the RCA and the power cords, but the ground cable looks like it has an RCA end to a ground fork end, what should I look for/What is this called?
Features: Everything else seems to work, it spins, the 33/45 rpm switch works, the speed adjustment works too. But the turntable starts spinning as soon as I plug it in, what could be causing this/how can I fix it? What should I look for when I open the turntable and start looking around? This one I have no idea what could be the cause of...
Next Steps: If everything works and I get this thing in restored status, what should I do with it? Is it better than my SL-BD20D? I have heard mixed opinions on this, on the one hand, it is on the low end of the p mount tables Technics had made, but it also has a lot more features than my SL. So is it slightly better than my table? or should I keep mine, which is working great, and sell the B20 instead? I will probably still try both and see which I like best but I would like second opinions on this as well.
Thank you so much for reading. I am excited to start and appreciate all of the help I could get on this.
