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Help! Pioneer PL-5 turntable spins in reverse

kylemac

kylemac

New Member
Folks,

I rescued a Pioneer PL-5 turntable from the pawn store last week.... used, but in the original box with a decent Stanton Gold cartridge on the tonearm.

While the box said "tested," I accepted it was not. For $50, I took a shot, as I hate to see vintage electronics go to places where they won't be appreciated. I wasn't wrong. Whomever 'tested' this is on meth.

The controls felt as though they had sand in them, and were very sticky. The turntable strobe came on, but the turntable would not spin. And then it started spinning... backwards. Sometimes the turntable would right itself, but then spin at an unimaginably fast speed.

I figured the pots were dirty. There is a fantastic video on youtube showing how to take the PL-5 apart, as well as showing the places for Deoxit to be sprayed. Thanks to the video, I spent about a half-hour cleaning the switches and control buttons, and reassembling the table.

After letting the Deoxit dry, I plugged her in... no change (except the switches don't feel like they have sand in them). From what I can tell, the forums are correct in this model having some serious speed control issues. But spinning backwards?!

Any ideas on what to do next? I'm thinking of buying a used motor on ebay, or a used power supply.

Advice and suggestions are appreciated.
 
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I had mine do that. Pots are dirty. My solution was to work the Deoxit and work the switches/pitch control many many times and repeated spraying of Deoxit.

Set it to 33 only and rolled back the pitch control some more. Restarted several times and now it's working correctly.

If I mess with my 33/45 rpm selector, it can spin way too fast and sometimes try to spin backwards....I just learned to not mess with that switch and leave it alone once I have pitch dialed in with the strobe.

Good luck. You will have some comments here soon. Beej is the local expert on PL-4 5, 7, etc. series
 
Desertrat748,

I hear what your saying... I don't play 45s either, so there's no need to mess with the 33/45 selector. In essence: "set it and forget it."

That said, where should I make my point of attack when using deoxit? If it's the speed adjust +/- pot, should I keep trying to get the deoxit in the pots (located beneath the board), or in deep the "speed" switch behind the spring? I'm rather sure I've drowned the pot in deoxit and kept twisting back and forth, but you may be right -- it may need more.

Conversely, should I be attacking the speed pots beneath the motor board?
 
In my case; it was the 45/33 selective switch that’s causing the problems. It’s best to get to it from inside, but it’s a little involved to remove the upper part of the plinth from the lower metal base.

I’m thinking that maybe you can soaked the switch slowly and work it back and forth for several minutes, and then maybe repeat the process. Unplug it and then give the platter a gentle spin in the right direction as you power it up.

I noticed once I get mine working if I do not mess with that 45/33 RPM selector switch it works just fine. And I don’t try to adjust the pitch control too much just a little bit if it gets out of sync.

If you don’t get some positive results then maybe go for the removal.

Some tips to help:

There’s a little rubber plug in the end of tonearm, by the counterweight, that has to be removed. I forget what size Allen key it is, 5/32? Maybe? Then the sleeve for the counter weight, about 2 inches long can come off. That step allows you to get the tonearm through the hole in the upper plinth.

One tricky step is trying to get out the power cord but I would skip that because it is a royal pain sometimes and you could break things. If you get the counterweight off in a little sleeve you can lift off the top gently and flip it over and get to those switches.

I am going to remove my selector switch and wire it only for 33 RPM’s. I don’t need to switch back-and-forth between 45. You should be able to get to the switch easily if you want to take it apart.

The feet isolators have to be removed as they are the only screws that hold on the bottom metal plate to the upper plinth. They will pull out as you take the screws out and you will discover they’re made out of a supple rubber boot. You may have to twist a little bit in order for them to come out.

The metal bottom will come right off after you get those feet removed. You have to mind a few things when removing the top,
it’s easiest if you the tonearm elevator/lift switch lever all the way up as you pull off the top and angle the top to allow the tone arm to slip through. It will only slip through if you have removed the counter weight and that little stub support that comes off with the 5/32 Allen key. Maybe it’s 5/32? I’m not home right now and I can check it upon return.

Remember to remove the dust cover completely off and the platter of course and the head shell with your cartridge before you begin to crack it open. I used some soft towels and some counter space to flip it over and remove everything without damaging it.

You’ll also have to make sure the start and return or cut to switch lineup as you gently place it back together. I found out it’s easiest to make sure to rotate it and have the arm auto return back if yours has auto return. To set the mechanism up correctly.

You want to test it out without putting those feet back in just to see if everything works properly and if not you have to remove and replace everything correctly inside .

Good luck with your endeavors and if needed shoot me a pm and I don’t mind taking some pics of the areas that you have questions about. I am only mildly mechanically inclined. Take your time don’t force anything and it will work out. If I can do it you can do it.

dr
 
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DR,

Yep. I had already opened and had success with buttoning the turntable back up. That said, despite taking the PL-5 apart more than three times now, and deoxiting the hell out of that pot and switch (and turning it off/on and twisting for several minutes), it still spins backwards, and then forward at an obscene speed.

Something tells me one of the resistors or caps on the speed control assembly board is bad. I think I may look into this route...

I was hoping Beej would chime in, but no such luck so far.
 
kylemac said:
DR,

Yep. I had already opened and had success with buttoning the turntable back up. That said, despite taking the PL-5 apart more than three times now, and deoxiting the hell out of that pot and switch (and turning it off/on and twisting for several minutes), it still spins backwards, and then forward at an obscene speed.

Something tells me one of the resistors or caps on the speed control assembly board is bad. I think I may look into this route...

I was hoping Beej would chime in, but no such luck so far.
Click to expand...

If he ( beej) missed this post, send him a PM / start a conversation with him. :music:
 
I had a similar problem with a PL-5 that I worked on a couple years ago deoxit was not the answer with that one. A replacement board (purchased from a parted out unit on eBay) fixed it for me. A bit of work as the board has some wire wrapped connections, but very doable to save the tt from the trash pile.
 
Mine did that too. I think you are right about it; for some unknown reason mine stopped the backwards spin, it also went obscenely fast for a bit, and then an exorcism and outed the demon that possessed it. A quick check that can help you narrow it down is to eliminate that selector switch.

Hook it up to spin at 33 only when you bypass it. If it cures it, then you can save some time and $$. It may be getting a signal from both the 33 side and the 45 at the same time?? Causing havoc.

I too thought it was some caps on the board going bad, maybe a crack with a solder joint or something. I lucked out with it I guess. I do know that if I mess with that 33/45 switch that I can get it to spin backwards again..
 
When you have that kind of a speed control issue on these units it is typically somewhere in the board. On a few rare occasions the deoxit and cycling treatment will work but, as I indicated, those are rare. Most likely you'll have to replace the speed control board.
 
^ Kyle, I am trying to get my PL-7 restored. Replaced the motor. As I'm trying to get the auto function to actually land on lead groove on 12" recorded instead of a 45rpm, I'm getting it to spin backwards about 1/2 the time.

I believe the motor is aligning up just shy of a cog, or magnetic pole, and then it is able to spin backwards.

I don't believe there is something seriously wrong with yours as I've been able to get the same thing with 2 different PL's and one with 2 different motors. After a few attempts, I'm able to get them to operate properly.

Are you able to get it to operate properly at all? If not, then I'd go for a new motor as it comes with the control board attached.
 
The more I read the service manual, the more I think it's the motor control board... A full replacement from eBay may be what the doctor ordered.

Following the troubleshooting chart, it seems if the motor runs away (which this one is certainly doing!) Pioneer believes the semiconductors are bad... That means a new used motor assembly.

My $50 turntable is getting expensive, but it's not about the money... it's about not wanting this in some landfill.

I shall attempt to purchase one. I'll eventually update this post.
 
kylemac said:
The more I read the service manual, the more I think it's the motor control board... A full replacement from eBay may be what the doctor ordered.

Following the troubleshooting chart, it seems if the motor runs away (which this one is certainly doing!) Pioneer believes the semiconductors are bad... That means a new used motor assembly.

My $50 turntable is getting expensive, but it's not about the money... it's about not wanting this in some landfill.

I shall attempt to purchase one. I'll eventually update this post.
Click to expand...

Forum sponsor organdonorparts has one:
https://organdonorparts.com/Pioneer-PL-5-Turntable-Phono-Board-P147-5.htm

Also check with Vinyl Reclamation another forum sponsor:
http://stores.ebay.com/vinylreclamation?afsrc=1&rmvSB=true

:music:
 
06242C72-970C-4F53-930C-B170E38F4DF2.jpeg E08E98EF-742E-4CF7-B3A4-1C6FE5537B2F.jpeg Kyle, the phono board is not the part that controls the motor speed or rotation (no offense Balifly). That phono board is where the phono rca wires connected with tonearm wires and where power comes I believe . The part you need is the motor and the connected circuitboard.
 
desertrat748 said:
Kyle, the phono board is not the part that controls the motor speed or rotation (no offense Balifly). That phono board is where the phono rca wires connected with tonearm wires and where power comes I believe . The part you need is the motor and the connected circuitboard.
Click to expand...

You are correct, my mistake. :oops:
 
If the issue is that pesky running wild in reverse problem then he needs to replace the speed control circuit board (same circuit as speed switch and power supply) not the board by the tonearm or the motor board.
 
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