How to attach ground wire to Technics SL-J2

[Alex_SF]

Hi all, noob here with my first question. I recently acquired a Technics SL-J2 which is in good condition except that it's missing its ground wire, and also, it seems, the metal contact part inside the ground wire socket on the back.

I know there's supposed to be a ground wire with a plug on it, like my old cheapie Technics has, but I checked out the socket on the J2 with a flashlight and can't see anything metallic in there, just a bare plastic socket with a couple of tab-hole looking things at the back of it. So just sticking a wire in there wouldn't seem to help.

I gather that the ground is supposed to be connected to something inside the unit, but I can't even figure out how to open it to find that contact point. The only screws on the underside are to hold the rubber feet* on, and unscrewing them doesn't loosen the base up any. There is a recessed Philips screw and a recessed hex screw on the back of it (besides the screws for the top cover hinges); are either of those what I need to loosen to get to the insides of the unit? Or do I just need to pry the bottom off with the equivalent of an oyster shucker after unscrewing the feet? Or, alternatively, can I just attach a ground wire to any point on the outside of the turntable without opening it up?

Thanks!

(* "I hardly know 'er!")

 

[jleon92f]

Hi all, noob here with my first question. I recently acquired a Technics SL-J2 which is in good condition except that it's missing its ground wire, and also, it seems, the metal contact part inside the ground wire socket on the back.

I know there's supposed to be a ground wire with a plug on it, like my old cheapie Technics has, but I checked out the socket on the J2 with a flashlight and can't see anything metallic in there, just a bare plastic socket with a couple of tab-hole looking things at the back of it. So just sticking a wire in there wouldn't seem to help.

I gather that the ground is supposed to be connected to something inside the unit, but I can't even figure out how to open it to find that contact point. The only screws on the underside are to hold the rubber feet* on, and unscrewing them doesn't loosen the base up any. There is a recessed Philips screw and a recessed hex screw on the back of it (besides the screws for the top cover hinges); are either of those what I need to loosen to get to the insides of the unit? Or do I just need to pry the bottom off with the equivalent of an oyster shucker after unscrewing the feet? Or, alternatively, can I just attach a ground wire to any point on the outside of the turntable without opening it up?

Thanks!

(* "I hardly know 'er!")

Hi,
Are you getting a Humm through your speakers? This is usully what the ground wire is for. You can attach a wire to the METAL part of the chassis with a screw if possible.

BTW, Nice TT!

Thanks,
John.

 

[Alex_SF]

Hi,
Are you getting a Humm through your speakers? This is usully what the ground wire is for. You can attach a wire to the METAL part of the chassis with a screw if possible.

BTW, Nice TT!

Thanks,
John.

Thanks for your response. I haven't even hooked the new TT up to my system yet, so not sure whether there will be a hum or not. I noticed the lack of ground wire when I was getting ready to hook it up.

Thanks, I'll see if there is any metal exposed on the outside of the chassis; I think the case is almost all plastic. Still trying to figure out how to get inside it; hoping not to have to order a service manual.

And also, thanks; it is a pretty nice turntable. Not your audiophile-snob grade, I gather, but it ought to be better than the SL-BD20 it's replacing. A college buddy used to have one of these; I loved the automated track skip and repeat functions, which were usually a lot more accurate at selecting a track break than I was when doing it manually, especially in low light.

And through an uncanny coincidence, a day or two after I located the new turntable on eBay and bought it, I played a record on the old turntable and its rotation slowed down to the point where I noticed that the music was at least a half-note flat and the tempo was noticeably slower.

No idea how to fix that, since the BD20 is speed-nonadjustable (and, frankly, probably disposable). But if anyone knows what might be wrong and if it's fixable by me, maybe I'll try to do that so I can get $20 for it on CL instead of junking it.

 

[hakaplan]

Thanks for your response. I haven't even hooked the new TT up to my system yet, so not sure whether there will be a hum or not. I noticed the lack of ground wire when I was getting ready to hook it up.

Thanks, I'll see if there is any metal exposed on the outside of the chassis; I think the case is almost all plastic. Still trying to figure out how to get inside it; hoping not to have to order a service manual.

And also, thanks; it is a pretty nice turntable. Not your audiophile-snob grade, I gather, but it ought to be better than the SL-BD20 it's replacing. A college buddy used to have one of these; I loved the automated track skip and repeat functions, which were usually a lot more accurate at selecting a track break than I was when doing it manually, especially in low light.

And through an uncanny coincidence, a day or two after I located the new turntable on eBay and bought it, I played a record on the old turntable and its rotation slowed down to the point where I noticed that the music was at least a half-note flat and the tempo was noticeably slower.

No idea how to fix that, since the BD20 is speed-nonadjustable (and, frankly, probably disposable). But if anyone knows what might be wrong and if it's fixable by me, maybe I'll try to do that so I can get $20 for it on CL instead of junking it.

Welcome to AK!

Go over to vinylengine.com and register. They have the owners manual and a service brochure. It tells how to get into the works--not sure about getting into the base, but I'm pretty sure that if you completely remove the feet, there may be plastic tabs that have to be pried or something. That's what it looks line on my SL-Q6.

As far as the BD20, it may need a new belt.

 

[miner]

I just got used SL-J2 for my son. The arm drive belt was bad - could not find one as a part so I ttok it to Lowes and got an O-ring to replace it. Works great. Also, the ICs needed replacing - easy fix though.