Vinylcalle
Active Member
Nope we speak swedish here where the Forsell was made =).
Good luck with your project.
Just rescued a Forsell Air Reference Turntable
- Thread starter everglades
- Start date
Good luck with your project.
Pio1980
AK Member
Thot so, been a while since the revue when it appeared.
everglades
Member
Made some nice progress. I was able to re-terminate the phone cartridge leads to a satisfactory level. Im sure it would have been difficult to locate a tonearm cable as light and flexible as the original. Perhaps Ill use some varnish to tame the wild hairs on the orange lead. 
everglades
Member
oh, and I was able to get the platter spinning freely again. There must have been some crud from the polishing process stuck between the glass and platter. I was able to lift the platter (no small feat by the way as it weighs a ton) and clean underneath. It now spins for what seems to be an eternity.
gusten
Addicted Member
I really hope You in time get everything working properly. I believe this TT is almost a definition of a high-end TT, and still are very sought after here, and very expensive.
reydelaplaya
Super Member
This has been a fun thread. I can imagine the excitement of your barn basement find!
Must've been something like this:
Must've been something like this:
everglades
Member
I saw that episode.. They had a bitch of a time getting it out of there. Beauty though!
everglades
Member
Nice progress today. Epoxied the lifting arm back into place. The old epoxy was looking tired and was ready to give up. 
everglades
Member
Then I mounted the temporary cartridge and reassembled the tonearm. It's amazing how well the arm glides laterally.
everglades
Member
Here's a picture of some of the peripherals. Second pump and storage tanks on the left. Power supply and voltage converter on the right. Also got the belt today so I was able to run the platter. Motor was a it noisy at first probably from sitting around too long but after running a while it quieted down. Gonna have to measure the RPms to see if this motor will do. 
everglades
Member
Here a view of the back where the tonearm cables go. I'm gonna have to look and see what the proper wire path is into the back of the plate. I see there is a small hole on the side plate but I would have to de solder and retread it which makes be think it's not the right path. Perhaps that hole was for some sort of standoff or post that held the wire up high and out of the way.
everglades
Member
Strangely the tt came with two pumps. One is 220v and has both input and output ports. The other is 110v and only has an output. I suspect one was for the platter and the other for the tonearm but how did the previous owner control the power? The second switch on the turntable base controls one pump, in this case the 220V version. How did the owner control power to the 110V pump? It doesn't even have a switch on it. Was the tt designed to run on one pump or two?
Generally tables like this are built into the space, meaning all the equipment isn't just stacked under the table on the rack. Most cases all the air pump equipment would be outside of the room and all wired in and air lines routed to the listening room.
Walker Proscenium Black Diamond III part 1.mp4
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everglades
Member
Thanks for the videos. Anything featuring an air powered TT is helpful in the restoration process. I see the motor they use struggles initially to get up to speed and must be helped a bit manually. Mine seems to have enough power but the belt chatters a bit at startup as it tries to move the super heavy platter.
Pio1980
AK Member
VPI recommends a dusting of talc on their belts, this may help with the startup chatter. Some controllers have a ramping startup to avoid this.