Marantz 6170 Queue solenoid

C

coop402

Member
I am helping a friend with his first turntable.
He has an old marantz quad receiver and marantz speakers.
This kid is a good friend of mine and I would like to get his
old 6170 fully functional.

The queue solenoid functions, but it only has enough magnetic
force to work at the lower 25% or less of the stroke.
Since I know that a solenoid is nothing more than a coil of wire,
I can rule out that the wire is broken, as it still works somewhat.

What can cause a solenoid to weaken? I have cleaned it, it operates
smoothly. Just feels like is should have 4 times the pull?

I don't have a schematic, but I thought one of you might know if
weakened caps in a circuit, or other electrical problems could cause low
voltage to this device... Not sure?

Can you magentize or demagnetize the piston to help things?

In google searches I have read that this is a common model in other parts of the world and this exact situation happens a lot, but I have not read the cure.

The cure is to probably get a better turntable, but now this is a quest! :D
 
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I was given a 6170 that works - mostly. The speed is stable, and manual mode seems fine. When in automatic mode, however, the cue control does not raise or lower. I have removed the bottom cover and accessed the solenoid; the "piston" moves smoothly by hand. It's not stuck or otherwise binding in any way.

When I manually pull the cue mechanism down while the unit is switched on (the solenoid piston is fully withdrawn in this position), it will engage and hold. Push the cue up button, and 9 times out of 10 the piston pops up with a bang. The other time it will seem to release slowly, as I perceive it should.

The main problem, then, is that when pressing the cue down, the solenoid won't draw the piston down on it's own to drop the arm. The secondary issue may be the abrupt release of the piston when pressing the cue up (after I manually engage it down).

I have the schematic, but that shows no voltages. I've checked the components (a couple of resistors, a diode) on the board that supplies power to the solenoid, and everything seems to check out. The 150 ohm ceramic resistor is hot, but it is probably ceramic for that very reason.

I'd appreciate knowing if anyone has info on this, as it seems to be a problem with this model. Is the solenoid supposed to withdraw the piston when the down cue botton is pressed? If this is what is supposed to happen, is it not working due to inadequate current? It seems that without current, the normal state of the piston would be up, as there is a spring that pushes the piston up.

Appreciate any guidance you can provide, thanks.
 
Thought I'd "bump" this, as this project remains on my bench with no place to go. Any information on this solenoid situation would be appreciated!
 
Took this apart one more time to make sure I didn't miss anything, but am still stumped as to why the solenoid won't draw the arm lift down. I can push it down manually and it will hold and work from there, but it's not a good solution. Anyone?
 
It's been a couple of years, and I've still found no solution for the cuing deficiency on this nice TT. Anyone out there run across this Marantz model 6170 with the stubborn solenoid?
 
How many times have we heard about (or done) this: over-analyzing technical problems, focusing on more involved solutions and overlooking simpler possibilities. Alas, this has proven to be one such situation. So if (like me) you've been seeking the remedy to the 6170 cuing/lift problem I've described earlier in this thread, I am fairly confident your wait is over, and the solution should take mere minutes!

For the purposes of this exercise, I am going to assume you've been inside your 6170 already and know your way around. I'll simply say that you really only need to remove the black plate on the bottom of the unit (front corner - under the headshell). Make sure you note which plate screws go where, because there are three different styles.

First, if you've not already cleaned any old grease out of the solenoid "plunger", do that first. The solenoid comes out pretty easily, held in by three screws. The pressboard base of the TT covers one of them, so I drilled an access hole over it so I wouldn't have to remove the whole base cover (this new hole is hidden by the black plate when you reassemble). For the solenoid to activate it can't be sticking, so this first step is critical in the overall solution. Then I believe you'll want to add new grease or silicone oil to the plunger to dampen the solenoid action, because when it works, it moves with a pretty good "thump".

The main problem is - drum roll, please - the contacts on the cue "up" and "down" leaf switches. Yep, it's that basic. First I tried a non-residue contact cleaner, but solenoid activation was minimally sporadic. After a tiny shot of Deoxit, the solenoid was activating reliably once again! I can't believe it took this long to figure this out, but as I've not found anyone else on the net who has either, guess I'm ahead of the game!

Hope this works for others. I'd be interested to hear if any of you find you can get your 6170 fully functioning after following this method. Good luck!
 
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Hey I just got my 6170 fully functioning. I too had tried all the things you did to no avail. I even ordered a solenoid from ebay thinking mine was weak. (If anyone needs one let me know I have an extra one) The Detoxit did the trick! Thanks so much for posting this.
 
42jg95 said:
Hey I just got my 6170 fully functioning. I too had tried all the things you did to no avail. I even ordered a solenoid from ebay thinking mine was weak. (If anyone needs one let me know I have an extra one) The Detoxit did the trick! Thanks so much for posting this.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the AK turn table forum.

That is a very generous offer, wishing you the best of Karma! :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:
 
Thanks for this info, I am working on a 6170 now. Mine is stuck in the down position and will not go up. Cleaned all switches, the Up/Down mini switches are interesting, one engages magnetically and the other does not. Any thoughts on those? S005/6 on the diagram. Thx
 
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