Otts
New Member
Note: I went into this with no real knowledge about turntables in the least other than how to play a record on the most basic of players. You can easily skip to the last paragraph for my one question if you like.
After roughly 29 years, I finally acquired my fathers turntable! It's an Elac Miracord 50H II, and visually, it's in great shape, at least to my eye. I had no idea what functional condition it was in, however, as upon receipt it was in a plain box, was missing the manual and I knew it had not been used in many, many years, possibly a few decades or more. It didn't appear to be missing anything else though, and has the original top cover, the short and long spindle, and the little brush that goes under the needle at rest - the only real damage of note was the outer plastic ring has a full split and is loose - something that seems to be fairly common, though I haven't found a fix for yet.
I have a fairly rudimentary understand of setting up a home stereo system, in that I can wire speakers and run surround sound, but that's about it. Mechanically, I always found taking things apart and putting them back together to be fun, but usually with the added challenge of figuring out why it didn't work after I put it back together. Nevertheless, naturally the first thing I did when I was FINALLY able to bring this thing home was plug it in to see what worked.
Crickets. It didn't spin and I was instantly heart-broken.
I vividly remember this setup from my childhood sitting in my dad's homemade entertainment center, me kneeling on the 80's colored dusty-rose carpet in front of his musical tower, watching the little black record ring with the squares on it cross the little orange light with increasing speed as it rev'ed up. That vision is seared into my mind and always has been. I have to get this thing working.
Not knowing anything about turntables, the next day I wrote my friendly-local-record-store folk, and asked if they knew anyone who serviced vintage record players, as anything the internet led me to was 150+ miles away with no guarantees they even tackled something like this. They replied stating they knew someone but cost sometimes gets out of control with this sort of repair work, especially trying to source old parts if needed. Their recommendation was to give it a go myself, and see if I could isolate exactly what wasn't working, and then write them back. They linked me to this page at a website called The Vinyl Engine and suggested I download a copy of the manual.
And so I did. Or the closest one possible, for the Miracord 50H, as the 50H II did not have a manual there. [ I have since found that 50H II manual on ebay, and scanned and submitted a copy of it to that site for others future use. ] But there were service manuals for both types, so I printed out 100 pages of this stuff and sat down with it. And I was immediately overwhelmed. Because it gets technical quickly. And every aspect of this stuff can be as complicated as you want it to be. And it was too much for me.
So, I wrote my friendly-local-record-store back, insisting the best thing for the situation was professional help. They relented that they would pass my information on, while asking if I had even removed the platter. "Well, no..." I says to myself, thinking what good is that going to do? So, I pulled out the spindle and gave a little tug on this "platter" and lo and behold it lifted right off, revealing this tiny little world of precise German engineering. There were bells, there were whistles, and there was an interlocking web of parts that somehow, when functioning properly, makes the most beautiful music together. But apparently not right now.
So, with the platter off, I plugged it back in and immediately saw this little post spinning. Thinking it was odd that this little post was rotating its little heart out with nothing to show for it, I looked closer, to see what could be amiss. Next to it, was a larger rubber-ish disk. I touched the disk and it swiveled. I pushed it against the post and it kicked off of it. I touched and held it to the post with a loose finger, and the disk started to rotate. As did the gears in my head. Well, this must power the turntable itself, but in this position, there's no way it could come into contact with this so-called platter. So, I looked up "Elac Miracord 50H 2 platter" online, and I found this site.
It's certainly no secret that the wealth of information contained within these coffers is overflowing [ absolute kudos to you all! ], and maybe even a touch too much for the true beginner. But, after some time spent reading parts of the amazing 62 page-long "Elac Miracord TT -share all about 'em" thread, and several others, I learned that that little rubber disk - the idler wheel - was on the wrong side of the little spinning post, ahem - the step pulley, so it could not get in contact with the inside of the platter. Could it be that simple?? I flipped it to the other side, replaced the platter, turned it on, and we've got motion!
Excitedly, I grabbed a test record and put needle to groove. Chipmunks. No problem! Let me switch the speeds around. Problem. The speed change lever only kinda moved between 33 & 45 and wouldn't click over to 78. And it didn't seem like it even 'clicked into place' at 33 or 45, just sorta floated back and forth, definitely changing the speed of the record, but never to anything even remotely close to any sounds I recognized.
So, I came back to this forum. And I wasn't really sure what to do, but I read and I read more, and I searched, and then somewhere in here, and the reference is long behind me so I apologize for not being able to credit it's author [ though I think it might have been this guy ], someone wrote to someone else something to the effect of...."Sometimes with this stuff you just have to take a chance and take it apart...But take your time, and take plenty of pictures first!"
And so I did. I fabricated some foam block custom shaped to fit the top of the turntable and to protect the tone arm, and I eased that baby upside down. When I started to play with the speed change lever, I noticed that it was ultimately connected to this multi-part contraption that had two springs and three graduating steps. It didn't look like it was clicking between those three steps at all, more-so that it was stuck in one of them and the entire thing was a little loose and kinda rocking back and forth a little bit...So...I...took it all apart...And just like you guys said it would be, it was seized up and caked with aged grease. So with toothpicks and cotton-swabs I cleaned all that crap out of each piece, and gently greased them all back up, carefully putting everything back into place, with the end result that if nothing else, those parts were surely a bit more firm and secure than before.
It took a little bit of careful articulating, but the thing (and I'm still not entirely sure what these specific parts are called) started switching between all three graduations. Could that have been it?? I fastened down everything that needed to be fastened down, and flipped 'er over then plugged 'er in and turned 'er on, and immediately found my next hurdle...the idler wheel's arm - a.k.a the lever link(?) - was bent out of shape, and the idler wheel was now 1/4" above the step pulley. I then noticed a few 'gnaw marks' on the frame, right under part of the idler wheels swing path. It seems there might have been some impact damage to this area somewhere along the way, smashing those pieces against each other and mis-aligning my poor idler wheel's lever link.
It was much easier this time around to make the decision to pull things apart, so off came that 'larger rubber-ish disk' and corresponding arm, and into the vice she goes. A few adjustments later, it passed the eye test for straightness, and back onto the turntable it went, falling into seemingly proper place. It looked good, and the 3 various speed stages looked to line up well, as well, carefully clicking between the various cycles. On went the platter. The power and the record quickly followed.
In retrospect, I kind of find it both amazing that the platter was spinning even a little bit at first, given the slightly haphazard situation the parts happen to be in before I started tinkering with them, and yet not amazing in the least, because this machine is well-made, well thought-out and well, one hell of a turntable. So when the thunderous bass from the opening of Meddle kicked in, and the back of my head hit the carpet, even though that stroboscope ring was only flashing in my mind, you can bet it felt as successful as it was surreal not only that it was fixed in-house through my dad's tools and teachings, but that his turntable was finally spinning again at all.
Which brings us to this post. Loosely stated, everything about this machine is mostly dictated by the manufacturer, except for the cartridge and stylus. While I have not taken these specific parts apart, I can see the cartridge is an Audio Technica DR250, and I've attached some pics of this below. I don't know anything about the stylus. My question is: with all of the options (and opinions) out there regarding cartridge and stylus choice, what would you suggest for mine, and why? Leave the cartridge, but change the stylus? Change them both? Try and find the original parts? The information out there is a bit daunting and I'm having trouble following it like I did with the mechanical repairs. There is info in here on the topic, but some of the threads are a touch dated and may not reflect options available today, or maybe I just haven't found the right thread. So, I needed to ask for help. I thank you kindly for your time, either for reading this rambling report or providing a suggestion as I continue to try and get my dad's turntable back into its best possible shape!
All the best!
Alex.
PS. I'll take any suggestions on what to do with the broken stroboscope ring as well. TY!
After roughly 29 years, I finally acquired my fathers turntable! It's an Elac Miracord 50H II, and visually, it's in great shape, at least to my eye. I had no idea what functional condition it was in, however, as upon receipt it was in a plain box, was missing the manual and I knew it had not been used in many, many years, possibly a few decades or more. It didn't appear to be missing anything else though, and has the original top cover, the short and long spindle, and the little brush that goes under the needle at rest - the only real damage of note was the outer plastic ring has a full split and is loose - something that seems to be fairly common, though I haven't found a fix for yet.
I have a fairly rudimentary understand of setting up a home stereo system, in that I can wire speakers and run surround sound, but that's about it. Mechanically, I always found taking things apart and putting them back together to be fun, but usually with the added challenge of figuring out why it didn't work after I put it back together. Nevertheless, naturally the first thing I did when I was FINALLY able to bring this thing home was plug it in to see what worked.
Crickets. It didn't spin and I was instantly heart-broken.
I vividly remember this setup from my childhood sitting in my dad's homemade entertainment center, me kneeling on the 80's colored dusty-rose carpet in front of his musical tower, watching the little black record ring with the squares on it cross the little orange light with increasing speed as it rev'ed up. That vision is seared into my mind and always has been. I have to get this thing working.
Not knowing anything about turntables, the next day I wrote my friendly-local-record-store folk, and asked if they knew anyone who serviced vintage record players, as anything the internet led me to was 150+ miles away with no guarantees they even tackled something like this. They replied stating they knew someone but cost sometimes gets out of control with this sort of repair work, especially trying to source old parts if needed. Their recommendation was to give it a go myself, and see if I could isolate exactly what wasn't working, and then write them back. They linked me to this page at a website called The Vinyl Engine and suggested I download a copy of the manual.
And so I did. Or the closest one possible, for the Miracord 50H, as the 50H II did not have a manual there. [ I have since found that 50H II manual on ebay, and scanned and submitted a copy of it to that site for others future use. ] But there were service manuals for both types, so I printed out 100 pages of this stuff and sat down with it. And I was immediately overwhelmed. Because it gets technical quickly. And every aspect of this stuff can be as complicated as you want it to be. And it was too much for me.
So, I wrote my friendly-local-record-store back, insisting the best thing for the situation was professional help. They relented that they would pass my information on, while asking if I had even removed the platter. "Well, no..." I says to myself, thinking what good is that going to do? So, I pulled out the spindle and gave a little tug on this "platter" and lo and behold it lifted right off, revealing this tiny little world of precise German engineering. There were bells, there were whistles, and there was an interlocking web of parts that somehow, when functioning properly, makes the most beautiful music together. But apparently not right now.
So, with the platter off, I plugged it back in and immediately saw this little post spinning. Thinking it was odd that this little post was rotating its little heart out with nothing to show for it, I looked closer, to see what could be amiss. Next to it, was a larger rubber-ish disk. I touched the disk and it swiveled. I pushed it against the post and it kicked off of it. I touched and held it to the post with a loose finger, and the disk started to rotate. As did the gears in my head. Well, this must power the turntable itself, but in this position, there's no way it could come into contact with this so-called platter. So, I looked up "Elac Miracord 50H 2 platter" online, and I found this site.
It's certainly no secret that the wealth of information contained within these coffers is overflowing [ absolute kudos to you all! ], and maybe even a touch too much for the true beginner. But, after some time spent reading parts of the amazing 62 page-long "Elac Miracord TT -share all about 'em" thread, and several others, I learned that that little rubber disk - the idler wheel - was on the wrong side of the little spinning post, ahem - the step pulley, so it could not get in contact with the inside of the platter. Could it be that simple?? I flipped it to the other side, replaced the platter, turned it on, and we've got motion!
Excitedly, I grabbed a test record and put needle to groove. Chipmunks. No problem! Let me switch the speeds around. Problem. The speed change lever only kinda moved between 33 & 45 and wouldn't click over to 78. And it didn't seem like it even 'clicked into place' at 33 or 45, just sorta floated back and forth, definitely changing the speed of the record, but never to anything even remotely close to any sounds I recognized.
So, I came back to this forum. And I wasn't really sure what to do, but I read and I read more, and I searched, and then somewhere in here, and the reference is long behind me so I apologize for not being able to credit it's author [ though I think it might have been this guy ], someone wrote to someone else something to the effect of...."Sometimes with this stuff you just have to take a chance and take it apart...But take your time, and take plenty of pictures first!"
And so I did. I fabricated some foam block custom shaped to fit the top of the turntable and to protect the tone arm, and I eased that baby upside down. When I started to play with the speed change lever, I noticed that it was ultimately connected to this multi-part contraption that had two springs and three graduating steps. It didn't look like it was clicking between those three steps at all, more-so that it was stuck in one of them and the entire thing was a little loose and kinda rocking back and forth a little bit...So...I...took it all apart...And just like you guys said it would be, it was seized up and caked with aged grease. So with toothpicks and cotton-swabs I cleaned all that crap out of each piece, and gently greased them all back up, carefully putting everything back into place, with the end result that if nothing else, those parts were surely a bit more firm and secure than before.
It took a little bit of careful articulating, but the thing (and I'm still not entirely sure what these specific parts are called) started switching between all three graduations. Could that have been it?? I fastened down everything that needed to be fastened down, and flipped 'er over then plugged 'er in and turned 'er on, and immediately found my next hurdle...the idler wheel's arm - a.k.a the lever link(?) - was bent out of shape, and the idler wheel was now 1/4" above the step pulley. I then noticed a few 'gnaw marks' on the frame, right under part of the idler wheels swing path. It seems there might have been some impact damage to this area somewhere along the way, smashing those pieces against each other and mis-aligning my poor idler wheel's lever link.
It was much easier this time around to make the decision to pull things apart, so off came that 'larger rubber-ish disk' and corresponding arm, and into the vice she goes. A few adjustments later, it passed the eye test for straightness, and back onto the turntable it went, falling into seemingly proper place. It looked good, and the 3 various speed stages looked to line up well, as well, carefully clicking between the various cycles. On went the platter. The power and the record quickly followed.
In retrospect, I kind of find it both amazing that the platter was spinning even a little bit at first, given the slightly haphazard situation the parts happen to be in before I started tinkering with them, and yet not amazing in the least, because this machine is well-made, well thought-out and well, one hell of a turntable. So when the thunderous bass from the opening of Meddle kicked in, and the back of my head hit the carpet, even though that stroboscope ring was only flashing in my mind, you can bet it felt as successful as it was surreal not only that it was fixed in-house through my dad's tools and teachings, but that his turntable was finally spinning again at all.
Which brings us to this post. Loosely stated, everything about this machine is mostly dictated by the manufacturer, except for the cartridge and stylus. While I have not taken these specific parts apart, I can see the cartridge is an Audio Technica DR250, and I've attached some pics of this below. I don't know anything about the stylus. My question is: with all of the options (and opinions) out there regarding cartridge and stylus choice, what would you suggest for mine, and why? Leave the cartridge, but change the stylus? Change them both? Try and find the original parts? The information out there is a bit daunting and I'm having trouble following it like I did with the mechanical repairs. There is info in here on the topic, but some of the threads are a touch dated and may not reflect options available today, or maybe I just haven't found the right thread. So, I needed to ask for help. I thank you kindly for your time, either for reading this rambling report or providing a suggestion as I continue to try and get my dad's turntable back into its best possible shape!
All the best!
Alex.
PS. I'll take any suggestions on what to do with the broken stroboscope ring as well. TY!
. The AT VM95 series being a really good choice
