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Official AR Turntable Owners Thread

Good evening,

So I’m officially stumped.

My two motor XA worked well prior to adding the new “removable plug” on the rear of the plinth. Now neither motor will turn.

Here are the checks that I’ve made.

1). 125v power is present at the switch
2). 125 v power is present after the switch
3). The switch has been cleaned and it cuts off the power and returns it while in use
4). 125v power is present at the motor connection for each.
5). There is zero movement on either motor shaft and no noise/hum whatsoever
6). The top plate was removed and repainted then replaced
7). The tonearm was removed to be rewired

So this has me wondering if the motors are missing a ground to the frame?

I’m okay with going to the single motor setup but have to admit I would like to understand what I must have missed when reattaching the top plate to the plinth and installing the motors. Cheers
 
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pworm14 said:
After keeping an eye out for a couple of years I finally get to join the club!!

I was hoping to find an XB but this guy popped up on CL this afternoon and of I went.

Looks to be all original and unmolested. Currently runs at 33.19 rpm's but the spindle well has very little oil. Where the arm connects to the pivot seems a bit sloppy also.

Is that the original 45 adaptor?

Lots of work to do and I can't wait to get started.

Cheers!

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Tonight I finally had a chance to dork around with this thing for a bit. Being anxious to see how it would work/sound I just did a quick clean/oil on both wells (ended up with 2.5 min spin down), changed the unknown condition Shure M91e for a Pickering XV-15 D400, talced the belt, and plugged it in.

Plugged in without being turned on there is a tinyist bit of hum from the motor. Very hard to hear without being right on the table, but it is there. I tried flipping the plug in the wall outlet and it didn't change anything so, I guess I'll look into that when I start tearing into it for a real rebuild.

Put on Steely Dan Gaucho and listed to Babylon Sisters and Hey Nineteen and they sounded great. Didn't really get a chance to "listen" listen but I'm very happy with what I heard for those few minutes.

This weekend I'll oil the motor and let it run for a day or two, tweak a couple of things and just play it for for a bit to get used to the sound. Once I have an idea of how it sounds I'll get busy with some of the more common mods.

I have a feeling this is going to be quite a fun project.

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It's sitting where I had my LAB 420 which I gave to my son tonight.
 
Swanny88, Did you follow the attached wiring diagram including capacitors? C-2 is not shown on the wire routing diagram. It's wired across the power switch, at the power switch.
AR XA Wiring.jpg
 
sfrost said:
larger 80’s style AR table with a Merrill plater, Rega RB330 arm on a Merrill polymer arm board. Solid walnut plinth, custom dust cover, stainless plater spindle, new motor and switch.

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Wow! Whoever did that job is a real pro;)
 
ronaldw441 said:
Swanny88, Did you follow the attached wiring diagram including capacitors? C-2 is not shown on the wire routing diagram. It's wired across the power switch, at the power switch.
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Click to expand...

After testing the two motors directly with AC, they both worked great. Next step was to remove the on/off switch for a good cleaning. Replaced the starter capacitor and walla…both motors are spinning. I grabbed some oil that I use for my RTR and am letting them run right now.

Thank you for your tips and suggestions

Mitch
 
Hey everyone I have an AR XA with the twin motors. The two motors take a little nudge to get going which is fine.

The large pulley motor is making a ticking sound when running. When I remove the large pulley it is very quiet. I’ve used the double spoon technique to remove the pulley but no matter the position it makes this ticking sound. It isn’t hitting the platter because the sound is present with the outter platter removed.

I had done the oil trick a while ago but maybe the motor is dirty. Could the pulley be out of balance?
 
Swanny88 said:
Hey everyone I have an AR XA with the twin motors. The two motors take a little nudge to get going which is fine.

The large pulley motor is making a ticking sound when running. When I remove the large pulley it is very quiet. I’ve used the double spoon technique to remove the pulley but no matter the position it makes this ticking sound. It isn’t hitting the platter because the sound is present with the outter platter removed.

I had done the oil trick a while ago but maybe the motor is dirty. Could the pulley be out of balance?
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When you remove the pulley, is the drive shaft it sits on straight?
 
Swanny88 said:
Hey everyone I have an AR XA with the twin motors. The two motors take a little nudge to get going which is fine.

The large pulley motor is making a ticking sound when running. When I remove the large pulley it is very quiet. I’ve used the double spoon technique to remove the pulley but no matter the position it makes this ticking sound. It isn’t hitting the platter because the sound is present with the outter platter removed.

I had done the oil trick a while ago but maybe the motor is dirty. Could the pulley be out of balance?
Click to expand...
I had a two pulley motor with the large motor ticking. I took the motor apart and found one of the pieces that hold the motor together was bent out of place near the spindle and clicking when I spun it manually. I bent it back and tested it manually and the noise stopped. Sadly I didn't take photos of that part of the process.
 
I'm confused. Are you saying the main motor (large pulley) makes a ticking noise when running with a load (i.e. belt on the platter) and doesn't make a noise if the motor is just spinning by itself?
I guess I don't get what removing the pulley from the motor shaft would change.
 
Jalousie said:
I'm confused. Are you saying the main motor (large pulley) makes a ticking noise when running with a load (i.e. belt on the platter) and doesn't make a noise if the motor is just spinning by itself?
I guess I don't get what removing the pulley from the motor shaft would change.
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Even with the motor out it made noise spinning it with power or manually. I took the whole motor apart and found a metal tab was allowing the motor to spin and create noise. You could see where it was clicking on each revolution. Once that tab was bent back properly like the other tabs it was quiet again. Somehow I photographed every step until the motor rebuild when I must have got too invested in the process.
 
Jalousie said:
I'm confused. Are you saying the main motor (large pulley) makes a ticking noise when running with a load (i.e. belt on the platter) and doesn't make a noise if the motor is just spinning by itself?
I guess I don't get what removing the pulley from the motor shaft would change.
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With the pulley installed with belts on…it makes this noise. I then removed the belts and the noise remained once the motors were powered up. I then removed the large pulley and the noise stopped
 
Swanny88 said:
With the pulley installed with belts on…it makes this noise. I then removed the belts and the noise remained once the motors were powered up. I then removed the large pulley and the noise stopped
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Got it. Maybe the action/pressure from removing the pulley stressed something the right way to make it go silent.
You say belts (plural). Have you tried running it with just the main belt. The starter belt can be removed, especially if you are nudging it in the right direction anyway.
 
Swanny88 said:
With the pulley installed with belts on…it makes this noise. I then removed the belts and the noise remained once the motors were powered up. I then removed the large pulley and the noise stopped
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Does it make noise with the pulley and belts reinstalled? Or did it solve the issue? You can remove the small belt as stated above.
 
Thanks guys I will remove the small belt and try that. It makes the noise with both belts removed.

The noise stops only after removing the pulley. I tried adjusting the pulley height on the shaft in case it was rubbing on the metal top plate but there was no change. My hunch is that it is internal noise from the motor.
 
The motor pulley needs to be in the position so it can accommodate 33 and 45rpm for the belt on the inner platter. If the motor spindle is hitting the underneath, the suspension would need adjusting.

Have you tried oiling the drive motor? Sometimes making sure the inside of the motor has oil, can help. You really can't over oil the motor.
 
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