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Philips 312 Broken Tonearm

R

redbuffet

New Member
Hey everyone,

First post on AK, so feel free to correct/criticize anything in the posting and thanks in advance for any advice!

Here's my story- stumbled on a thread here when looking at a new turntable and ultimately decided to go for a Philips 312. Found one on shopgoodwill.com and probably overpaid a bit but was fine with it. It arrived today and it looks like the platter came off the spindle and was bouncing against the tonearm because it was bent outward pretty badly. I figured there probably wasn't a good way to fix it (probably foolishly) and decided to try bending it back and not surprisingly, it snapped.

Part of the decision to go for the 312 was that it sounds like they're not overwhelmingly difficult to work on and it could be a good project table, so now that I'm done cursing myself for breaking it I'm trying to remain optimistic that it's still salvageable. If anyone has experience repairing or replacing the tonearm, I'd love to hear how it went!

Here are the initial questions I have-

- Can just the shaft be fixed or replaced? Or should I look for a whole new assembly?

- I've read that the tonearms are probably the weakest part of these turntables. Are the only good replacements to get one from another 312 or maybe a 212? Can different types be installed that would potentially be an upgrade?

- Was there any reason why these were made with perforations along the shaft? It looks like that's exactly where it bent and then broke. Not that a tonearm should be designed to have a couple pounds bouncing against it for a few days, but I wonder why it's not just a solid straight tube.

- How foolish was it of me to try to bend it back? Was there something else that could have been done or would it have been still usable even though it was bent? There's currently a listing for another 312 that has an arm bent as badly as mine was, so if by the very off chance someone is looking at that one and this thread can help, I hope it does.

Thanks again!
 
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Answers to your questions in order:
1. Look for a replacement tonearm. GA 212 and 312 are the same.
2. Stay with GA-212/312 arms.
3. The "perforations" on the shaft are markers for the sliding stylus force adjustment weight. Download the owners and service manuals for this table from Vinyl Engine.
4. Foolish.
 
sxwzfo8il5mpdena1u6p.jpeg 16515861178303959112089964604609.jpgHere are some photos. The one above is of a different one that has a similar bend as mine did when it arrived and the lower one is after the fact. Found a replacement 212 tonearm that's on the way and will be downloading the manuals here shortly!
 
I was glad to see one was available. I think I might actually prefer the look of the 212 and read that the bearings might be better? Still would rather not have broken the original!
 
That's a good find! Take your time and you should be able to replace the arm. They are fine turntables and look amazing. Use a high compliance phono cartridge like an ADC or Shure, use the correct overhang for the stylus adjustment and they really can sing. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the encouragement and the cartridge recommendations! I had seen Shure mentioned a lot but not ADC- I'll be sure to check those out. Looking forward to getting it up and running. Everything else seems to be working- power switch isn't stuck, the light switches all work and the belt didn't melt all over the inside. I've definitely learned that if I'm having a turntable shipped, be sure to ask the shipper to package the platter separately!
 
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