Hi all,
I have a very nice Realistic Lab-400 that won't hold its speed. The owner told me when he gave it to me that it had the problem. I took it apart and used Deoxit D5 and fader lube on all the pots, and I replaced all the electrolytic capacitors. I also added a little oil to the spindle. It's a little better, but still has the same problem.
When you start a record and set the speed it very gradually slows down. On a short record if I don’t correct it and don’t look at the strobe I can just barely hear the problem by the end of the side. It’s a little more noticeable by the end of a long side. If I correct the speed, when I start the record over it goes too fast at first then starts slowing down again. I tried spraying with Deoxit again, but with no improvement.
Does anybody have any ideas of other things to try?
I assume the issue is with the motor. There’s a Lab 420 being parted out now in Bartertown, but it appears that the Lab-420 motor was slightly improved over the one in the Lab-400, so it probably wouldn’t work in the 400. The only information I could find said that the 400 had a 16 pole brushless DC servomotor, and the 420 had a 20 pole brushless motor. I looked online for a service manual for the 420 to check out the differences but I couldn’t find one.
I'd love any help you could provide. It's a really nice turntable with good sound, especially if I correct the speed a time or two during a record. Maybe I should just look at it as listener participation in the music.
Allan
I have a very nice Realistic Lab-400 that won't hold its speed. The owner told me when he gave it to me that it had the problem. I took it apart and used Deoxit D5 and fader lube on all the pots, and I replaced all the electrolytic capacitors. I also added a little oil to the spindle. It's a little better, but still has the same problem.
When you start a record and set the speed it very gradually slows down. On a short record if I don’t correct it and don’t look at the strobe I can just barely hear the problem by the end of the side. It’s a little more noticeable by the end of a long side. If I correct the speed, when I start the record over it goes too fast at first then starts slowing down again. I tried spraying with Deoxit again, but with no improvement.
Does anybody have any ideas of other things to try?
I assume the issue is with the motor. There’s a Lab 420 being parted out now in Bartertown, but it appears that the Lab-420 motor was slightly improved over the one in the Lab-400, so it probably wouldn’t work in the 400. The only information I could find said that the 400 had a 16 pole brushless DC servomotor, and the 420 had a 20 pole brushless motor. I looked online for a service manual for the 420 to check out the differences but I couldn’t find one.
I'd love any help you could provide. It's a really nice turntable with good sound, especially if I correct the speed a time or two during a record. Maybe I should just look at it as listener participation in the music.
Allan
