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Rotel rp 855 belt replacment

V

vinylforever

New Member
Hello,
I use a Rotel RP855 for twenty years and still it sounds perfectly okay. I have upgraded other components of my hi-fi gear many times, but I don’t want to touch Rotel (emotional reasons?). Any way, after such a long play period, I am thinking to replace the belt and to lubricate the bearing.
I can't figure out how to pull the platter off of the spindle. I lift off the rubber mat but the platter seems to be firmly attached to the turntable. I tried everything, even a quick firm motion. Does anyone know how to remove the platter without destroying the bearing? The RP 855 is almost identical to RP 955 and possibly to RP 830,850,900.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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you simply grab the platter and pull up while someone else is tapping the spindle gently downward. i just recently disassembled mine to replace the flimsy tonearm actuated on/off switch with a plinth mounted rocker and put in new petra cables. those tables are so mindbogglingly simple, its hard to imagine they were able to charge so much for them.
 
Hi,

The platter on my rp-855 will occasionally not lift off of unless I rotate it slightly until it reaches a certain position where it will detatch, though by the sound of it you have already tried this so it's probably stuck. I've never had this problem so not sure what to do but what shrinkboy suggests makes sense, though it maybe a good idea to give it a tiny squirt of WD40 and leave it sit for a few hours beforehand. Relubing the bearing is definitely worth doing as it has almost certainly developed a little rumble over the years.

I bought my rp-855 in 1992, it's a nice sounding well made table. The arm lets it down a little, it sounds okay but mine developed play in the bearings. Not sure if it affected sound quality but I decided to swap it (not easy!) with a RB300 pilfered from my Rega P3. Well worth the effort as it now sounds better than the original table and the P3 which has been residing in my attic (minus its arm) for the past few years.

Good luck in sorting the table and let us know how you get on.
Tony

shrinkboy are you sure you've got a rp-855 as they have push button on/off ?
 
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Hi, thanks for the advices.
Mine RP 855 has only two buttons on for 33 and another for 45 rpm. Each acts as on-off button. I put a tiny squirt of WD40 on the spindle and I will wait a bit before trying anything. Willboy, I am very curious for replacement of the stock arm, surely arm lets down the sum. Though, mine works well with an Ortofon Salsa MC cartridge. I have a Rega RB-250 moded arm but I am not sure if it is worth to fit it on the Rotel or buy a second hand Technics 1210 mk2 for it.

John.

My system:

ROTEL RP 855 turntable
REGA APOLLO cd player
PROJECT PHONOBOX SE phone preamp
MUSICAL FIDELITY XT 100 as preamp
MUSICAL FIDELITY SUPERCHARGER 550 monoblocks
OPERA QUINTA speakers
 
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John,

I'm not familiar with the Technics 1210 so can't comment on which is the best/easiest way to go with your modded rb250. All I can say is that to my ears replacing the rp-855's stock arm with a rb300 brought a noticeable improvement in sound quality.

As I hinted at in my previous post - swapping the arms on the rp-855 does require some serious surgery. To give you an idea of what's involved - the main task is drilling a new mounting hole for the rb300/250 (the stock arm is approx Linn spec) through plinth and metal subchassis, this was easy for me as I had access to a properly equipped machine shop. Also, removing the stock arm reveals a relitavely large diamond shaped cavity in the plinth which remains visible after the rb300 is mounted. Hiding this was a bit of a headache, but I decided to cover it with a damped piece of (very thin) stainless steel plate which had to be drilled with a few small holes to allow it to be screwed to the plinth, this looks ok but certainly not great. The couple of remaining mods are simple enough to do.

The rp-855 is a fine sounding unit as it stands. The improvement gained in SQ by swapping arms was worth the hassle involved for me, whether it is for you is another question - as hifi-nut says, the choice is yours......

Any luck removing that platter?
 
Tony,
I was out on weekend, so no progress on removing platter. As far I can understand from your instructions, when platter will be removed, is detached from the spindle. The spindle alone with sub platter remains on the deck. Therefore, the sub platter must be removed to reach main bearing for lubrication. Have you ever done this before?
The process to fit Rega arm on the RP looks difficult. Unfortunately, drilling plinth requires precision (correct centre position, distance etc.) and it is not for me. Pity, that the Rotel arm has not a Rega like mount. Well done with your Rotel, I am sure that is a superior deck to Rega. Whatever happens, it will keep its position to my system for ever.
John.
 
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John,

There is no sub platter, so once you remove the platter you will see that the spindle is held in position on a black metal plate (subchassis) by a nut. Undoing the nut will release the spindle along with the bearing allowing it to fall through a hole in the baseboard. The spindle is held in the brass bearing housing by means of a small retaining screw located on the side of the housing, loosening the screw a few turns will release the spindle from the housing. Once you have cleaned and relubed (a few drops of sewing machine oil works fine for me) the bearing make sure that the spindle is rotating freely in the housing after you have retightened the screw.

On completion of the above, it maybe be a good idea to check that the table is running at the correct speed. If you haven't done this before speed adjustment does require a 'very' small screwdriver.

I hope all the above is clear, if you have any problems please let me know.

Tony
 
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Tony,
Following your detailed instructions, bearing was cleaned with isopropyl alcohol and lubricated with light synthetic motor oil. A new belt was fitted and now, it sings again like a canary. Speed was spot on (strange though, friction should be higher before).
Without your guidance, the effort will be impossible.
Many thanks.
 
That's good to hear John, my main concern was removing that platter without causing any damage, glad it came off ok!

I'm not surprised the speed was still on pitch, the DC motor does not look like much but it's a little cracker, very quiet, stable and long lived - what more can one ask. As you say, it's a pity that the stock arm is so difficult to replace with a Rega, even a Linn spec arm would be difficult to install, perhaps even more so than the Rega.

I think because Rotel is/was not a specialist turntable manufacturer that their tables are often ignored which is a pity as they produced some decent belt drive models in the 80's and 90's. A friend of mine picked up a very nice RP-850 for peanuts which sounds great and would give a Rega P3 a run for its money. I have also heard positive comments on the RP-830 and RP-955, the latter being almost identical to the RP-855.

Anyway, glad to be of assistance, and hope your RP-855 sings sweetly for many years to come.

Tony
 
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