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Servicing a Thorens TD160 super

Sandstrom said:
Beautiful work Jim. I have a td145 that I plan to put back into rotation and will definitely be following your regimen as a guide. I'd like to add the dampening like your deck has while I'm at it.

Does anyone know what it would take to remove the autolift board from this unit? I am planning on installing a deckplate from a TD160B MKII (no cueing switch hole) and a Linn Basik Plus as part of my refurbishment. I am not sure if I have to connect the leads that go from the speed switch in some way in order to bypass the autolift/auto shutoff board. Must any of the components be retained from this board for proper function?

Here is link showing the inside configuration of the TD145:
http://www.theanalogdept.com/td145.htm

Thanks for any advice,
Brian
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My advice would be to sell it and buy a TD-160 instead of doing this. The 145s are semi-rare units, and permanently destroying the auto-lif feature on one of these to install a better arm is a real waste of a nice classic table.

Doing what you propose with the 160 makes a lot more sense to me because you will be replacing a manual arm with a manual arm.
 
goldear said:
My advice would be to sell it and buy a TD-160 instead of doing this. The 145s are semi-rare units, and permanently destroying the auto-lif feature on one of these to install a better arm is a real waste of a nice classic table.

Doing what you propose with the 160 makes a lot more sense to me because you will be replacing a manual arm with a manual arm.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with this.
Regards,
Jim
 
ehoove said:
If that's the case, It might be worth the effort to mount my BlackBird in the TP16 MKIII arm to get a feel for what a Sumiko would do.
Regards,
Jim
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I would certainly give it a try, the BlackBird is the direction I would like to go with my 145.
 
I picked up a used AudioTechnica AT13Ea to give a listen, and found a NOS Sonus Gold Blue which has always been a favorite of mine. If the AT13Ea is favorable I might spring for the ATN14 Shibata stylus for it, but have high hopes for the Sonus Blue Gold in this arm!
Regards,
Jim
 
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Jim,

I also did the same servicing as you on my TD 160B using Joel's kit. Your write up is excellent and it applies to TD 150 and 16x and maybe others too.

I bought my deck used and it did not have any oil in the bearing. That scared me. I found Joel's kit (belt, polish, dowel stick, motor oil, and bearing oil) through vinylengine and I contacted Joel directly by email. He was selling through ebay and uses PayPal.

Some questions on the dampening that Thorens did to the Super. -- Do you know what the dampening material is on the Super and where I could get it? I checked Parts Express and so not see it. I noticed that they used it on both the subchassis and the top plate. It looks like lighter in mass than dynamat. If it has the same dampening properties with less wieght then it might be better than dynamat given it can be used on both chassis. It also looks cleaner and maybe easier to remove.
 
I seriously doubt a damping material from the late 70s can come close to the multi-year R&D developed Dynamat particularly if it is a whole lot thinner, and it is.

If the Dynamat will fit that would be an easy way to go, cut, peel and stick, done.

Otherwise, searching for a thinner material if the need is there.
 
bobins08 said:
Jim,

I also did the same servicing as you on my TD 160B using Joel's kit. Your write up is excellent and it applies to TD 150 and 16x and maybe others too.

I bought my deck used and it did not have any oil in the bearing. That scared me. I found Joel's kit (belt, polish, dowel stick, motor oil, and bearing oil) through vinylengine and I contacted Joel directly by email. He was selling through ebay and uses PayPal.

Some questions on the dampening that Thorens did to the Super. -- Do you know what the dampening material is on the Super and where I could get it? I checked Parts Express and so not see it. I noticed that they used it on both the subchassis and the top plate. It looks like lighter in mass than dynamat. If it has the same dampening properties with less wieght then it might be better than dynamat given it can be used on both chassis. It also looks cleaner and maybe easier to remove.
Click to expand...
The felt does not come off the easy. I use cork. Its easy to work with and it is very light. IMO it works great.
 
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I have to agree with Blue Shadow, the commonly accepted practice now is Dynamat under the top plate and cork on the subchassis.
 
For those who have added cork, did it make a difference? My plinth interior and motor plate are already done in Dynamat extreme, with a Blue Tak type product along edges. Loving this table!
 
I have dynamat on the underside of the top plate and on the subchasis, non on the plinth, but mine is not stock but bigger. I have cork on the inside top of the heavier bottom plate though. Seems to be the best combination to my ears. I actually removed dynamat from the plinth as it killed the liveliness of the table!
Regards,
Jim
 
ehoove said:
I picked up a used AudioTechnica AT13Ea to give a listen, and found a NOS Sonus Gold Blue which has always been a favorite of mine. If the AT13Ea is favorable I might spring for the ATN14 Shibata stylus for it, but have high hopes for the Sonus Gold Blue in this arm!
Regards,
Jim
Click to expand...

I thought I'd resurrect this thread because I am now the proud owner of this table. I installed a Sonus Gold Blue on it and it sounds incredible. :banana:
 

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Hey all, my cart is with the Sound Smith guys right now, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to rebuild my TD-160 Super. I found Joel's kit on ebay, but with shipping, it seems like it could take months to get here. Anyway, is there any other oil you would recommend? I see that the needle doctor has some bearing oil, and some polishing compounds. I saw someone mentioned 3 in 1, but that's not synthetic. I also read somewhere that someone used sewing machine oil, that made more sense to me. I did Joel's bearing test by spinning the subplatter, and it makes the faintest of noises, but it does spin close to two minutes. Any advice would be appreciated. I assume Joel is not engineering his own oil, so any advice on where to track something similar down?

I tried emailing Joel, but it said it was undeliverable.

Is the Thorens belt really the wrong size?

Thanks, guys!
 
As classy as it gets, can't go wrong with these tables.

Really nice base under there.
 
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