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SME 3009 Series 2 cueing dashpot cleaning?

Thank you all, specifically @tnsilver for this thread. Tom, I believe you have helped me in the past with my TD124. The only issue remaining with it was the 3009 II non-improved cueing, which would stick a bit, then drop quickly if I wasn't careful. As others have said, I was told this could not be repaired...until I started doing a bit more searching!

I see many using 300,000 wt silicone oil but I used 200,000 wt. It was readily available and I also read that SME had put it in the spec. The arm is now moving smoothly on the way down. I still need to be easy and can't just drop the cue lever and let the hydraulic do the rest, like the TP16 on my TD160. I feel the SME moves too quickly for that. I'm cool with it if that's the case. I guess I'm wondering if I bled the cylinder enough or if I should have in fact used 300,000 wt.

Either way, thank you all!

-Steve
 
The SME and other tonearm viscosities were listed on a site selling fluids so it must be true ;)

300K was going to be $$ with shipping and take a while to get to me in Canada. I was able to locate 200K at a hobby store and anxious to do the fix so went for it.

Here's my drop.

It looks like others I've seen and sounds good on contact. Perhaps my initial reaction was based on my TP16 which is, now that you mentioned it, "painfully slow".

At least if I want to swap the fluid out in future I know how easy it is!

-Steve
 
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I would say that is rather fast, my 3012 drops a bit slower than that and I'm thinking of repacking the dashpot with fresh silicon fluid.
 
Re factory sealed SME tonearm lifters. I got a 3009 series 2 unimproved recently at an auction (along with a Garrard 401 deck and SME plinth) and as usual the non serviceable tone arm lifter was dropping like a stone. I dismantled it, cleaned it and replaced the fluid with 300000cst silicone. Rather than wait for the air to work its way out naturally I utilised my car brake bleeder vacuum pump . It has a handy plastic cup for collecting the brakefluid which is made to measure for the lifter mechanism, once removed from the arm pillar. It pulled about 640mmHg of vacuum, roughly 80% vacuum and really accelerated the process. It took 2 or 3 goes to get it right, 1 vacuum run with the top plate off, 2nd with the top plate on. Seemed to do the job nicely in 2 or 3 hours and the lifter is now dropping smooth and slowly as it should. These vacuum units are readily available and inexpensive, about £25 here in Scotland. Hope this helps anyone else trying to get these lifters to work properly.

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That's a pretty neat idea utilizing the collection container, plug the second port give it some time.
 
I did the procedure for 'hacking' the 3009 Series II Unimproved dashpot. I loaded as much 300,000 cst silicone as I could but wasn't having any luck getting it bled and dropping slowly. I then loaded both the bottom part and the top part with the silicone. It was a bit messy when I put it back together as it was squeezing out the sides and though the third hole. I worked it up and down a couple times, inserted the third screw and it works great!

Many thanks to @tnsilver for this great tip.

Joe
 
Giving this thread another revival! This should really be stickied for SME owners...(thanks tnsilver for sharing your knowledge!)

Thinking of doing this with my Series II dashpot, as it does drop a bit too fast for my liking on it's own, and I've been given the "un-fixable" tale about it before...(thankfully proven by this thread to be BS.).

My main question is if 500K cst is OK to use? or if is it too thick/better to stick with 300K? Any extra advice on getting the dashpot cover off without damaging anything? (and is a precision screwdriver thin enough?).

Would definitely be nice to have a slow, smooth descent like other arms I've used...
 
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300K. I think it's the old SME's or early series 2 dashpots that are unfixable, not the common S2, Series II or 'improved' variants.
 
tnsilver said:
300K. I think it's the old SME's or early series 2 dashpots that are unfixable, not the common S2, Series II or 'improved' variants.
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Mine is an early Series II (serial # is < 8000). So it should have the factory sealed dashpot that isn't doing it's job correctly after 60 years.

Page 1 documents the process of fixing this on a 3012. Since there was no 3012 made in the Improved series, I'm thinking mine should have the same type of dashpot internals?

Looks like it does away with the original O-ring/seal on the piston, and is simply replacing the old vacuum sealed system with friction-based damping (silicone)?

Looks like a fairly easy fix, I'm just trying to inquire on any potential pitfalls to watch out for before any attempt to repair it.
 
Taketheflame said:
Mine is an early Series II (serial # is < 8000). So it should have the factory sealed dashpot that isn't doing it's job correctly after 60 years.
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The 3012 earlier in this thread is mine. It's an early series - but not early enough. The old SME's I was talking about have a unique round (circle) tonearm bearing top cover, instead of the iconic 'magician hat' pointy top.
 
tnsilver said:
The 3012 earlier in this thread is mine. It's an early series - but not early enough. The old SME's I was talking about have a unique round (circle) tonearm bearing top cover, instead of the iconic 'magician hat' pointy top.
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This is what I'm working with - diamond shaped dashpot w/the magician hat yoke, but pre-improved.

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Some additional reading suggests that the cover is actually glued on, and not the easiest thing to get off.

Would applying heat to it (I have a mini heat-gun if that would be appropriate?) have any chance of making it cooperate a little more easily? If so, is it a better idea to remove the dashpot/cueing assembly from the arm pillar than to do so with it installed?

Also a little curious what angle seems to work best if using a small crewdriver (or utility blade, or something else) to get the cover to budge? I also read that SME made a tool for getting them off more easily, but that it's a case of "good luck finding one".
 
It looks ordinary to me. Can you peel off the metal case (just unsleeve it bottom to top) and post a pic of the top of that dashpot?
 
/\ - It's the unsleeving part I was wondering about in my previous post. I'm under the impression that it's glued on and isn't easy to remove (i.e - requires screwdrivers/utility blades and/or heat to remove?). A gentle nudging back and forth to try and slide it upwards certainly didn't make it budge.
 
Taketheflame said:
A gentle nudging back and forth to try and slide it upwards certainly didn't make it budge.
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It should! Try harder. Hold it between your thumb and index finger and rock it side to side while pulling up. Unless a previous owner glued it - it should budge out. If it still won't come out - apply heating with a hair dryer (not a heat gun) taking care not to melt the plastic pin at the middle (cover that with tin foil), let it cool off, and repeat the process.
 
/\ - Admittedly, I was exercising extreme caution with my first attempt. I did pull up with the index/thumb and a side-to-side rocking motion.

I gave it another try w/a bit more effort - it's definitely not budging, so heat/tools might be required...

With this arm being on a suspended table, I'm wondering if it might be safer to uninstall the arm and remove the dashpot assembly from the arm pillar for a more aggressive effort? With my example being rewired and not much to the bottom assembly, it would be a bit less effort than with a stock arm.
 
No need to uninstall the tonearm. Simply remove the CW, the anti-skate pole and the yoke, so when you unscrew the dashpot assembly off the tonearm pillar, it can slide over the tonearm and out.
 
I'm doing mine today, same arm as yours @Taketheflame mine pulled straight up and off, took a little bit of effort but it did eventially slide up and off.
 
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