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Stuck Garrard LAB 80 spindle gear and bearing

scootchu

scootchu

Dear Sir or Madman
Hey I have searched through the forums and interwebs to see how to remove the spindle gear to gain access to the thrust bearing. The grease must have hardened and makes the spindle pretty stiff to turn by hand without the platter attached. So I guess I got the patter off the correct way, but now I'd like get the spindle gear assembly apart and don't want to damage it. I thought heat, but there is some plastic on it so I didn't want to risk damaging that. How many clips should be on top? I have removed a big C clip. Is there another smaller clip I am missing?
 
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yeah, remove the small inner wire clip. Its a pain in the neck and will probably require a fine blade screwdriver and possibly a pick. A few choice swear words seem to help, or will be inevitable if you stab yourself trying to do this like I have.

Once the clip is off, the "cone" with the drive gear lifts up and you'll find the bearing underneath. Flat washer, holy washer with the loose balls, and another flat under that. Below the lower flat washer is an O ring that is usually petrified. Feel free to replace it if you're inclined, otherwise don't poke it because its pretty much guaranteed to shatter.

Make sure all the balls are there, sometimes one or more escape and thats why it won't spin properly.
 
Looks like its gone already. The cone is stuck firmly.
 

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I did mention its a pain in the neck to remove. If you stab a pick into the gap it will spread open a bit, then you can get a fine blade screwdriver under it. Walk it around and off the spindle from that point.
 
My problem now is the groove is flush with the cone top, so no matter what the sides of the clip bump up against its wall, making it really difficult to get out.
 
Huh. Have you checked the ball bearing underneath? Maybe a ball has become dislodged and is forcing the whole platter mount up against the clip.
 
You may have the same problem I have with mine. That inner piece on my Mark II is not solidly fixed into whatever it mounts to underneath, and it sometimes slides down enough to cause problems. If yours had the same issue it may be down far enough that it won't clear the ring. When that happened to mine, I put the platter on with the clip and gave it a tug upward. The cone pulled against that inner ring and slid the inside part up a little bit.
 
One possibility for the groove and clip riding low is that the washers in the bearing set were reversed. They have the same OD but their IDs are different, with the top one slightly larger, allowing it to sit in the part that it mates to. When it doesn’t sit in there, the whole stack is raised by the thickness of that top washer.

Of course this won’t make it any easier to remove that clip. I did exactly what Gadget described, down to the cursing. It takes two tools opposing one another; if you can widen that gap then it’ll come out of its groove.

Good luck…. and be forewarned. The next thing that happens after the clip comes out is the ball bearings take flight.
 
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