Stylus across record on vintage Garrard turntable

[Mark Oswald]

Hey all. I have an old Garrard turntable - I believe it's an AT6 or AT5 - that is part of a really cool GE coffee table console, where the turntable spins out from the side of the furniture. I have had the unit for years, but there was always a problem - there was no sound coming out of the left channel except sort of a ghost echo of the right channel, with more bass.
I recently decided make fixing the unit a project. I have replaced a couple of wires in the detachable headshell that were old and broke off easily and tried to make sure the wiring connections to the cartridge were proper. I thought I had the red, white,- inc black and green wires connected properly and put the headshell back on the turntable arm.
But now the stylus - including a brand new one - just slides across the record and makes a horrible noise even when it seems to engage for a moment. I tried adjusting the stylus pressure with that nut on the underside of the tone arm, to no avail.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this problem? I made no adjustments other than to the wiring for the cartridge.
Thanks
Markjr47
Santa Fe, NM

 

[johnjhazel]

Hey all. I have an old Garrard turntable - I believe it's an AT6 or AT5 - that is part of a really cool GE coffee table console, where the turntable spins out from the side of the furniture. I have had the unit for years, but there was always a problem - there was no sound coming out of the left channel except sort of a ghost echo of the right channel, with more bass.
I recently decided make fixing the unit a project. I have replaced a couple of wires in the detachable headshell that were old and broke off easily and tried to make sure the wiring connections to the cartridge were proper. I thought I had the red, white,- inc black and green wires connected properly and put the headshell back on the turntable arm.
But now the stylus - including a brand new one - just slides across the record and makes a horrible noise even when it seems to engage for a moment. I tried adjusting the stylus pressure with that nut on the underside of the tone arm, to no avail.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this problem? I made no adjustments other than to the wiring for the cartridge.
Thanks
Markjr47
Santa Fe, NM

Do you have a gauge to measure tracking force ?
Is anything touching the record besides the stylus tip ?

 

[Mark Oswald]

I don't have a gauge to measure tracking force. I was thinking I needed to get one. I'm going to order one today.
But no, the stylus is the only thing touching the needle.
Is there a chance something happened to the tone arm spring when I had the head shell off and the tone arm wasn't weighted down?
Thanks for thinking about this.

 

[gadget73]

normally the spring pulls weight off the stylus on these. If that came unhooked it should be much too heavy.

sounds like the stylus either has very little weight on it or something is causing the arm to not drop all the way. There is an arm lift system in the changer that picks it up for return. If that has gotten sticky and isn't dropping all the way it does about the same thing as no weight. How far down will the stylus go below the surface of the record? Normally it will get to at least the platter mat. if something is keeping it from dropping that far down I'd vote for stuck mechanism issues.

 

[Greenie]

Adjustment on these Garrards with the tension spring in the arm can be awkward, a tiny difference will cause problems in my experience.

They are also prone to problems if the cartridge wires are disturbed, often fouling as they exit the arm or snagging the spring.

 

[johnjhazel]

You will know what is going on once you get your VTF gauge.

 

[Mark Oswald]

I'll get the gauge and alsp check the spring. Maybe that is an issue because the headshell was off for so long and the tone arm wasn't weighed down. Is there some way to determine if the spring is on correctly?
But how could cartridge wires affect this? I did put two new wires in the cartridge, as a couple were old and broke away from the soldering.
Thanks for all the comments.