Technics Dustcover Fix

[Bill Haywood]

Since coming up with this fix, I've received a lot of requests from AKers asking me to make a set of tabs for them. I guess I'm not much of businessman but I turned those requests down, mostly because the tabs required a fair amount of fiddly work. I couldn't see charging more than a few bucks for the tabs but I didn't think a few bucks was fair compensation fro the time it took to make the tabs.

So, I came up with a much simpler design that takes far less work and far less skill. Here's the thread describing therevised design.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/technics-dustcover-fix-redux.656267/

I guess pretty much anyone who has ever owned a Technics turntable with those plastic "tongues" on the dustcover that insert into the hinges has had to confront the issue of the ends of the tongues snapping off. I just picked up an SL-D3 with a badly scratched dustcover on which both tongues were gone and I came up with a fix that I thought I'd share.

The first thing I did was to cut off all of what remained of the tongues. This required that I make a horizontal cut which removed all of the tongue but left the little "buttresses" that are supposed to strengthen the tongues. Then I drilled four holes to mount the parts I was about to make to replace the tongues. (I did these things first because if I managed to screw up the dustcover there would be no point in continuing. ) Then I polished the dustcover.

Then I got a piece of 1" x 1/8" aluminum angle and made up the replacement tongues. I made 2 pieces. The measurement of the tongue is 13/16" wide and 7/8" long as measured on the outside of the angle. The width of the part that bolts to the dustcover is 2 1/4" but that's not so critical.

Then I attached them to the dustcover.....

.... and installed the dustcover on the turntable.

Overall, I'm quite pleased. The 1/8" tongues fit the hinges very well but they're slightly thicker than the originals. That means that the hinges have to be raised up out of the sockets they fit into very slightly in order for the cover to fully close. A small matter and a fair trade-off for repairing an otherwise unusable dustcover.

John

Thanks. If mine breaks I will keep this in mind.

 

[dzkfraser]

I have a D2, the hinge and tab were both broken on one side, the other side was OK until I raised and lowered it a few times and the other tab summarily broke off. I have a beater JVC with intact hinges that screwed onto the dust cover. I scavenged these for use on the Technics, I ground the tabs off and lined up the JVC hinges where the slots on the plinth are and drilled some holes in the dust cover. I had to cut some small would blocks to use as shims behind the hinges in the base because they were not a perfect fit in the slots. After all said and done, worked out well.

 

[Bill Haywood]

I have a D2, the hinge and tab were both broken on one side, the other side was OK until I raised and lowered it a few times and the other tab summarily broke off. I have a beater JVC with intact hinges that screwed onto the dust cover. I scavenged these for use on the Technics, I ground the tabs off and lined up the JVC hinges where the slots on the plinth are and drilled some holes in the dust cover. I had to cut some small would blocks to use as shims behind the hinges in the base because they were not a perfect fit in the slots. After all said and done, worked out well.

Good job

 

[PaperBoy007]

Only if you have some of the old formula in the metal container! Brasso changed their product from a liquid in a metal can to a cream in a plastic bottle. The can used to recommend using Brasso on plastic watch crystals. That recommendation is gone from the new formula, apparently for good reason. While I've used the old stuff for years on all sorts of plastic, reports here are that the new stuff won't work.

I just ran out of the old stuff and have been looking into a substitute. I've used Novus plastic polish and the results are comparable to Brasso's but it's much more labor intensive. My next try will be Meguiar's PlastX. There have been good reports on that here.

I see the auction site has Brasso from Thailand, It looks like it might be the old formula, not the paste because it looks to be in a metal, not plastic container. I guess I'm going to have to buy up any old cans of Brasso I see at yard sales, etc.

As an aside, I just use some toothpaste on the tip of my finger to get scratches and paint off the acrylic crystal of my '69 Bulova Accutron Astronaut. Then finish up with a cloth, it works great. Why paint? I seem to have a habit of swinging my arm into the occasional wall and picking up paint on the crystal.

 

[taineasy]

Since coming up with this fix, I've received a lot of requests from AKers asking me to make a set of tabs for them. I guess I'm not much of businessman but I turned those requests down, mostly because the tabs required a fair amount of fiddly work. I couldn't see charging more than a few bucks for the tabs but I didn't think a few bucks was fair compensation fro the time it took to make the tabs.

So, I came up with a much simpler design that takes far less work and far less skill. Here's the thread describing therevised design.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/technics-dustcover-fix-redux.656267/

I guess pretty much anyone who has ever owned a Technics turntable with those plastic "tongues" on the dustcover that insert into the hinges has had to confront the issue of the ends of the tongues snapping off. I just picked up an SL-D3 with a badly scratched dustcover on which both tongues were gone and I came up with a fix that I thought I'd share.

The first thing I did was to cut off all of what remained of the tongues. This required that I make a horizontal cut which removed all of the tongue but left the little "buttresses" that are supposed to strengthen the tongues. Then I drilled four holes to mount the parts I was about to make to replace the tongues. (I did these things first because if I managed to screw up the dustcover there would be no point in continuing. ) Then I polished the dustcover.

Then I got a piece of 1" x 1/8" aluminum angle and made up the replacement tongues. I made 2 pieces. The measurement of the tongue is 13/16" wide and 7/8" long as measured on the outside of the angle. The width of the part that bolts to the dustcover is 2 1/4" but that's not so critical.

Then I attached them to the dustcover.....

.... and installed the dustcover on the turntable.

Overall, I'm quite pleased. The 1/8" tongues fit the hinges very well but they're slightly thicker than the originals. That means that the hinges have to be raised up out of the sockets they fit into very slightly in order for the cover to fully close. A small matter and a fair trade-off for repairing an otherwise unusable dustcover.

John

 

[taineasy]

The biggest problem I have run across is not the dust cover tabs but rather the weak hinges themselves. Never heard of a fix that will allow the cover to actually stay in place once you open it. 90% of the Technics covers I run across just will NOT stay open which renders them useless. Anyone heard of a hinge work around?

 

[classic carl]

The biggest problem I have run across is not the dust cover tabs but rather the weak hinges themselves. Never heard of a fix that will allow the cover to actually stay in place once you open it. 90% of the Technics covers I run across just will NOT stay open which renders them useless. Anyone heard of a hinge work around?

I had a broken tab on my SL-D2, which I repaired. Later, I also broke a hinge. I bought a used hinge on eBay for about $20 shipped. Problem solved

.