CosmoK
Active Member
My Technics SL-1300 stopped switching off recently. Basically, the tone arm would return to the rest, but the strobe light would stay on and platter would continue spinning. I had to unplug the unit to turn it off.
After some research, I suspected the grease on the mechanical parts had hardened preventing them from sliding to trigger the internal power switch. So, I cleaned the old grease off and added new lubricant, but the problem was still intermittent. In the end, I discovered that the switch itself was the problem. Basically, sometimes the lever would flip the switch, but the switch wouldn't actually cut power. The final solution was to remove the internal power switch, give it a de-oxit bath and flip it a couple hundred times. This solved the problem (for now).
Here are my notes on this fix:
Tools: Phillips-head screw driver(s), pliers, alcohol (or other cleaning product to remove grease), de-oxit, super-lube grease (from hardware or auto store), paper towels, machine oil.
Total time: an hour or so
(1) disconnect power
(2) clamp the tone-arm, remove the platter, and install the "clamping" screws under the platter (there is a sticker saying to do this during transport)
(3) Pull off the on/off, size selector, and repeat knobs. The knob will eventually pull straight off with a little force. I carefully used a pliers with a cloth. Stressing 45 year old plastic rarely ends well, but in this case it worked out okay.
(4) Lay the turntable face down on the dust cover... not sure what to do if your dust-cover is missing. Remove the bottom plastic cover.
(5) Now you can see the on/off switch, but most of the mechanical parts are covered by a metal shield. Remove the shield and the metal housing over the cartridge wires
(6) CAREFULLY turn the shield up-side-down WITHOUT PULLING ON THE CARTIDGE WIRES. The wires are about the thickness of a human hair and are damaged easily (I broke one and had to resolder it). The mechanical bits are mounted to the underside of the shield, but the wires aren't long enough to set it next to the turntable, so you have to carefully prop it up on a stack of books (or something).
(7) Clean all the old grease off with alcohol. Then apply new grease and oil. Things that slide or rub get grease, things that turn get oil (at least that's what I did).
(8) Remove the on/off switch from the black housing. I.e., undo a screw and undo the plastic clip. With the on/off switch out, I squirted de-oxit into the switch as best a could and worked int back and forth 100 times.
(9) OPTIONAL: Re-assemble the switch and metal shield the the mechanical parts. Turn turntable right-side-up without the plastic bottom and balance it on books (so the unit is like a bridge). Put the platter on, plug in the turntable in and test all the various methods of turning in on and off to make sure everything is working (if you left the stylus in, make sure the tone-arm-lever is up!). Watch under the unit to ensure (i) the mechanical lever is hitting the on/off switch and (ii) the on/off switch is working when it is triggered (this was my problem, before the de-oxit). The problem may be intermittent, so it's good to check functionality several times before putting it back together. When everything looks okay UNPLUG THE TURNTABLE, REMOVE THE PLATTER, AND LOCK THE TONE ARM before turning over to screw on the bottom plate.
(10) Reassemble.
This was a very useful thread (with pictures!): https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=111514
After some research, I suspected the grease on the mechanical parts had hardened preventing them from sliding to trigger the internal power switch. So, I cleaned the old grease off and added new lubricant, but the problem was still intermittent. In the end, I discovered that the switch itself was the problem. Basically, sometimes the lever would flip the switch, but the switch wouldn't actually cut power. The final solution was to remove the internal power switch, give it a de-oxit bath and flip it a couple hundred times. This solved the problem (for now).
Here are my notes on this fix:
Tools: Phillips-head screw driver(s), pliers, alcohol (or other cleaning product to remove grease), de-oxit, super-lube grease (from hardware or auto store), paper towels, machine oil.
Total time: an hour or so
(1) disconnect power
(2) clamp the tone-arm, remove the platter, and install the "clamping" screws under the platter (there is a sticker saying to do this during transport)
(3) Pull off the on/off, size selector, and repeat knobs. The knob will eventually pull straight off with a little force. I carefully used a pliers with a cloth. Stressing 45 year old plastic rarely ends well, but in this case it worked out okay.
(4) Lay the turntable face down on the dust cover... not sure what to do if your dust-cover is missing. Remove the bottom plastic cover.
(5) Now you can see the on/off switch, but most of the mechanical parts are covered by a metal shield. Remove the shield and the metal housing over the cartridge wires
(6) CAREFULLY turn the shield up-side-down WITHOUT PULLING ON THE CARTIDGE WIRES. The wires are about the thickness of a human hair and are damaged easily (I broke one and had to resolder it). The mechanical bits are mounted to the underside of the shield, but the wires aren't long enough to set it next to the turntable, so you have to carefully prop it up on a stack of books (or something).
(7) Clean all the old grease off with alcohol. Then apply new grease and oil. Things that slide or rub get grease, things that turn get oil (at least that's what I did).
(8) Remove the on/off switch from the black housing. I.e., undo a screw and undo the plastic clip. With the on/off switch out, I squirted de-oxit into the switch as best a could and worked int back and forth 100 times.
(9) OPTIONAL: Re-assemble the switch and metal shield the the mechanical parts. Turn turntable right-side-up without the plastic bottom and balance it on books (so the unit is like a bridge). Put the platter on, plug in the turntable in and test all the various methods of turning in on and off to make sure everything is working (if you left the stylus in, make sure the tone-arm-lever is up!). Watch under the unit to ensure (i) the mechanical lever is hitting the on/off switch and (ii) the on/off switch is working when it is triggered (this was my problem, before the de-oxit). The problem may be intermittent, so it's good to check functionality several times before putting it back together. When everything looks okay UNPLUG THE TURNTABLE, REMOVE THE PLATTER, AND LOCK THE TONE ARM before turning over to screw on the bottom plate.
(10) Reassemble.
This was a very useful thread (with pictures!): https://www.vinylengine.com/turntable_forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=111514
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