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Technics SL-1900 not lifting.

As far as the lift shaft, there really is no good substitute for the silicone oil. If the tonearm was rising and descending slowly beforehand, there's no need to do anything. If it does need oil it's best to remove the shaft. First, depress the curved cue bar up top to expose the head of the adjusting screw and remove the screw. Then, back underneath, remove the e-ring, washer and spring from the shaft which should then pull right out. Clean the shaft and the hole with alcohol, a Q-tip works well. Coat the shaft with silicone oil (300K or 500K, 500K will obviously give you a slower tonearm descent) and reassemble. You might get away with just spreading a little oil around the shaft, top and bottom, with a toothpick or paper clip and working the shaft back and forth several times but if it doesn't work then you have to take the table apart again.

Alcohol is also good to clean up that green slime from the cam and pivot. White lithium grease or silicone grease are ideal lubricants for the cam but what do you have around the house? Petroleum greases would work but may degrade the plastic over time (at my age, I wouldn't worry about it). At Home Depot, in the faucet, tub and toilet parts section, they sell little containers (they look like half of a film can) of "Plumbers Grease" in a blister pack for a couple of dollars. It's silicone grease for cartridge type faucets. The same stuff is sold under many different names for household and automotive uses. You may have some.
 
I have on other tables applied the silicone with a toothpick at the top. With the rod up coat the outside and work up and down. It will take a few days to work all the way down completely. Makes a mess and if you need to do it now that you are there it is the time. But you need the correct lube or your wasting your time and effort.

By the way the tube of turntable lube I have is just white lithium grease thinned some if at all.

Barney
 
12ax7 said:
As far as the lift shaft, there really is no good substitute for the silicone oil. If the tonearm was rising and descending slowly beforehand, there's no need to do anything. If it does need oil it's best to remove the shaft. First, depress the curved cue bar up top to expose the head of the adjusting screw and remove the screw. Then, back underneath, remove the e-ring, washer and spring from the shaft which should then pull right out. Clean the shaft and the hole with alcohol, a Q-tip works well. Coat the shaft with silicone oil (300K or 500K, 500K will obviously give you a slower tonearm descent) and reassemble. You might get away with just spreading a little oil around the shaft, top and bottom, with a toothpick or paper clip and working the shaft back and forth several times but if it doesn't work then you have to take the table apart again.

Alcohol is also good to clean up that green slime from the cam and pivot. White lithium grease or silicone grease are ideal lubricants for the cam but what do you have around the house? Petroleum greases would work but may degrade the plastic over time (at my age, I wouldn't worry about it). At Home Depot, in the faucet, tub and toilet parts section, they sell little containers (they look like half of a film can) of "Plumbers Grease" in a blister pack for a couple of dollars. It's silicone grease for cartridge type faucets. The same stuff is sold under many different names for household and automotive uses. You may have some.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that detailed explanation. And about the lithium grease: when I Googled it I got a lot of sites (esp. RC car sites) talking about just what you mentioned--i.e., degradation of the plastics. These guys apparently use it on the gears of these cars, and there were numerous debates about lithium grease being appropriate. But I guess this application we're talking about isn't too high stress. Plus, I don't think this unit will be a lifelong possession anyway. Thanks for the info.
 
I ended up buying a little 3 oz. tube of white lithium grease at Ace, since the only other kind I could find came in big aerosol cans or caulk-sized tubes. That 300k (500K) oil is another story. The highest viscosity they had at the hobby store was about 125. Where did you all buy yours? I may just see how it works with the cam cleaned up. As for the cam, is the grease just for where it pivots on the brass sleeve? Or does it need to be applied also where it slides back and forth over the lower, corresponding plastic piece?
 
I obtained mine from e-bay a good while ago. On the lube of cams I just applied to the friction points where the top sits. Remember a little goes a long way.


Barney
 
Oerets said:
I obtained mine from e-bay a good while ago. On the lube of cams I just applied to the friction points where the top sits. Remember a little goes a long way.


Barney
Click to expand...

Does it need to be applied where the cam rotates on the brass bushing too?
 
I did not put any on to the brass. Just on the plastic parts. I did put some on to the white top where it was before.



Barney
 
I put a little here and a little there (I can't quite tell where all the contact takes place), but I think that sticky cam definitely was the problem. I mounted the arm assembly and the cueing seems to be dropping okay now. While I have it opened up, is there anything else inside that might warrant a little maintenance? Does the spindle need oiled or anything else. I think I'll give the plinth, and the arm assembly, a good cleaning while they're off the unit. And then I'll put it back together and take a couple victory(!) pics.
 
Sounds like ya' done good. As mentioned before, if the tonearm is descending gently you don't need the 300/500K silicone oil.
 
Sorry to dig up this old thread, but I am in the process of restoring one of these turntables and I used some of what's supposed to be 500K silicone oil I had left over from a Dual lubrication kit. However, after disassembling everything, adding the oil to the cue rod, and lubing up everything else, the arm still drops very quickly. If the oil was say 300K or some other count, would the arm still drop hard? Could something else be going on?
 
DoctorJa said:
Sorry to dig up this old thread, but I am in the process of restoring one of these turntables and I used some of what's supposed to be 500K silicone oil I had left over from a Dual lubrication kit. However, after disassembling everything, adding the oil to the cue rod, and lubing up everything else, the arm still drops very quickly. If the oil was say 300K or some other count, would the arm still drop hard? Could something else be going on?
Click to expand...

For heavy side of medium tone arm such as the one on the Technics SL-1900, 500k should work well. :music:

Here is a link to one source for 500,000 silicone oil.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0015YZJAG/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
the tonearm lift is broken but rests on an elastic band how to remove it to glue. Just unscrew the adjusting screw and pull it up?
Oerets said:
A new to me SL-1900 in very good shape all except for the lift does not work at all. The lever will not effect the lift. You can adjust the screw and make it go up and down. But will stay in the position never moving. The SM is of little help.

Any thoughts?



Barney
Click to expand...
the tonearm lift is broken but rests on an elastic band how to remove it to glue. Just unscrew the adjusting screw and pull it up?
 
Welcome to AK.


Worked on the table back in 2012 IIRC.

Mine was not broken just needing to be cleaned and lubed if memory serves.

Do not have the table anymore, can't picture the mechanism or procedure right off hand.
 
здесь о деталях этой проблемы:
[QUOTE = "12ax7, post: 5997936, member: 34599"] Джон, здесь когда-то была какая-то тема о гуммированной камере под тонармом 1900/1950 годов, и я полагаю, что у вас были довольно неплохие фото проблемная зона. Вы удалили эти фотографии? [/ QUOTE]
 
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