• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

Technics SL-D2 Issues

horsemeat11

New Member
Hello everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I apologize if I'm asking questions that have already been answered, but I did some research and couldn't find specific answers to my issues.

I recently purchased a used Technics SL-D2 and while I love it, I'm having two issues with it. The first is that the speed is not consistent. The strobe light slightly wavers back and forth constantly no matter how "correct" I have the pitch set. What is interesting is that you can't really hear a shift in the speed of the audio but often the music will sound flat for a second and then correct itself. I opened up the bottom of the turntable and sprayed contact cleaner on the pot closest to the pitch adjuster, but it doesn't seem to have helped. Are there additional pots that need to be cleaned to correct this? I'm also using the cartridge that was on the turntable, which may be old, so I'm not sure if that is contributing to the "flat" sounding music.

The second issue is that the stop button does not work, nor does the auto-return (I assume these issues are one and the same). I removed old grease from the stop button/lever, but that doesn't seem to be the problem. It seems like the rod that connects the stop button to the lever never actually makes contact with the lever, so it doesn't activate the tonearm return. In the manual it mentions a screw under the platter that you can rotate counter clockwise to engage this, but I have no screw and the plastic part that is there appears to be broken, as I cannot rotate it at all with a screwdriver.

If anyone has any insight, it would much appreciated and thank you!
 
Register to hide this ad
For your second issue follow the setup instruction in the user manual.

Rotate the platter by hand for about 10 revolutions. This will reset the automatic mechanisms which can lock and cause these decks such as D2, D202, Q2 and Q202 to misfunction. No guarantee that it will fix the problem but easy to do and I had a very similar issue with my D202 and that sorted it.

If something is broken and causing issues then that is a different matter entirely.
 
To reset the auto-return, bring the arm all the way to the center. Then turn the platter until the arm returns. That usually did the trick for me.
 
Back
Top Bottom