Technics SL-Q3 tonearm/pickup not moving forward

[Moonwatcher]

Good evening, everybody. I was cleaning out my mom's house and found my old college Technics turntable. I was excited because after fooling with frustrating and costly changers, this deck seemed simple and straightforward, yet it had auto functions like lifting the needle and dropping it correctly at both the start and end of the record.

The problem is this: when the needle sets down in the groove it plays fine for a few seconds but then gets stuck. This happens everywhere on the record, from the first track to the last. Seems like something is impeding the tonearm's movement forward.

I've tried adjusting the antiskate to zero and various tracking forces both light and heavy, and nothing seems to solve the problem. Nor does releveling the turntable. I've tried different headshells/cartridges with different tracking forces. I've also lubricated the pivot. Still it plays a few bars and then gets stuck there, repeating the same passage over and over again.

Otherwise, it works perfectly.

I've not yet opened it up, mainly because I'm old and stupid and usually end up in worse trouble than I started with after fiddling around under the hood. And a headache.

Is this a common problem with this model that could be easily addressed? We have no audio techs around here. Thanks!

 

[Ilikevinyl]

Is the cueing bar platform hitting the underside of the tonearm when playing?

 

[Moonwatcher]

I think that I checked that already, but when I get home, I will check again. Thanks!

 

[Montycat]

I doubt that spring is anti-skate related, more likely part of the auto functions. I'll have a look at an SM and a somewhat similar model tomorrow.

 

[Montycat]

Actually I did look at the SM and yeah, it could be the anti-skate spring, part 50 below. I can't tell from the picture where it goes though.

 

[Moonwatcher]

I doubt that spring is anti-skate related, more likely part of the auto functions. I'll have a look at an SM and a somewhat similar model tomorrow.

APOLOGIES, EVERYONE, especially Montycat! I am working on two turntables simultaneously and got them mixed up, ha-ha. That last post with the photo of the loose spring was NOT the Technics but a Garrard SL-65, which is another project, another headache, and another post.

 

[HPMguy]

Something is preventing the tone are from swinging freely. Most likely candidate on tables with damped left mechanisms is the lift bar not falling completely free of the tone arm, it doesn't take much drag to cause it to skip.

If it's an automatic table, failure of the mechanism to completely release the lift bar will do the same thing.

Does it skip if you manually lift the arm and place it on the record?

 

[Moonwatcher]

Actually, I think it's fixed (we're talking about the Technics SL Q3 here--sorry for the confusion). I let the arm swing to the inside and on impulse gave it a solid little push. It sort of seemed to clear a bump or notch, clicked, and it's been working fine ever since. Thanks!