Troubles with Technics SL-QL1 tone arm

[Phrogedelic]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and new to vintage audio as a whole, so please try to be patient with me if I'm stupid. I recently found a for-parts Technics SL-QL1 off of eBay that was listed as not tracking properly, and after some research, I decided to order it along with a new stylus and tonearm belt. After some headache and "oh ****, did I break it" moments, I got everything put together and cleaned, but it still wasn't tracking properly. The tonearm itself does not move with the cartridge and gets stuck after around 30ish seconds of playing, and at this point my uneducated guess is that something is gummed up. When I took off the cover to reach the tonearm assembly, I thought that there may be too much grease (not sure if that's the correct word) on the gears however, I figured that whoever worked on this thing before me probably knew better, and so I left it alone, but now I'm wondering if my gut feeling was right because I'm not sure what else it would be. Any help from the audio elders here would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Gabe

 

[Phrogedelic]

I forgot to mention this but the jackass who sold me this didn't mention that it was missing one of its rubber feet so if anyone here has a solution for that problem as well I'd greatly appreciate it

 

[catBot]

You did not tell if you have the belt replaced. And whether the sled-drive motor still whirrs as it tries to move the stuck sled.

Regarding the "gumm/grease" there - I (on my Technics SL-J2) washed off (with the isopropanol spirits, not the bensene!) all the old lubrication - from the worm gear and the rod on which the tonearm sled travels - to apply the fresh silicone+teflone one.

 

[Phrogedelic]

You did not tell if you have the belt replaced. And whether the sled-drive motor still whirrs as it tries to move the stuck sled.

Regarding the "gumm/grease" there - I (on my Technics SL-J2) washed off (with the isopropanol spirits, not the bensene!) all the old lubrication - from the worm gear and the rod on which the tonearm sled travels - to apply the fresh silicone+teflone one.

Thanks for the reply. I did replace the belt, and from what I remember, there was no whirring coming from the turntable. I'm at school right now, but I will double check that when I get home.

 

[catBot]

The motor does not whirr that loud when stuck, you'll have to somehow look at it trying to rotate or use a stethoscope. Don't know if it is possible with your TT, on SL-J2 I can run it with the upper lid off, - easy to inspect and finetune.

 

[Phrogedelic]

The motor does not whirr that loud when stuck, you'll have to somehow look at it trying to rotate or use a stethoscope. Don't know if it is possible with your TT, on SL-J2 I can run it with the upper lid off, - easy to inspect and finetune.

I just got back home and checked and heard no whirring sound being made. Something else I noticed while this though, was that when I hit the "stop" button, the arm did not move back to it's starting position, and instead just lifted up. I don't know if that helps diagnose the issue at all, but I figured it was worth mentioning. Below is a picture of the farthest the arm with go before stopping

 

[catBot]

Hmmmm....
Is it possible to run the turntable without the upper lid?

Is it possible to move the tonearm by pressing the "search" buttons? The [>>] and [<<] ones?

 

[Phrogedelic]

Hmmmm....
Is it possible to run the turntable without the upper lid?

Is it possible to move the tonearm by pressing the "search" buttons? The [>>] and [<<] ones?

No (to my knowledge at least) and no. I'm planning to take off the plastic piece covering the tone arm assembly and try placing a mirror or small camera underneath the lid to see what it looks like while running later today

 

[Phrogedelic]

Hmmmm....
Is it possible to run the turntable without the upper lid?

Is it possible to move the tonearm by pressing the "search" buttons? The [>>] and [<<] ones?

I apologize for the late reply; I didn't feel great when I got home yesterday and went to bed early. Today I tried to remove the plastic shell over the tonearm assembly and run it, but it wouldn't work until I put the shell back on. I confirmed that the worm gear and drive wheel both work by moving the tone arm belt with my thumb, so my guess now is that the guide rail is gummed up with old lubricant and needs to be cleaned.

 

[Phrogedelic]

I got it working! I was right, the issue was the old lubricant. All I had to do to fix it was lightly push the tone arm while spinning the drive gear with my thumb. I did that across the entire length of it and then all the way back and now it works. Thanks for your help catbot

 

[Tonoje]

Have you cleaned out the old grease and relubed? If not, your problem's going to come back. There's no reason to hold on to old, brown grease that's been seizing up your table. That would be taking period-correct to extremes.

 

[Phrogedelic]

Have you cleaned out the old grease and relubed? If not, your problem's going to come back. There's no reason to hold on to old, brown grease that's been seizing up your table. That would be taking period-correct to extremes.

Yeah I intend to get some super lube and redo it all once the receiver I ordered gets here

 

[catBot]

I'd recommend some modern silicone+teflon lub rather than oils-based.
The silicone+teflon will age much slower, and some of those lubs are designed to provide a "soft-start" (rather than "jerky/sudden") to the movement of the lubed pair. This is VERY important for the tonearm sled you are servicing.

I repeat my advise: use the isopropanol spirits to wash-off all the old grease everywhere, apply new and modern one. Do NOT use bensene on plastic parts! Do not lubricate plastic parts with oils-based grease!

 

[Hugo65]

Lots and lots of these Technics linear trackers are being brought back to work lately. A hardened/dry tonearm rubber belt change has solved most of the cases of stuck tonearms, but there's also a chance that the tonearm motor itself is stuck. The remedy to that is removing the motor and checking it for free movement with a 9v battery, switching poles. Some manual back and forth movement and a dab of SInger oil will help release it, in case it's stuck. I had to do this with my first SL-10 eight years ago and it's never given any problems since.