Video inquiry-help-troubleshoot locked turntable issue

[lawyerben]

Here's a video illustrating my question:

I just bought a Zenith stereophonic turntable console from an estate sale. It work and sounded great--aside from a slight scraping noise that the turntable was making. When I clicked the switch over to "REJ" (reject), the turntable locked and although I hear a motor running the turntable is locked in place and won't turn. Any assistance would be great. I'm curious as to whether I'm not operating correctly, or whether something is broken.

Thanks!

 

[lawyerben]

Here is a second video of where I've gotten so far after removing the platter:

I removed the platter and examined the underneath. From the little I know of terminology the idler wheel does not seem to be making very good contact against the pulley motor. What I cannot determine is whether it is because the idler wheel is too hard, or whether there is some type of spring or mechanism that is preventing good contact--or maybe the idler wheel is fine, but something else putting up resistance somewhere...
Thanks,
Ben

 

[vwestlife]

Did you clean and relubricate the mechanism? Typically the old grease turns to sticky goo which needs to be cleaned off and replaced with new grease. It's best to remove the record changer from the system to gain easier access to its underside.

 

[4-2-7]

You have to have records on that table for it to work. That button in the platter is a safety feature.

Put a record on the platter, swing the black stacking arm over to the spindle. Now without power spin the platter with the record clockwise a few turns. We're trying to see if the auto linkage is set correctly by cycling it. Now with the record in place use the auto start and let it do it's thing.

If this doesn't work we can try some other things

 

[MRL_Audio]

Boom... what 4-2-7 said. and yer up and running...?

 

[lawyerben]

Appreciate the help so far folks. I will give it a try when I get home.

 

[lawyerben]

So I managed to remove the back panel of the console and remove the turntable. Sorry, but it's been a long day and I completely forgot to take 4-2-7's advice and before I removed the turntable. Take a look at the video and see what you think:

also I think I cracked a green switch when I was pulling the wire connector out. I was trying be careful, but it was extremely stuck and brittle.

 

[lawyerben]

Update: Thanks to all for the advice and help. I think, given the several issues involved here, that I'm going to send it out for an overhaul. I might as well have this done correctly before I do anymore damage. I'm looking forward to have a cool working vintage console! I'll update when it's complete.

Thanks again! -Ben

 

[lawyerben]

UPDATE!

Thanks to Voice of Music ( www.thevoiceofmusic.com ) for putting me in touch with David Z. I sent the turntable to David and he rebuilt and replaced the following parts:

Rebuild complete Zenith VM A 1293 95.00 J70
Replace idler 45000 35.00
Rebuild motor Alliance 75076 15.00
Replace 3 motor mounts 4.75
Replace A/C switch 45470 16.00
Replace "o" ring to platter 2.00
Replace trim ring to platter 43308-C 8.00
Replace Zenith stylus LP/78 12.50
45 adapter is good sent
Cartridge zenith "bobber type" good at this time
Repair reject jammed
Re set- set downs 7 10 12" good
Arm weight 2 grams
Clean and polish complete
Shipping UPS w/ 200.00 insurance 27.00
Total 215.25
Deposit check -60.00
Balance due 155.25

I think this is more than a fair price and he did an excellent job! It sounds great. I would recommend going in this direction if you are really looking for a long term solution to your turntable issues. Turn around time on this was only a couple weeks. Good luck to all with similar issues.