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Yamaha PX-3 Tonearm lowers fast

G

Gippej

Member
Hey everyone,

Just picked up a Yamaha PX-3 yesterday that's in great shape. I went ahead and balanced the tonearm, got everything set up and then when I went to play, I noticed the tonearm drops pretty fast onto the record. I went ahead and recorded a video for everyone to see:

I'm not sure how big of an issue this is, but comparing it to other videos online, mine definitely lowers fast. I noticed the cantilever flexes a bit when it hits the record probably from it dropping to fast. Anybody ever have this issue on this table? At this speed will it damage my records or the needle? Any help appreciated, thanks
 
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Gippej said:
Hey everyone,

Just picked up a Yamaha PX-3 yesterday that's in great shape. I went ahead and balanced the tonearm, got everything set up and then when I went to play, I noticed the tonearm drops pretty fast onto the record. I went ahead and recorded a video for everyone to see:

I'm not sure how big of an issue this is, but comparing it to other videos online, mine definitely lowers fast. I noticed the cantilever flexes a bit when it hits the record probably from it dropping to fast. Anybody ever have this issue on this table? At this speed will it damage my records or the needle? Any help appreciated, thanks
Click to expand...
There is a piston in the rear arm housing that will need a refill of damper grease. Many threads here about it.
 
Seems a bit quick but not so quick I would worry about it at this point. Taking it apart is always a risk and it doesn't appear to be cause the stylus to bounce or undue flex to the cantilever. My two cents.
 
I agree with MRL_Audio. It looks a little faster drop then mine but I wouldn’t worry about it.

Those are nice TTS.
 
This is still acceptable. BTW, refilling the piston with new silicone oil is possible without removing the tonearm.
 
Dr. Ear said:
This is still acceptable. BTW, refilling the piston with new silicone oil is possible without removing the tonearm.
Click to expand...
How is this possible? All the guides I've seen show them removing the arm. And thanks for the help everyone, I'll go ahead and not worry about the speed for now.

A few extra questions, is this table compatible with standard replacement headshells? I noticed mine is just slightly crooked, and I doubt it's the arm itself. Also, anybody have luck cleaning the buttons? Some seem to have a few sticky points when depressing them (they still work)
 
Gippej said:
A few extra questions, is this table compatible with standard replacement headshells? I noticed mine is just slightly crooked, and I doubt it's the arm itself. Also, anybody have luck cleaning the buttons? Some seem to have a few sticky points when depressing them (they still work)
Click to expand...

You can use most standard 1/2 inch headshell, preferably with azimuth correction feature build in to correct the crookedness. :)

Example:
https://www.lpgear.com/product/LPGZHEAD.html
 
Gippej said:
How is this possible? All the guides I've seen show them removing the arm. And thanks for the help everyone, I'll go ahead and not worry about the speed for now.

A few extra questions, is this table compatible with standard replacement headshells? I noticed mine is just slightly crooked, and I doubt it's the arm itself. Also, anybody have luck cleaning the buttons? Some seem to have a few sticky points when depressing them (they still work)
Click to expand...

I have the PX-3 and I have 2 oem headshells. They have a slightly different azimuth which is a bit of a PITA, mainly because I picked up the second one for easy cart swapping. Azimuth adjustment on that arm is possible, but it's not particularly practical as a "quick" adjustment.

The oem headshell appears to be press fit at the shell/collar interface and that's probably not a good place to attempt any correction. The arm tube has a couple screws that are pretty much inaccessible with the arm and carriage fully set up . They are near the base and near the headshell on the underside of the tube. One thread I read said the ones by the base was for azimuth adjustment. I tried to loosen the one by the headshell, but wasn't able to get any kind of screw driver into the tight space. I was able to get a small pair of pliers to grip the exposed screw head.

It was an uneasy feeling to try and twist the tube, but I was able to rotate it to match one of the headshells perfectly. Alas, only one headshell matches. Further I am unsure whether the screw I loosened was at the point the tube rotated. It may have been at the base of the arm.

So the short and sweet is, a new headshell with an azimuth adjustment might give you the best out come so long as the other dimensions are compatible with the PX-3
 
Thanks for the help everyone, yea it seems like I've read around lots of the OEM headshells seem to be slightly off which is strange. I just went ahead and ordered a new one. I tried to see if anything else looked off and even tried a very light twist on the arm just to make sure everything was in correctly. Taking the headshell off and laying it flat it would appear to be off so I just ordered a new one. Does anyone know the best alignment for this table? The manual just states to use the plastic alignment tool it shipped with but I dont have that and it doesn't mention a distance measurement.
 
I just went ahead and ordered one of these basic ortofon headshells (not to expensive and it comes in silver) would this part with the line be where I start to measure?

DrwjIQE.jpg
 
Dr. Ear said:
BTW, refilling the piston with new silicone oil is possible without removing the tonearm.
Click to expand...

As previously asked, I too would like to know how this is done? Please elaborate. Thank you very kindly.
 
Gippej said:
I just went ahead and ordered one of these basic ortofon headshells (not to expensive and it comes in silver) would this part with the line be where I start to measure?

DrwjIQE.jpg
Click to expand...
No it would be from the stylus tip to the far side of the rubber washer
 
Tiver said:
No it would be from the stylus tip to the far side of the rubber washer
Click to expand...

Forgive me for being a noob and clarifying, if the washer is up against that metal circle that's before the headshell body, it's to the back side (closest to the arm) of the washer. So back of washer to stylus tip?
 
Gippej said:
Forgive me for being a noob and clarifying, if the washer is up against that metal circle that's before the headshell body, it's to the back side (closest to the arm) of the washer.

So back of washer to stylus tip?
Click to expand...

Just use the 50 mm measurement.
generic overhang.jpg
The original Yamaha PX2/PX3 head shell do not come with a gasket.
en_ide-img600x450-1495723849dub81g11869.jpg
:music:
 
Dr. Ear said:
This is still acceptable. BTW, refilling the piston with new silicone oil is possible without removing the tonearm.
Click to expand...

I don't know how you could actually fill it. But I think this would work:
It's not really "refilling" the cylinder, it's more like getting a layer of silicone onto the rod tat travels into it (which as I remember has a few rings cut into the rod to hold the grease)
I've not tried this, but after having removed the damper assys a couple times, it might work to stroke the piston while keeping a supply of silicone grease on the rod/cylinder interface.
You can put a 90* machinist's scribe into the roll pin that's through the piston rod and stroke it in and out with the scribe.
I hunch doing that aggressively for 15 minutes would resupply the internals enough and await someone to try it!
 
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