Grumpy Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 How does it happen ? Tried to play some tunes the other day , but had a hum when l switched the Garrard on. Tightened the ground connection then the green tonearm arm clip on the cart which seemed a little loose. The hum went and the brief ACDC session played with no dramas. Today l switched the TT on and that BLOODY HUM was back - aaaaarrgghh ! Again l notice the green wire ' clip ' looked loose ; so, out with the tweezers and close it a little and the damn wire breaks off YES ! this might sound like da je vu from me, but there has to be a solution to this stupid idea of using fairy size bloody wiring. I will cool off overnight and once again try some soldering tomorrow Grumpy, l sure is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mloutfie Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 been there done that mine was worse selling my turntable and the buyer is on the way over to pick up and I was setting up a new cart for him and pulled the clip to hard and break it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blybo Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 My wife is a surgeon. I will never touch another tone arm wire again. I’ve broken two and seen experienced TT experts break them too. When I sold my previous TT a few weeks back I made my wife remove the wires as the buyer didn’t want the cart... and I didn’t trust myself 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 Can Mrs @blybo solder - if so what is she doing tomorrow. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blybo Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 She can but I think a technician might be cheaper She used to dabble in lead light windows before we meet so I inherited her iron. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussievintage Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 7 hours ago, blybo said: She used to dabble in lead light windows before we meet so I inherited her iron. That is NOT the iron to be used on tonearm wires 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky500 Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Yes there a big pain and have broken a clip in the past. If I ever look for a new/2nd hand turntable, the first thing I put on my list is, it has to have a removable head shell. It makes a huge difference being able to take the head shell off and then attempt to mess with a cartridge. Worse case is you break a head shell wire and then just buy another. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chigurh Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 IMO Rega tonearm clips are particularly prone to loosening then breaking. I have a Rega P2 circa 2002 sitting in it's box in near perfect condition except that I broke one of the clips changing the cartridge. I had it soldered back on but I don't think the technician had the skills to do a good job so now there is a hum. A full rewire was quoted to me at $295 which is probably not far off what the TT would be worth in good working order. Seems like such a waste to do nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EV Cali Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 1 hour ago, Chigurh said: IMO Rega tonearm clips are particularly prone to loosening then breaking. I have a Rega P2 circa 2002 sitting in it's box in near perfect condition except that I broke one of the clips changing the cartridge. I had it soldered back on but I don't think the technician had the skills to do a good job so now there is a hum. A full rewire was quoted to me at $295 which is probably not far off what the TT would be worth in good working order. Seems like such a waste to do nothing. That is a pity and as you say, hard to justify that expense. Turntable hum is normally related to a poor earth. I wounder if there is a way to run a second earth wire ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chigurh Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 24 minutes ago, EV Cali said: That is a pity and as you say, hard to justify that expense. Turntable hum is normally related to a poor earth. I wounder if there is a way to run a second earth wire ? This thread inspired me to dig the Rega out and give it another spin. Hardly any hum! I'm listening to it at the moment and even with a cheap AT95E cartridge it's a fine sounding player. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 It's why I use Van Den Hul tone arm wiring. Very strong and very flexible. PVC is for bunnies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 Well ! I give up I will tell the story tomorrow I now have a dead cart and a dead soldering iron - a different cart installed with a broken BLUE wire this time and no soldering iron Off to Bunnings tomorrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubularbells Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 39 minutes ago, Grumpy said: Well ! I give up I will tell the story tomorrow I now have a dead cart and a dead soldering iron - a different cart installed with a broken BLUE wire this time and no soldering iron Off to Bunnings tomorrow Bugger I was in your neck of the woods all last week and would have gladly helped out.....good luck with the repair! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 10 hours ago, rocky500 said: Yes there a big pain and have broken a clip in the past. If I ever look for a new/2nd hand turntable, the first thing I put on my list is, it has to have a removable head shell. It makes a huge difference being able to take the head shell off and then attempt to mess with a cartridge. Worse case is you break a head shell wire and then just buy another. I've done the easy way out too. And the fact that you can change headshells so easily (To a point) for me is a blessing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 No removable headshell on my SME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chigurh Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 I'd like to see tonearm manufacturers come up with a solution where that instead of wires with female clips sticking out of the end of the tonearm, there were males pins that one could attach (replaceable) headshell wires to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted January 16, 2018 Author Share Posted January 16, 2018 20 hours ago, Grumpy said: Well ! I give up I will tell the story tomorrow I now have a dead cart and a dead soldering iron - a different cart installed with a broken BLUE wire this time and no soldering iron Off to Bunnings tomorrow What happened yesterday was I successfully soldered the GREEN wire onto the lug (clip) and attached it to the cart, but noticed it was a little too tight to fully push it on, So I try to take the clip off and it pulled the insides of the cart out a bit - push it back in and the stylus doesn't slide in, but pushes the 'insides' out again. Took the insides right out to check the problem and little bits of metal fall out, one brass, one silver clip, and I noticed there were other loose bits in there. . I'm thinking all the old bonding agents used on the Shure V15 type 4 cart are well past their use by date. So out comes my spare cart, a shure M97xE and attach this to my headshell. I then connect THAT green wire with no problems, then the other wires and I break the BLUE bloody wire off it's lug. So, out with the soldering iron and wait for it to heat up and it doesn't, WTF . It's dead So a dead Shure cart (which I loved) and a dead soldering iron and my patience is also gone. Just got back from Bunnings with a replacement soldering iron and will give it all a go again later - much later. Sorry if this all bores you but i had to tell someone !!!!! ' 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 (edited) @Grumpy Anytime mate. Keep soldering on Edited January 16, 2018 by Wimbo 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zaphod Beeblebrox Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 17 hours ago, Chigurh said: I'd like to see tonearm manufacturers come up with a solution where that instead of wires with female clips sticking out of the end of the tonearm, there were males pins that one could attach (replaceable) headshell wires to. You mean like 99% of every headshell on the planet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chigurh Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 2 hours ago, Zaphod Beeblebrox said: You mean like 99% of every headshell on the planet? Not really. I was thinking more of a hybrid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citroen Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 If you haven't broken a clip or two you haven't attached enough carts. Its just a given part of turntable life :) 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 I like that statement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimbo Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 16 minutes ago, Citroen said: If you haven't broken a clip or two you haven't attached enough carts. Its just a given part of turntable life And if you havnt decantilevered a few cartridges, you havnt played enough records. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumpy Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 UPDATE - - all wires and cips soldered and attached to the Shure M97xE , but now l only have about half volume and a small crackle when l return te arm to it's rest. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batty Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Double check all wires are going to the correct place Gary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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