I had the exact same problem and solved it thanks to this video. I couldn't figure out how the plastic cover that keeps the strobe pressed down could have broken. I lost over two hours trying to tighten the left screw that keeps the plastic strip pressed down. The hole in the screw was not chamfered and it was impossible to get the thread on, eventually with a longer screw I managed to get the thread back on. A really pain in the butt but I managed it.
I had nearly all of the topplayers of Thorens, incl. TD 124, 125, 126, 150, 160...I came back to the 125. To me it's one of the best phonos ever. My one is completely built up by Schopper Switzerland, the specialist for TD 124 as well. The cartridge is a Ortofon blue quintett. All together hard to beat...congrats to that beauty. If you take care, it will last forever.
Thank you, great video. Had identical problem with strobe light - followed your fix, including makeshift plastic cover and the adjustment to theta robe mirror. Worked A1. Thanks again!
I like the mass of the platter+drive, solid speed from stored energy :-). Strobes are a loverly visual way to see speed, love the old methods. I've used cassette cases or clear c.d spacers often found in bulk c.d stacks for source plastic :-)
I've seen some good tool inventions, like led lighted gloves and finger tip pliers. Really cool you had the right bulb. Even thoe old electronics are good, modern electronics have good upgrades too.
I had the right bulb because it fell out and was in the base of the unit. The plastic broke and the light popped out. Thats why I had to make a new cover to hold it in.
I ditched the burned out neon strobe lamp on my Sony PS-X7 turntable back in the late 1980's using a 16-pin dip multi-element LED and just had to change the series resistor. It still works fine to this day. The TT I bought new in 1978.
Yup, my Teshnics SLM1 uses red LED for the strobe. Personal preference. The neon accomplishes the same effect, and good table designs keep the lamp wires away from audio pickup wires.
Good video but the motor is not DC. The control board uses a Wien bridge oscillator circuit to generate AC of various frequencies to create different speeds.
I have a PS-6750 direct drive which is one of those Sony decks that has a magnetic strip around the inside of the platter that is read to maintain the speed. Quite a novel system, but unfortunately it still has the tendency to drift. Definitely not quite as accurate as quartz lock. I sometimes have an issue where it will speed up for a split second before settling down, although since a full re-cap it rarely happens. Perhaps a rogue tantalum, or a bad speed control. I'm hoping it's nothing to do with that rather fragile looking magnetic strip! :0
I had one of those turntables too. As far as I know it is still kicking around here somewhere unless i gave it away. The magnetic strip around the platter was a silly way of doing it. They would have been further ahead to use an optical reader on the platter.
I know right? Makes you wonder how many have been written-off simply from an accidental knock to that strip whilst removing the platter (I'm always very careful!). I agree, some sort of optical based system would've been a much more reliable solution.
Or getting a magnet too close to it. A friend had one too, and when I was relatively young and vindictive I was pissed off at said friend. He borrowed one of my favorite records of the day Steve Miller Band book of dreams. He destroyed it by leaving it next to a radiator, and when he refused to buy me a new one, I did a nasty. Put a magnet up against the side of his turntable. You could imagine his surprise when he went to play a record and there was a HUGE wow in the speed every time the erased section passed the speed head. He never figured out what happened.
Yes, from comments in the various forums, that magnetic coating on the inside of the rim of the platter was a bad and weak point of their design; very easily damaged. Trying to clean it often results in turning the unit into scrap (unless you can find a good/used replacement platter)...
It's also a good idea to check the bearing well with the multimeter to see if it is grounded! Most of the time, it isn't electrically connected to the metal plinth. The paint or anodizing is very heavy and it may well prevent an electrical connection, which can allow a static charge to build up in the record if the air is dry. That static may build up until it discharges with a pop through the cartridge and tone arm. Also, a grounded platter will provide a shielding effect, reducing stray electrical fields from the motor and helping prevent them from being induced into the cartridge and tonearm. You can actually solder a wire to the bearing well if you clean the metal and use a high heat soldering gun, and do it quickly.
The strobe light is used to calibrate the speed using a stroboscopic effect at 60Hz. My apologies if that is hard to understand, but it is difficult to make technical terms easy to understand for someone who does not know the language.
There is no best. It depends on what you personally like. I tend to prefer a Quartz-locked direct drive turntable for speed stability. Some prefer belt drive. I owned two Thorens and they were both excellent.
I had a TD165. My son has that one now. I use a Technics SLM1 quartz lock direct drive. I like that table personally, but many prefer a belt drive. I have found that rumble seems to be more audible on belt drive tables. Personally I am not a vinyl guy. The sound quality doesn't do anything for me. I have a high end single disk CDPX555ES, and the sound off that player is as good as anything I have ever heard. Some will argue vinyl untill they are blue in the face, but the fact remains that you get clicks and pops, and limited dynamic range off vinyl. Yes it sounds different. Some would argue better to their ears, and that is fine. I adopted CD back in 83 and there is no going back to vinyl. I keep my table for my early records from the 60's to the early 80's, and if I find a gem at a thrift store for 1 or 2 dollars I will buy it, but I am not one to be spending the kind of money they ask for vinyl releases these days. A CD or or uncompressed file is what I look for these days.
Whatever you like. Listen to many, and pick one that sounds the best to your ears and you can afford, because in this world of turntables the sky is the limit. The same can be said for amplifiers and speakers. Don't take anyone else's word for it. Listen to your source material and pick the one that you like the sound from.
What a bullshit design for a simple strobe light for a turntable. Also, the term is generally "removing the Platter" and not calling it the turntable. In North America "turntable" refers to the whole unit.
I had the exact same problem and solved it thanks to this video. I couldn't figure out how the plastic cover that keeps the strobe pressed down could have broken. I lost over two hours trying to tighten the left screw that keeps the plastic strip pressed down. The hole in the screw was not chamfered and it was impossible to get the thread on, eventually with a longer screw I managed to get the thread back on. A really pain in the butt but I managed it.
I had nearly all of the topplayers of Thorens, incl. TD 124, 125, 126, 150, 160...I came back to the 125. To me it's one of the best phonos ever. My one is completely built up by Schopper Switzerland, the specialist for TD 124 as well. The cartridge is a Ortofon blue quintett. All together hard to beat...congrats to that beauty. If you take care, it will last forever.
Thank you, great video. Had identical problem with strobe light - followed your fix, including makeshift plastic cover and the adjustment to theta robe mirror. Worked A1. Thanks again!
I like the mass of the platter+drive, solid speed from stored energy :-).
Strobes are a loverly visual way to see speed, love the old methods.
I've used cassette cases or clear c.d spacers often found in bulk c.d stacks for source plastic :-)
I've seen some good tool inventions, like led lighted gloves and finger tip pliers. Really cool you had the right bulb. Even thoe old electronics are good, modern electronics have good upgrades too.
I had the right bulb because it fell out and was in the base of the unit. The plastic broke and the light popped out. Thats why I had to make a new cover to hold it in.
That looks very well .made low it and nice bit of fabrication work on the strobe Dave. :-)
I ditched the burned out neon strobe lamp on my Sony PS-X7 turntable back in the late 1980's using a 16-pin dip multi-element LED and just had to change the series resistor. It still works fine to this day. The TT I bought new in 1978.
Yup, my Teshnics SLM1 uses red LED for the strobe. Personal preference. The neon accomplishes the same effect, and good table designs keep the lamp wires away from audio pickup wires.
Good video but the motor is not DC. The control board uses a Wien bridge oscillator circuit to generate AC of various frequencies to create different speeds.
I didn't tear this one down to see what type of motor it used. I assumed a DC servo motor. My 165 uses an AC synchronous motor.
Thanks for share with us your time and expertise.
Have you a tutorial about how to rewire ISOTRACK TP 16 MK III TONEARM ?
Cheers.
I have a Thorens TD-124 Mark 1 that works perfectly!
Where did you find the neon bulb? Thank you for your time!
Its an NE2 bulb and they are readily available.
if i replace the original neon with the neon bulb, i need to add a resistor?
I have a PS-6750 direct drive which is one of those Sony decks that has a magnetic strip around the inside of the platter that is read to maintain the speed. Quite a novel system, but unfortunately it still has the tendency to drift. Definitely not quite as accurate as quartz lock.
I sometimes have an issue where it will speed up for a split second before settling down, although since a full re-cap it rarely happens. Perhaps a rogue tantalum, or a bad speed control. I'm hoping it's nothing to do with that rather fragile looking magnetic strip! :0
I had one of those turntables too. As far as I know it is still kicking around here somewhere unless i gave it away. The magnetic strip around the platter was a silly way of doing it. They would have been further ahead to use an optical reader on the platter.
I know right? Makes you wonder how many have been written-off simply from an accidental knock to that strip whilst removing the platter (I'm always very careful!). I agree, some sort of optical based system would've been a much more reliable solution.
Or getting a magnet too close to it. A friend had one too, and when I was relatively young and vindictive I was pissed off at said friend.
He borrowed one of my favorite records of the day Steve Miller Band book of dreams. He destroyed it by leaving it next to a radiator, and when he refused to buy me a new one, I did a nasty. Put a magnet up against the side of his turntable. You could imagine his surprise when he went to play a record and there was a HUGE wow in the speed every time the erased section passed the speed head.
He never figured out what happened.
Haa! Served him right! ;D
Yes, from comments in the various forums, that magnetic coating on the inside of the rim of the platter was a bad and weak point of their design; very easily damaged. Trying to clean it often results in turning the unit into scrap (unless you can find a good/used replacement platter)...
Not a bad idea to lubricate that bearing after you pull out the sub platter.
Electone_Guy
Already done.
It's also a good idea to check the bearing well with the multimeter to see if it is grounded! Most of the time, it isn't electrically connected to the metal plinth. The paint or anodizing is very heavy and it may well prevent an electrical connection, which can allow a static charge to build up in the record if the air is dry. That static may build up until it discharges with a pop through the cartridge and tone arm. Also, a grounded platter will provide a shielding effect, reducing stray electrical fields from the motor and helping prevent them from being induced into the cartridge and tonearm. You can actually solder a wire to the bearing well if you clean the metal and use a high heat soldering gun, and do it quickly.
Hi, I'm from Argentina and I do not understand too much English.
What would be the value of the neon lamp?
Greetings and many thanks
You can use an NE2 bulb if you don't have the larger original one.
The strobe light is used to calibrate the speed using a stroboscopic effect at 60Hz. My apologies if that is hard to understand, but it is difficult to make technical terms easy to understand for someone who does not know the language.
Nice!!
will the plastic not melt?
No, neon lamp produces no heat.
FOR SOME REASON YOUR VIDEOS ARE NOT SHOWING UP ON MY HOME PAGE ANYMORE. IHAVE TO GO TO YOUR PAGE TO SEE THEM.
Have no idea why that would be. I have not been getting notifications lately either so perhaps youtube is doing something.
Thorens is the best, TD165 here...
Great turntables, but the best? No.
In your opinion what is the best?
There is no best. It depends on what you personally like. I tend to prefer a Quartz-locked direct drive turntable for speed stability. Some prefer belt drive. I owned two Thorens and they were both excellent.
I had a TD165. My son has that one now. I use a Technics SLM1 quartz lock direct drive. I like that table personally, but many prefer a belt drive. I have found that rumble seems to be more audible on belt drive tables. Personally I am not a vinyl guy. The sound quality doesn't do anything for me. I have a high end single disk CDPX555ES, and the sound off that player is as good as anything I have ever heard. Some will argue vinyl untill they are blue in the face, but the fact remains that you get clicks and pops, and limited dynamic range off vinyl. Yes it sounds different. Some would argue better to their ears, and that is fine. I adopted CD back in 83 and there is no going back to vinyl.
I keep my table for my early records from the 60's to the early 80's, and if I find a gem at a thrift store for 1 or 2 dollars I will buy it, but I am not one to be spending the kind of money they ask for vinyl releases these days. A CD or or uncompressed file is what I look for these days.
Whatever you like. Listen to many, and pick one that sounds the best to your ears and you can afford, because in this world of turntables the sky is the limit. The same can be said for amplifiers and speakers.
Don't take anyone else's word for it. Listen to your source material and pick the one that you like the sound from.
What a bullshit design for a simple strobe light for a turntable. Also, the term is generally "removing the Platter" and not calling it the turntable. In North America "turntable" refers to the whole unit.
Whoop de fucking doo.
The platter is the turntable, the rest is the BASE. The tonearm attaches to the BASE not the turntable.