Quick tuneup of a very nice Technics SL-D3 direct drive turntable I had to trim the audio at the end of the video due to a copyright claim of the Pat Benatar song.
Great memory I had the same model and vintage damned if I know where it went? Guess I got caught up in the cassette and cd craze, now I’m going full circle and heading back to my roots!!
Good video!👍 I have 2 sl- d3 turntables ( one with AT -WMN 30 EN) and ( one with goldring 1022 GX). Them sounds very good. Also I have GRUNDIG PS 4500 ( technics sl- Q2 with at- 71e). Quality turntable too.
Hi, really great video and useful tips. I have had a SL-D3 since the 80s, it served me quite well, and never had the oily problems with the mat, it's perfect. I do however have a problem with the cue lever, it came out and I am unable to put it back.. Not sure if broken or simply detached. Can you suggest a way to fix this? Thanks
I'm sorry but I didn't really look at the tonearm much on that unit since it was working properly. You might want to contact "Turntable Guy" He specializes in working on turntables and may be able to answer your questions.
Hi great video. Just got one of these with the disc size adjustment jammed. That's me job today and then source some scratch remover for the dust cover. Respect from across the pond
Thanks for commenting on the video and good luck with your restoration. It sounds like yours has a few more issues than the one I worked on. The owner did eventually replace the old dried up platter mat with a new aftermarket rubber mat.
Many old Technics tables had this mat problem. It's oil, leaching out of the mat. Besides being messy, the mat turns hard as a rock. My D3, bought used, had an original mat, which was dry and soft. Easy enough to find a new generic mat. Technics has a preferred oil for the spindle, readily available. I used alcohol pads for cleaning. Speed pots may need Deoxit, sprayed from underneath.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions. Since making this video I did discover that the Technics platter matt rot issue is very common. I suggested to the owner to purchase a new mat and sent her a link. I discovered from watching videos from "The Turntable Guy" that he uses Singer 10W oil on Technics which I think is close to what Technics suggests. I've purchased some of that for my next Technics turntable service. I didn't clean the speed adjust pot because it was working fine. I probably should have cleaned it as part of a routine service and would do that if working on the same turntable today.
That's an old video when I was still using Mobile 1 engine oil for lubrication. Today I would probably use 3in1 electric motor oil for that application. It's available in most hardware stores or online.
What cleaning process do you recommend on cleaning the top plate part where the vinyl rests. I have my dads old technics record player. And that part is kind of dusty/ dirty. I don't want to mess it up cleaning it the wrong way. If you can reply to this it would be a big help, thank you.
It sounds like you are talking about the platter matt, the rubber part that sits on top of the spinning platter. If so first check that the matt is still soft and pliable without an oily or greasy feel. Old platter matts on Technics turntables go bad and start outgassing oil like the one in my video. If the matt is still good, you can clean it up with just about any cleaner solution. I use Crud Cutter because that's what I have on hand. If the platter matt is bad there are plenty available online at reasonable prices.
Cool video. The 3M headlight restoration kits also work very well to restore the dust covers. From what I can see, the Nova products aren't available here in Europe.
I was thinking about using one of the headlight kits on a heavily scratched dust cover from my Dual 1019 turntable. The Novus products did not remove the deep scratches.
@@mguess I tried the turtle wax one and it didn't work, but the 3M kit worked a treat. It takes a bit of patience and persistence to get the hard to reach corners, but worth it. Also, it's quite scary, after the first pass, I thought I'd destroyed it.
I tried the 3M headlight kit on my Dual 1019 turntable dust cover with good results. Here is the link to the video. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5Qvia6wV2ss.html
Is there a way to adjust the auto stop/return position? My D3 cuts off early right at the 7" 45rpm start position so I can't play 45's and 12 and 10 inch records cut off early. I've ordered a shop manual but it hasn't arrived yet. Thanks!
There is an adjustment screw for tonearm return. The adjustment procedure is listed in the turntable operating instructions. I have a pdf copy that I can email to you if you give me your email address.
@@mguess Thank you for the information. I was able to find the manual online last night and from that I was able to find the adjustment under the platter. I was also able to fix the tonearm height adjustment. All of the automatic functions had to be adjusted on mine but it did show me how they all relate to one another. Now it plays and functions correctly, it just needs a clean up and to replace a few broken parts. The automatic functions have a lot of moving parts so I had to use synthetic oil to free those up especially in the memory/repeat section. Now that I know it works I can look into the 78 modification. It plays and sounds great now. Mine has a Shure M97 cartridge with a Shure 3x stylus. Oh, in case anyone runs into a loose headshell while it's installed on the tonearm, there''s a Phillips set screw on the bottom side of the tonearm that should be tightened slightly even though the screw doesn't seem loose.
I'd recommend using a good contact cleaner like Deoxit on the speed adjustment control pot. A dirty speed pot is very common issue with unstable speed control on most turntables. Good luck and Merry Christmas!
Thanks much! Questions. If I’ve already calibrated the tonearm and set the tracking force but then realize the tracking force should be set to a different setting - do I need to recalibrate the tonearm again before resetting the tracking force to the new setting? Or is it ok to adjust the tracking force without recalibration? I guess what I’m asking is do you need to recalibrate the tonearm every time you maybe need to make adjustments to your tracking force to suit your cartridge
If you balanced the tonearm with the cartridge installed you do not need to re-balance to change the tracking force. Make sure to adjust the anti-skate also. Of course you will need to re-balance the tonearm if you change cartridges. If you want to be really accurate you may want to pick up a digital tonearm scale, under $20 on Amazon.
Three in One oil works great. You can also use a light weight synthetic motor oil (0-20W). Don't buy the "turntable" oil that is sold on eBay. It's usually just repackaged motor oil which is ok just very expensive for what you get.
I recently got a similar Technics SL-D1 and I also found oil between the platter and the matt. I thought it was just some strange thing that had happened to the TT but it seems to be a common occurrence. Thanks for the video!
Thanks for the comment. I was surprised at first to see the oil between the platter and platter mat. I later decided that the platter mat itself was the source of the oil. I believe that as the rubber mat ages it out-gassed the oil. I've seen this happen on 70's vintage speaker vinyl coverings also. The platter mat was also very stiff and hard and actually cracked as I removed it. I am recommending that the owner replace the mat with either a new rubber or cork mat. Outside of that issue, it was a very nice turntable.
@@mguess That sounds like the most logical explanation to the oil. My rubber mat was also stiff and hard (I've replaced it as well). Thanks again for sharing the knowledge :)
@@mguess Just as an FYI, that is exactly what is happening. It's where the oil comes from and it's why the mat is no longer soft. This is pretty common in these older phono's. Time for a new mat. Nice video.
