Sears 1975 stereo am-fm, phono with 8-track recorder console at in-laws basement is seized up solid just the same way for several decades. Exact same turntable. Thanks for the detailed video!
You, sir, made me a hero to my family. The exact same unit. Been down for 35 years. Thanks to this video, working again. I had a few more frozen pieces than yours but I have all but the changer working now!
He did it all wrong. The bearing need a light grease. They are noisy because they are not properly lubricated. They also need to have all that WD-40 washed completely out of the bearings. Everything should have been packed with light lithium grease.
@@josh6715 No, he does not. Anyone who lubricates bearing with WD40, which says right on the bottle that is NOT a lubricant and that it is "Water Displacement number 40" has no clue what they are doing. These old turntables were not designed with "lifetime lubrication." They were not designed with a 5 year service life. They would have included instructions calling for periodic lubrication. There are felts in the motor specifically there to hold oil. These are large heavy AC motors that require lubrication along with the spindle and the idler wheel pulley and the main center bearing. Some require machine oil, like the felts, others require light grease, like the mech and the spindle.
THANK YOU!! I scored a free stereo cabinet today and the turntable was completely seized. I followed your video closely and it’s working again! (Mostly)
Thanks for sharing the BSR repair. My wife as one from the’70’s and was repaired in 1999. Since the repair guy only specializes in television and video now, it is up to me to revise this unit again. Thanks for the video, this is very helpful.
THANK YOU! I purchased a beautiful BSR turntable that was totally seized up. If I hadn’t found your video I would’ve garbaged it. I definitely wouldn’t have spent over an hour with WD-40 and rubbing alcohol and a heat gun trying to get the turn table off!! I followed all your steps and tonight I’m listening to it’s gorgeous sound. Thank you from Malisa in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Thanks. Got this exact model from my father in law after he pasted away. Was glad I came across this as I was just going to donate it. Now we'll have it for a long time.
Thankyou so much for this, I live in the U.K. and I have a B.S.R. gramophone unit that I grew up with as a child and when my parents passed away 16 years ago it was one of the few items fom their house I wanted. Though the radio still worked, the turntable was jammed soild and hadn't worked in about thirty years I guess, but after watching your tutorial several times ( plus as I was trying to repair it ), it now plays again! It still doesn't want to play automatically so I may try to go further with it, but for now, I am very happy. One can of wd40, a small amount of grease and patience has done wonders for a piece of my childhood.
Thank you so much! I am listening to my 1975 Sony HP-161 for the first time in 25 years -- got the platter spinning in perfect time, now just need to try and fix the auto changer!
I appreciate the time you put on this video specially the part you used soldering gun to heat up the shaft and bring so it could easily come off cause it was the most tricky part, thanks a lot
This has been the most helpful video on BSR turntables I've found. I followed your process exactly and fixed out record player after it seized. Thank you for your time, and great work, in making this video! Again, amazing job.
You saved my 1977 my turntable! Next is tuning the 8-track. I have an old JC Penny BSR unit. AM/FM 8-track and turntable. If you have a video on the 8-track that would be awesome. Thank you so much for your excellent instructions. Really I am excited to play my records again - just like I use to!
This turntable must have been in use for a very long time, as I'm about to repair a seized one from an early 80s Panasonic all-in-one stereo (TT, cassette, AM/FM). Thanks for the intel!
Dude.. duuuuuude... Just followed your video and I now have a working player.. wish I could send you the vid of it playing.. Thanks a million. This was in a Electrophonic console with 8-track (which works) and am/fm radio..
I remember the console stereo very well. This project brought back good memories. The consoles were always in the middle of the living room and looked like furniture.
Thank you for your video. My parents deceased son had bought a console long ago. My mom wanted me to get it to work. It works except the needle keeps needing adjusting because it’s going to fast. It’s playing though! Which it hasn’t been able to for a few years.
juky 2021 and this video is still helping. I tucked 2 of these (desktop) models away in the attack 30 years ago. I used some de chlorinated brake clean to remove the dry grease and then put a dab of contact grease on the slides. 3n1 oil for the bearings... Thanks for the vid.
I am collecting some Dynatrons. Here in the UK they are also in wooden cabinets or caskets. Very high end components. Goldring Lenco Decks and Japanese receivers but with the name Dynatron slapped on. They are seriously high end kit, but most have Garrad 6300 decks or 25s mk 3 or 4's. If you look in E Bay you will see how beautiful some of these are. They even have the royal insignia and were sold in Harrods. The speakers are amazing (if they haven't rotted) being Wharfedales. Thank you for this upload.
Just picked up a 60s Magnavox stereo console with this exact BSR as a replacement player to the original. I quickly found out he player was completely seized. Thought it was a total loss.. but after watching this video it now works great! Thanks for the video!
The receiver sounds great. Use GC Lubriplate,phono lube and light machine oil on the mechanisms. I have the same turn table in a Truetone console. This video is a great help. For something that looks so simple, these turntables are really complicated. Thank God for RU-vid! If you’ve never done one of these use heat gun or hair dryer, pay close attention as the platter is all plastic.
I was just 5 years old when my mom & dad purchased a 1970 General Electric console. Had the radio and turntable plus an input for auxiliary things. It had a portable speaker that was a receiver that picked up the signal from the console. Always seemed to have static on that. The record player mechanism seemed hard on the needle...it would drop it down quite hard onto the record. Had that until about 1990 when we finally donated it. It could rock the house but some of the consoles from the early to mid-60's I've seen restored on RU-vid seem to be even better quality and sound quality, plus bigger speakers.
Dear Sir, I am collecting Dynatrons. The Queen used them, they were only sold in Harrods and posh places. One I have cost £633 in 1971. I have the receipt. A mini cost about £1000, so as ridiculously expensive as what the audiophiles throw their money away on today. Inside you got a Goldring Lenco 78 or 75. You got a 33 W RMS per channel Quad capable amp and 4 Wharfedale speakers . All branded Dynatron. The Cabinets or plinths were made by craftsmen of the best wood and the wood most appropriate for the job. So it not only sounded good but looked good too. People throw them out because they think it clunky Granny Fi. They are wrong. They are Hi Fi. Just like when old Jag E Types were once just unwanted old bangers the same with these consoles today. These are going to be VERY expensive as people are now are finding out just how good they are. I would be very interested if you sourced some more of these of different makes so we can see what range of these were available in Canada. Once you refurbish them you should keep them! Thank you.
These had bloody good sound, we had one made by Ultra, this should have a screw at the back of the tonearm to adjust the weight. these old bsr's were brill to work on, had many an awesome night listening to records on these old bsr players, usually quite drunk haha, dave you have room on the right hand side to fit a cassette deck
Smashing repair:-D, That was a well gummed up one, it fought you all the way. I havn't seen a radiogram for years, that one looks in a good condition :-D. I've done a fair few record decks too, same problems, garrard and other makes all suffer from lube problems, and some i've had to dissasemble the underside mech. But they all perform well when cleaned and lubed :-D
Repaired a good number of these, and by far the worst was some one had lubed the spindle with corn oil. Seized solid as the oil dried out.and I was peeling the stuff out with a needle. Fun times.
If you want to use one of these ceramic cartridge turntables to have very good sound in a modern stereo system use a pair of guitar preamps like the EQ-7545R. These preamps provide the impedance necessary for proper bass response from a ceramic cartridge. The equalizer on these preamps is also very useful for 78s. I use my BSR record changer on a daily basis. I have a Rega as well, but the BSR gets a lot more use because I have a lot of thrift store records and don't care to wear out the non-replaceable needle on the Rega Elys2 for them.
back in the 80's when the all metal ones used to come in and were seized solid like that.. we used to take off the motor, rubber mat and tonearm and sling them in a big tank of dirty petrol that was in the yard for just that purpose.... usually left them overnight.. freed up everything lovely it did.. then the jockey wheel would need replacing.. usually had a dent in it anyhow.. half a quid new at the time.. one of the apprentices tried it with a plastic one.. only the once.............
Those old BSRs were a pretty solid and durable turntable back then. The only problem with them was the motor ran too fast. A careful and time-consuming filing of the shaft takes care of that. Also, some had cheap plastic platters that sometimes left a mark in the records. The radio sounds great!
hearing the rumbleas you put the record on, took me back to childhood when we had a bsr turntable, ive not heard it since as i got a very good linn deck with various mods which was silent
I need to work on my old 1976 Montgomery Wards Airline console with turntable, 8 track and radio. However, the turntable is in a drawer that pulls out, but only a little ways. I do not see how I could attempt to work in that small space and I am afraid to open the back as things may just start breaking. It is a large unit, about 52" long. Radio works but the knobs can be crackly. Loved your vid. I am super envious. My dad gave me this unit and it means the world to me. Wish I would have played it these past 20 years and maybe it would not have seized up. I stored it as I was afraid my cats would scratch it up.
The chassis all come out real easy. Pop the back and a few screws will allow you to remove the record player. They have plugs on the bottom to disconnect it from chassis. These were designed to be removed in the house and taken to the shop.
@@12voltvids Great!!! I will try it! I hate to have to move the entire unit to the repair shop! Also, I'm afraid to leave the whole unit with the shop. Thanks a lot!
i have owned a few bsr record changers in my time 5 to be exact one that was seized and 4 that worked. the bsr changers usually had a very high output and so if u turned up the volume to say 1 or 2 its like u turned it up to 10 or 15 on the dial. also the bsr changers usually didnt have a ground wire strangely enough.
I discovered this channel recently and am binge watching all your stuff - which is great. I was not trying to tell you you were doing anything wrong or that you are not super talented. Only trying to make a suggestion that I learned 45 years ago when doing electronic repairs professionally too. I will leave it to you experts but Kroil is very good at that one task. Oh. And Tecknowledgy can kiss my ass.
44:48 They also made a rectangular plastic 45 adapter that clipped onto the spindle of course it limited you to only a stack of 45s. Not sure if they included them with the turntables or if they were an extra purchase.
Nice informative video, I didn't know Garrard were a big player too. Recently missed a Bush console system with a Garrard changer in the local auction... My Fidelity UA3 still had/has the plastic on some of the brushed alloy trim parts, it fell off the centre hub on it's own though. They look gorgeous when they've been under wraps all this time, think the Fidelity is about '73/4 going off the couple of IC's on the board.
@Mark Godfrey Haha yeh you could say that for most. I've come a ways in a year or so though, got a couple of Garrard TTs and just been gifted an AP76 in a plinth complete with original mounting template and manual! It was being thrown out at a friend's apartment!!! I think the fast playing BSR's were more down to dirt on the motor spindle, certainly my UA70 is pretty accurate after a full service and clean. Good enough for my ears anyhow lol
Garrard I think is excellent and they had some very high quality cartridges. I sold one to a buyer in Russia that never reached him, I've had them in consoles mounted in a pull-out drawer. I kept the drawer and player and ow it is at the top of my rack for playing 78's.
Just a little note from someone who built these decks at BSR. Please don’t use either WD40 or 3 in 1 oil on these mechanisms once it gets warm WD40 starts to dry sticky and 3 in 1 just dries out. You have to use grease on the moving metal parts. This is a short term fix. Put grease on and it will run for another 50 years and it will run quietly like the day they left the factory
Is sewing machine oil or clock or watch oil any good? I use those when I am afraid the things are delicate Coa I figure if its OK for q watch it should be safe for other things. Not sure if they make special record player oil maybe
I had a Garrard turntable back in the mid 1980's . Was good turntable fully automatic too all four speeds as well .but the headshell cartridge sucked on it . I replaced the cartridge with a Teledyne mm cartridge not bad just cheap. Back in the day they had miles of turntable cartridges in the store . Now try too find a place like that miles of audio equipment and cartridges
Nice old unit, seems odd that despite being a Philips, it has a BSR deck, as most Philips players in Europe had their own autochanger deck. This had the pentagonal connector and usually a shiny top to the headshell. I've seen a few old mono sets with a BSR mind, the sort where you close the lid to get better bass. The speakers in your console were widely used over here too in Philips kit. The only things I do different to your BSR overhaul are both to do with bearings. Under the camwheel's the small follower that moves to operate the arm, there's a tiny little roller on that which should be free to spin on its pin. This is especially important with the later single-play decks with the S-shaped arms, as the cam on those is plastic, not ally. Then I tend to give the motor bearings some oil, as you may know there's a felt washer on some that's a sort of oil reservoir. Nice to see someone else battling the goo ! Recently I've got lazy mind, and soak all the bits without electrics/rubber in WD or cleaner overnight prior to tackling them LOL.
Thank you so much for this video. Not sure if you read the comments, but I have this exact BSR (in a suitcase), it works but needs 14g of weight on the record to keep it from wobbling. Everything seems in order except on two points: There is no longer rubber on the motor spindle, and the bearings on the center post seem slightly warped. Any ideas on what I should look at?
Really good video - you've just helped me get my grandmas old vinyl spinning again! Thanks for sharing your knowledge. Just wondering what grease you'd recommend before I put it all back together again please?
@12voltvids @: thank you for this info sir! One question. I've cleaned it and lubricated(a tiny bit of tri-flow) now: how to get the gear back on the spindle enough so I can get the retention clip back on?
Not too long ago, I pulled a four speed 70's BSR changer from a Morse stereo console. The turntable spins freely & everything on it works,but I assume the reason they seize up is from how long they been stored or not used.
I seen a Sony PS 77 on eBay for like 100 bucks . The seller said it needed still needed work .it has a mm cartridge on it . It needs a idler wheel replaced .but it is a changer . The second turntable I want is a Sony PS 1100 never nice table but the platter is bent .I can fix the platter and I need the anti skate weight too . I think I'm going with the Sony PS 1100 . The Sony PS 1100 looks so nice too . The other Sony is also nice as well but I have too spend 35 bucks on a idler wheel new
I don't know what the British had for glue but this grease used made a very good glue,not a good grease though. I did a lot of this repair over the years also, did not see you do anything with the cam follower roller, they usually seized up too and had to be heated to loosen them up also.
It is 400 mW and that, with the current antenna will make it a couple of blocks. Now, if I were to connect it to a really long wire antenna, it could go much further than that. If I were to connect it to a tube amplifier, well, you get the idea. I have built low power FM stations in the past. One was installed at a logging camp up on a mountain side, put out 20 watts, and could be heard over the entire town. Back in the 80`s I built a few such units that were installed up on a mountain where they could receive a distant station and rebroadcast it on a different frequency into the town. That is called a translator station. I hand built 3 of them at a couple grand each when I was working for a small electronics company. Had a PLL tuner and PLL transmitter set with dip switches. Were based on the Ramsey FM25 transmitter with a 20 watt amplifier added
How times change. A few years ago, you couldn't give this kind of kit away - before the vinyl revival, nobody wanted something as big as a washing machine like this (plus with real fuddy-duddy grandma style cabinet) just to play a record on. Now, there's a lot more demand. Hopefully more usable equipment like this can be saved form landfill.
I had no problem finding this a home. One of my wife's older friends got the boot. She had been living with her daughter and son inlaw, and they seperated and she found herself homeless moving in to an apartment. The wife asked if she could have it and a TV and I said sure take em away. So I found a home for a Hitachi 39' LED TV and this big console stereo for her to play her Elvis records on.
I just recently acquired a Lloyd's multiplex stereo with a BSR record changer. This one had a metal platter, and it was seized. Removing the autoplay spindle is quite labor-intensive! Are there any better lubricants besides 3-in-1 oil to soften and melt the old hard grease? I've seen the Kroil stuff, but I didn't know it was pretty expensive! Also, will a 40-watt soldering iron work better than a standard 25-watt one?
I have a 1970s PYE gramophone and it has the exact same record player and its working perfectly fine but the turntable vibrates with a 7'' record player or the cabinet it vibrates again. but with bigger record its just fine. the record player was given to me by my grandmother. she got it brand new and never done work on it, she us well looked after it. I don't know if it needs to be taken part or just needs grease or something for the bearing. EDIT: fixed
It's a mid 70s console. The C129R changer didn't come out until 1973-74, and the C129R1 came out around 1975. Yours is a C129R changer. The only exception is, if someone swapped the original changer for a BSR.
Appreciate your attention to Details! Consoles lost their attraction with the advent of better Tech! Can you imagine the PAIN of changing that TT with a modern Transcription Deck? LOL!! But Yes, we had one like this. Great carpentry - was solid (massive) Wood! Damn Man - U ran a 'stang w/o Synthetic?? NO!!! I ONLY dropped 45s! You have a good supply of Vinyl? Cheers, B&M.
It wasn't so much the improved tech that killed them, it was their sheer bulk. They had become impractical due to their size; even the 'compact' models took up as much space as the larger 25-27" CRT televisions of the era. The big thing by the mid-1970s were 'music center' stereos, where the phono, tuner, and tape deck were built into a small central unit, but it used external bookshelf speakers. The advantage was you could put the 'head unit' and the speakers in practical locations; while consoles were often limited with regard to where you could place them. And not many people wanted a big ornate box full of mostly air in their living room any more. Electronics-wise, there wasn't much difference between the music center and console stereos; in fact, some models of console had the same circuit boards as their music center counterparts. As for swapping out the changers... most people didn't worry about that. Those that did bought component or 'rack' stereos.
First. Thank you for this well made video! Second. I can’t get the Stop Start and Auto switch to work. It’s extremely tight. Any ideas what it could be? I noticed the white part that locks the arm down seems to be in the way of a lever. I don’t want to force the switch because it’s plastic and may break. Hope you can help! Thanks
so glad i found this video, however on my system the on/off/auto switch is the main issue, for some reason its locked into off and i cannot get it to switch. the table itself spins fine but i can't seem to get the power switch to work. any idea on why that is?
WD-40 is the 40th attempt that was successful for Water Displacement lubricant. So in using it means there was or is going to be Water damage. Use the right lube for the right job! There are 6 basic lubes better than WD-40. Liquid Wrench makes a good set that tells the user what each is for on the can.
This gives me an exact information to get more deeper to maintain my BSR MA65 turntable changing the cartridge SC5M needle. Tq!!! What is your recommendation of needle model's No.? Tq!!!
Hi. I have this exact turntable. It plays 7" singles fine, but often skips on 12" LPs, especially in the first few songs. Any suggestions? I can't find a antiskate adjustment anywhere but there is a screw on the right hand side of the tonearm, poking out at 45 degrees. Does this affect anything important?!
Mine makes kinda like a squeaking/rattling noise while spinning, does your’s do the same? I didn’t know if that sound was normal for these turntables or not
Nice video. Useless piece of trivia for you: BSR stood for Birmingham Sound Reproducers. Here in the UK there actually wasn't an awful lot of love for BSR, they were perceived as inferior quality to Garrard, who offered high end decks like the 401 and 301 as well as the consumer-grade models such as the SP25 and AT6. In the 60s and 70s, many a BSR deck from radiograms such as this Philips were tossed in the trash having been replaced by an AT6 or SP25.
