I just bought a pretty ragged PL-518 at the flea market. Shes rough but everything's there. I found your video that night and loved the detail and expertise you put into making it. On my unit the power comes on and the toner arm switch is working, strobe come on but the motor just moves to one of eight positions and sticks there. Without the platter it moves a little back and forth, sometimes even backwards for a second. I followed your instructions on checking the motor windings and all 6 seem fine. I got ~130 ohms on the first 3 and ~65 ohms on the last 3, similar to yours but no open windings thank goodness. I havent cleaned the pots yet, waiting on my deoxit faderlube to come in. If cleaning the pots doesn't work out, whats next? The caps? I've recapped a PC motherboard before, but those little winding wires scare me! Thanks.
Thanks for taking us on this troubleshooting and repair adventure. This era of turntables were certainly well-built; 40-45 years later they do need some TLC and electronic love to function as designed for daily use. Always satisfying to see equipment saved for use in a second life!
Less is more with these tables. Capacitors of course and a lube, but I leave the motor be. The microswitch can be a real bringer of issues as it is tarnished internally and can mimic motor speed issues as well. I tend to flush old lube with aresol ipa and drop lube with the mech in situ if possible to avoid disturbing the action of the mechanics. In the end it was saved from the heap and it is a direct drive and far superior to wow and flutter filled belt drives.
Great to see a detailed take down of a PL-518. I've got that runs fine but there's a jerky motion on the tone arm when in return. After watching this, I can guess where the lube is probably needed. Love to see a repair on an ELAC 10 or 40H or similar. Also a Pioneer RT-1020L Reel to reel
Thank you for this video... watched it twice, it took the scary away and i felt comfortable tackling cleaning out the motor, re-oiling, adjusting the auto return kick point and getting at the pots for the f5. Thanks so much ! I do receivers and amps but had never tackled a turntable. I subbed !
Thank you Trevor. I have a Pl-518 that needs some basic maintenance work that I believe I can handle after watching your detailed video. The motor and pitch control are in great shape but the on/off toggle switch and auto return features need attention. Please let me know what kind of lubricant you are using. 41:37 Cheers
Basicaly I dislike any automatic TTs. My first TT was a semi automatic (going Home) SL-Q2; of cause excellent Technics quality. I just checked the torge of my legacy fully manual Denon SL-7D and decided to never give it away, despite I do own several much more sophisticated Turn Tables. Excellent job as always 🖖
My PL518 had an issue with the antiskate mechanism. If I followed the instructions and set antiskate the same as vtf, the antiskate force was way too much resulting in distortion. I looked at the mechanism and it looked fine. I cleaned and relubed the mechanism, put it all back together and reset the antiskate using a Shure test lp with a blank track. I only had to apply a little antiskate, barely moving the knob, for it to be set correctly. No distortion. Not sure why it wasn't working properly, but all is good now.
Hello, thank you very much for your very interesting video. I would like to ask you about the brand and model of the microscope you use when you are cleaning the stylus. I would like to be able to buy a similar one. Congratulations on your work.
I bet that was a little more involved than You hoped. Your tucking and poking at windings didn't exactly help, but the motor was shot to begin with. At least You created the perfect Halloween turntable *lol* that wow turned every music into spooky music. I'm glad this pretty nice turntable could be saved. I wouldn't even have touched those fine enameled wires to begin with, but in the end it was necessary. Better than leaving the capacitors untouched. Nice job! :D
Hey there from Chicago. Wonderful video. I have this same turntable that I bought from an original owner back in January. It’s in great condition but the auto return recently stopped working. Wondering if you have any suggestions? Also, do you have any videos on setting this table up as far as the counterweight and cartridge alignments. Thanks
Great repair video, the best i have seen for Pioneer PL up to now. i have 2 518 decks, one is working fine, the 2nd makes buzz on the speakers, i believe the cinch cable is broken. I ordered some replacement but i am not sure if i should soldering the new ones direct on the 5 connector pins or put into the plastic adapter which Pioneer used for the connection?
In my PL640 auto return is nit happening,which seems driver to be used ,cross screw driver or normal screw driver to yrigger proper auto return .In this TT the same distance 62 mm is ok or slightly more or less . This video of was very good as it covered multiple problems . Thank you for reading .
@@TrevorsBench Thank you very much Sir for your prompt reply with your very nice advise .I will adjust just like you did in the PL 518 . THANK YOU VERY MUCH AGAIN .
Hi, i got an 518 and the tonearm move (just 1 mm or less) it's self, there is a little tollerance that i do not like. If a take the tonearm by my hand and pull forward me or if i push it forward back. What can be and how can i fix it? Thx
It sounds like the bearings in the tonearm gimble are loose or dislocated. There shouldn't be longitudinal play in the tonearm support. I can't suggest how to fix aside from disassembly and see why it's doing this.
I've had this turntable for months now and didn't know it was capable of auto returning??, because mine does not. watched your video a couple times now and still can't figure out how to fix this problem?
Have a good look at the mechanism and see how the tonearm trips the auto return. Compare to the service manual to see If there is something broken or missing. Run it through the process manually by hand and see if you can spot why it's not triggering. Could be badly out of adjustment, have sticky grease or something may be disconnected.
Grrr thank you for your comprehensive guide, invaluable, which unfortunately led me to the realization i have a open coil :( If anyone has a PXM058 motor ping me!
Awesome and very detailed, Trevor. In your video, I heard a drone when the speaker volume was ON and the turntable was running. I'm having the persistent drone with my Pioneer PL-55X. It's connected to a turntable pre-amplifier and then to the receiver. I've replaced cartridge/stylus with new. Also, grounded the turntable wire to the pre-amp. Cannot get rid of it. Any idea what I could try? Thank you for reading.
I recently acquired a pl 516 turntable, maybe you can help me. When lowering my tonearm on to the record, instead contacting the album it will hover..travel to the end of the album, then auto return to its cradle and shut off. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The tracking weight for this would typically be 2 grams. Was the tonearm set up for this weight? Otherwise, the cueing is not releasing the tonearm to fully drop. Sticky grease may be keeping the tonearm from fully dropping. Will it play if you push the arm down first? Try this before the start of the album so you don't damage the stylus
BROTHER YOU WERE SO RIGHT!!....I adjusted the weight as u said i works like a charm. It sounds really good too. What's your recommendation for a cartridge, currently it has a Stanton 680 el.
This Guy didn't have enough knowledge of Turntables, to know that 1 Don't ever bang the tone arm around! it's a delicate microphone, and 2 FFS never bang it around, while the counter weight is on it, if you don't know how to or that you must, remove the weight, then all you are doing is ruining a great Turntable, jesus these guys that do videos and have no clue of turntables, he should maybe watch some videos done by those that do know how to work on turntables, specifically the Pioneer PL-518, it goes to show that, those who know Do what they know, those who don't know teach, just because you have a knowledge of electronics, doesn't mean you have been taught how to repair Turntables mechanisms & controls, I give an E for effort and an F for failing to fix a known issue that is easily fixed, if you know anything about Turntable repair, this is a good example of the repair guy doing more harm then good, plucking wires like it's a Guitar or something, bouncing the stylus on the album OMG these motors never fail and that was not what was wrong, taking the Turntable to someone that has no experience with Vintage turntables is what is wrong lol ffs.
