[reverend]

I have old '80s Pioneer PL-X11Z belt driven turntable. So how I test it runs on right speed? The service manual says that I have to use strobo sheet and then adjust the motor, how do I do that?

 

[Herandu]

Silly question. Can you unscrew one of the turntable legs and let me know if it has a gray coloured plastic cup type thingy with a spring in it? If it does, sell the TT and get another one! Those ranges of Pioneer had a massive speed problem. If I remember correctly it has a push switch on the righthand side to switch the TT on and off. Post a pic if need be.

 

[reverend]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Silly question. Can you unscrew one of the turntable legs and let me know if it has a gray coloured plastic cup type thingy with a spring in it? If it does, sell the TT and get another one! Those ranges of Pioneer had a massive speed problem. If I remember correctly it has a push switch on the righthand side to switch the TT on and off. Post a pic if need be.

No springs or plastic in the legs, legs are somekind of black rubber. It has a push switch on the righthand side, but it is speed selector switch, the TT has no pushable on/off switch.
It sounds like the speed is just a little bit too slow. Maybe I just buy a new belt. Otherwise it works just fine.

 

[Herandu]

Good idea to try the belt. Also get a speed strobe. There is one online somewhere that you can print out and cut out to use. Someone here is likely to know the link. If after you change the belt and tried the speed strobe, then you need the speed mod. I have asked a friend of mine who still works as a repair engineer to find out the Pioneer part number for the mod kit just in case.

 

[fran]

Easier way: Stick a little bit of tape to the platter so that it sticks out over the edge. Place your finger on the deck so that as the platter turns the paper brushes off your finger each rotation. Set a stopwatch for 3 minutes. As the paper brushes your finger, start the stop watch. Count the revolutions until the stop watch reaches zero (the bit of tape makes this easy and accurate). If the TT is running at 33 1/3 then you will have 100 revolutions in 3 mins.


Fran

 

[Skipinder]

You can find printable strobe disks at
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/freestuff.htm
and
http://www.extremephono.com/free_tur...trobe_disk.htm

 

[trains are bad]

The counting revolutions method won't tell you if your table is wowing, BTW. It just tells you your average speed is right, not that it's stable. BTW, if you are archiving vinyl, Audacity has a vinyl speed compensator for thing.

 

[Dimitris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skipinder /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can find printable strobe disks at http://www.enjoythemusic.com/freestuff.htm and http://www.extremephono.com/free_tur...trobe_disk.htm

I think this one is one of the easiest ways to check speed.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skipinder /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can find printable strobe disks at http://www.enjoythemusic.com/freestuff.htm and http://www.extremephono.com/free_tur...trobe_disk.htm

I assume you need some type of strobe light as well.

 

[bigshot]

Flourescents work best.

See ya
Steve

 

[Dimitris]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton /img/forum/go_quote.gif I assume you need some type of strobe light as well.

I think if you put it on the plate and you start the turntable if you notice the dots in front of you they should look still. If they move on one direction then you need to make adjustments until they stop moving.

I havent used a turntable for a while but i think thats how it works.

 

[fran]

Those strobe discs have markings for both 50Hz and 60Hz. All you have to do is shine a fluorescent on them and you will see the strobe effect. If the appropriate dots appear to stand still, then your timing is bang on. Variation either way will cause teh dots to appear to "march" - just like a timing light on a car engine.

Of course you're right about the counting method being good for an average only. But the thing is if you have wow because of intermittent speed changes, that will be very evident if you just pop on some piano music, and in fact IMHO much quicker to be picked up than a TT running slightly slow or fast.

Rega Planar 3s ran fast by abut 1% I think. I know mine did until I sorted it out. Wasn't al that noticeable until I played CD next to TT

Fran