wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks for all the advice, folks.

So - I did get it open (having removed the cartridge and locked the
arm) and found that a very small washer-like item had cracked and the
pieces were stuck to the magnetic disc that surrounds the spindle.
These pieces were grating against other pieces of the mechanism.

I removed these pieces, reassembled the turntable, and now it works
with no problem. However, it's now of course missing a washer, and I
suspect this is not ideal for the long term health of the turntable.

This washer (when whole) was not a complete circle - rather, it was
about 2/3 of a circle with three very small tabs inside the curve. Any
ideas what this piece is or how unadvisable it is to continue using the
turntable without it?

Thanks.



A 'washer' of this description is actually a form of circlip. Its purpose is
to retain a shaft somewhere. Could be from the bottom of the tone arm lifter
shaft or somewhere similar. Look for a shaft a little larger in diameter
than the gap between the 'tabs', then check if it has a groove cut around
it. That will be where the clip belongs. If you can't readily obtain one,
you can achieve the same result, by wrapping a piece of stiff wire ( like a
resistor leg ) with a larger diameter than the width of the groove, around
the shaft, and in the groove.

Arfa