Bottlehead Forum
Other Gear => Phono => Topic started by: aragorn723 on September 05, 2021, 05:50:15 AM
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Today I was listening to some records and noticed that they are slowing down. The record player is a Uturn Orbit, and is 3 years old. Is fixing this as simple as replacing the belt?
Dave
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Why don't you ask U-turn?
Is the TT always off, or does it depend on where the needle is on the record?
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Only sometimes. Its off when the stylus is closer to the end of a side.
Dave
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Was hoping someone could help on here. I did send a note to Uturn but probably won't hear anything till Tuesday with the holiday coming. Curious about your question though Paul, seems to imply it might not be the belt. You would think belt tension is constant throughout the whole record.
Dave
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Have you got a little strobe plate you can drop on the spindle? Useful to have far a $ or 2. You can then check the speed at any point on a record.
How is the bias set on your arm. String and weight? Magnetic? Might be a problem there.
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Never heard of a strobe plate, is there one you recommend?
As far as the cart, I followed their directions. Mounted the cart, hooked up the wires, then checked the alignment. After that, I set the tracking force to 1.75g iirc. Afaik there is no separate bias setting on the Uturn.
Dave
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You can just download and print one off the internet.
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https://www.ebay.com/itm/401529642305?epid=1652452001&hash=item5d7d081d41:g:nY8AAOSwSdZWdD2j
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Free!
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Thank you sir!
Dave
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Apparently the main bearing and spindle are bad. Got them on order.
Dave
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That must be very bad QC by Orbit unless there has never been any oil in the bearing. They normally last "forever" in normal use. I'd be politely asking them for a free replacement.
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I agree with DELUK. That is appalling... This is a turntable manufacturer and they send out product with bad bearing and spindle... :(
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Can't complain too much really, they charged me $10 for a new spindle and the main bearing since the table just went out of warranty. Agreed though, probably was defective from the start. My bicycle bearings last longer than that and have thousands of miles on them. The Uturn has about 400 hours of use.
Dave
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At these price points one would assume the manufacturer has to cut corners somewhere I suppose.
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Yup. Hopefully this will be a top notch part. Apparently there's shipping delays now, ordered these parts back on the 8th. Can't even get an update on where they are.
Dave
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Update-parts came in today. No instructions included, but it was just a few screws to take out the old bearings. The new ones spin noticably better without the platter installed. Listening to some vinyl now, and the speed variation is gone. Seems to be more detail too. Wasn't expecting that.
Dave
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Seems to be more detail too. Wasn't expecting that.
Yup, better bearings with lower friction have that effect. It's the same with the ball bearings we provide in our tape path upgrade kits to replace the fixed guides in Technics and Otari tape decks. Resolution increases.
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What is happening here, is smoother platter rotation resulting in the stylus tracking better in the grooves and playing more detail?
Dave
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With a turntable ideally the only vibration would be coming from the stylus in the groove. By eliminating the bad bearing you eliminated vibration that was competing with the groove modulation. Vibration control and elimination is at the heart of turntable design.
Did they send you any lubricant with the new bearing?
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there's no separate bottle of lubricant, they must have applied it before hand at the factory.
Dave
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There are plenty of "exotic" oils available to suit this job but a couple of drops of Mobil1 0-10 sae will do the trick. There is bound to more than enough left in a used can at a local garage.
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Vibration control and elimination is at the heart of turntable design.
Title of a book co-written by the founder of Rega sums it up, "A Vibration Measuring Machine"