Record slow down

[aragorn723]

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

[Paul Birkeland]

Why don't you ask U-turn?

Is the TT always off, or does it depend on where the needle is on the record?

[aragorn723]

Only sometimes.  Its off when the stylus is closer to the end of a side.

Dave

[aragorn723]

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

[Deluk]

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.

[aragorn723]

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

[Paul Birkeland]

You can just download and print one off the internet.

[Deluk]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/401529642305?epid=1652452001&hash=item5d7d081d41:g:nY8AAOSwSdZWdD2j

[Paul Birkeland]

Free!

[aragorn723]

Thank you sir!

Dave

[aragorn723]

Apparently the main bearing and spindle are bad.  Got them on order.

Dave

[Deluk]

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.

[Tubegopher]

I agree with DELUK. That is appalling... This is a turntable manufacturer and they send out product with bad bearing and spindle... 

[aragorn723]

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

[Zimmer64]

At these price points one would assume the manufacturer has to cut corners somewhere I suppose.