I'm new to audiokarma.org, so please let me know if I should have posted this somewhere else instead of as a new thread in this area.

I own a Sony PS-X60 turntable, which I bought new in 1980. It's fully automatic, and lately it has developed a major problem -- the tonearm doesn't go up or down when I use the control, nor does it go up automatically at the end of the record. If I'm not there to lift it off --- screech! The little arm that normally moves the tonearm up and down can be moved manually, by putting a lot of pressure on it, and then it moves at the normal, slow (dampened) speed. Come to think of it, I think that arm started to stick in the up position occasionally years before it failed completely.

I'd much rather fix the turntable than replace it, though not if it gets too expensive. I have a series of questions about a possible repair:

- is this kind of problem likely to be repairable at a reasonable cost, assuming I can find a repair person?

- is it possible/likely that the problem is simply dirt?

- if I wanted to try to have a look myself, and see if it's an obvious and easily fixed problem (dirt, something got loose or slipped off something, etc.), would I have anything to lose by opening it up and taking a look?

- if I am trying to open it up and take a look, does anyone have any tips on that? I tried taking out all the screws up in the tonearm area, but some were a) hard to move and b) of a size that I have not quite the right screwdriver for (despite my large collection of screwdrivers), and so I couldn't get at it that way. There are screws under the chassis, and I didn't try them yet.

- if I am going to try to find a repair person, would he/she absolutely need me to supply a service manual?

I hope that's not too many questions. Thanks for any ideas on any of these.

Roger123

Hello Roger and welcome to the forum! I've had a Sony PSX-60 for about 5 months and believe its deffienelty worth fixing. So far, I've had no problems and have thus never tried opening her up. If some of the knologable folks on this forum can't help you, you might want to ask Joel at the turntable factory for some help. I talked with him a while back and he was very friendly and helpful. http://www.theturntablefactory.com/

Good luck and hope you get some answers.

I'm no expert and I can't tell you for sure what your problem is, but I do have a PS-X70 (the model above yours and very similar) and I have had it opened up for minor surgery. You do need to take the bottom off to get to all the electronics and mechanical bits. Just from memory there are 8 or 10 screws around the outside of the bottom cover that all need to come out and then the bottom will lift off. I believe your TT (like my PS-X70) has a separate motor and mechanism to raise and lower the arm and return it to the rest at the end of the record. It's possible that the mechanical linkage is just stuck from old gummed up grease, and a little cleaning and lubrication would fix the problem. But you could also have a problem with the motor or the electronics that control it. No way to know for sure without opening it up. Before you flip it upside down be sure to remove the platter and secure the tonearm. The PS-X60 is well worth fixing as long as it doesn't get too expensive, you can buy them on eBay for $50-$150 in decent working condition depending on timing and how patient you are.

Thanks everyone! I'm sure I can get bottom cover off, and I will try to clean arm lift mechanism. Any tips about how to clean it -- what tools and/or materials to use, what not to use? What kind of lubricant would I use? Anything to be careful to keep lubricant away from?

Roger123

Hey Roger, I'm no expert but maybe it all needs is a little cleaning and lubing. I have a Concept turntable that had the same symptoms, that little arm was sticking. So it wouldn't raise the tone arm. A little cleaning and WD-40 fixed that. Not sure if I should've used that but it worked. I also had a Pionner turntable that I had to take apart. Because the tone arm would work only partially. After opening it up (my very first) I looked at it very carefully. Its all gears and levers. Turn a gear, turns another, raises a lever...etc. Some doo hicky was unlatched. Once I latched it back it works just fine. Sorry for my non-technical descriptions, but it was fairly easy to fix. Good Luck!

My PS-X50 was doing the same thing when I first got it. I sprayed WD-40 down the vertical metal shaft of the cueing. After a little while the cueing started working again and has worked well ever since. No need to remove the bottom.