Having dug up my old lps recently I've been in search of a TT. This morning I picked up a Pioneer PL-A45D - local pickup from epay. The description included the word "outstanding" and indicated that the belt was new, everything was working perfectly and it produces great sound.

This is actually not another epay horror story but I would lilke a bit of help before I sink more $ into it.

The TT looks good but has a few issues. The platter is made of a rigid material and is seriously warped. Not a serious problem as I gather from reading other AK threads that a felt platter may be a better option anyway.

My major concern is that after replacing the platter with a floppy rubbery platter that I had on an old TT and playing one of my lps I found that the speed is off. I suppose I'll go for a new belt and hope for the best. However, if the belt is not the problem what kind of problem do I have?

Well, the belt is driven by the motor, may need a bit of lube, or there might be a speed adjustment for the motor on the bottom of the unit. Does it have
a pitch control? If so, does it make any differance?

Think you are talking about a warped mat and not a warped platter. The mat is the rubbery thing the LP actually sits on with your TT. The platter is the metal thing the mat sits on.

Not only may you need to lube the motor, but may need to lube the spindle bearing, as well. I've found that a synthetic 5W30 works well for this. Really only need a drop or two.

Also, the belt may be the wrong one and may be too tight. This will tend to bind the bearings in both the motor and the spindle. I wouldn't run it much in this condition until you can confirm that the belt is the correct one.

Strawman, I do not see a speed adjustment or pitch control anywhere.

Yamaha, mat it is - sorry about that. There are two places to lubricate the motor under the platter (always nice to learn something). How would I get to the spindle bearing? Hopefully, it will not require much disassembly as my 2 left hands tend to get in the way of each other.

Can you post another pic with the platter removed? See if you can get in closer to get a better shot of the spindle area.

I hope this is what you are looking for. Anybody have any suggestions for how to unwarp the rigid mat?

I hope this is what you are looking for. Anybody have any suggestions for how to unwarp the rigid mat?

I picked up a PLA 35 and the platter spins on the shaft or thats the way it looks. Try a heating pad and some big heavy books. If it works it may take several hours. My Dual mat was glued to the platter.

I am not familiar with this particular turntable, but some turntables have speed adjsutments under the platter. If this is the case there will usually be 2 trimpots, 1 for 45rpm, the other for 33.33rpm.

Looking at the picture you posted it appears there are 2 holes below and to the left of the spindle that look different to the others. It looks like there may be a sticker above them. These may be your speed adjustments. If that is a sticker above the holes (it looks like it has red writing, not the larger sticker with black writing) what does it say?

If you're not sure try to take a clearer close up picture of that area and post it.

That said I wouldn't try to adjust the speed until you have verified that the motor and bearing are free and the belt is the correct size.

dr.ido has it right. Need a closer picture of the spindle base and of the motor pulley area, as well. Use the zoom telephoto out to the max and then stand closer or further away to get the pic. Macro generally doesn't work well in this case. You should also be able to spin the platter by hand and decide if it is spinning freely with the belt removed. Same with the motor. Just spin the pulley between you fingers and 'feel' the results. What do you think?

Will be surprised if you are able to save the rubber mat. Once warped, they are generally gone. HWF1's suggestion sounds as good as any. Perhaps between a couple of pieces of plywood with a couple of bricks on top in a 200 degree oven would work. Not something I've tried, so you do so at your own risk.

Iv'e only had to adjust the speed on 2 tables, both where direct drive, both had the pots on the bottom. A Sony PS-X, and a Marantz 6300.

The platters spins freely with the belt disconnected. The pulley otoh appears to have some resistance - don't know if this is normal. The two small holes are not for speed adjustment but for lubrication as indicated by the label.

BTW, thanks for all the help.

In the first pic above you see the shaft the platter sits on. The nut that holds it is a 14 mm. Lift the TT up and hold the platter shaft with one hand while you remove the 14 mm nut. After you get the shaft out you'll see a screw in the shaft. Take a phillips head and take the screw all the way out. You now want to pull the silver shaft out of the bronze housing its in. You need to be carefull you should find a small bearing in the bottom of the bronze shaft. You need to clean all of these parts very well, your probaly the first to do this. I used wd 40 and a small plastic brush. I have no idea of what or if there is a lub that is best for this so used a little wheel bearing grease to coat the silver shaft, and bearing lightly and placed a little gob( Tech Talk) on the bottom of the silver shaft. I've been playing my PLA35 now for several days. My only complain about this TT is wow and flutter. This may be the nature of the TT since the platter bearing is a very simple arrangement or the lub or wear. I've spent some time with the cueing mostly cleaning the linkages again with wd 40. I plan to go through the tonearm and motor mounts in the next few weeks. I would also suggest a light weight non detergent oil for all lubrication.

Okay, sounds like a weekend project. On a positive note, I contacted the seller and he apologized for the condition and refunded a portion of the cost. He actually offered a full refund but I thought I would take a stab at repairing it as it looks pretty good.

Appreciate the help. I'll report back.

The wow and flutter might be coming from the grease. It is pretty heavy and may be causing a drag with BD TT. I would use 5W30 or 5W20 synthetic motor oil. And the upside is that the quart will last for a hundred TTs. :D

Yamaha B-2 I read some where else about synthetic being recommended. I am going to try this.

The turntable has an AC motor and no speed adjustments. Some resistance when turning the pulley by finger is normal but a lot of pressure can be an indication that the motor is in need of lubrication or has bad bearings, in which case it needs to be replaced.

Speed errors on a belt drive machine with AC motor are likely the result of the wrong belt - too long and therefore loose (slippage), too short and therefore tight (binding), or the wrong width which causes the belt to ride on the wrong part of the motor pulley. The correct belt is absolutley essential.

Before you replace a belt do a thorough cleaning of any surface the belt contacts. Use alcohol or another cleaner which will remove any grease/fingerprints/aluminum oxiditation, etc. without leaving residue (this means NO rubbing alcohol) and make sure the belt is also totally grease/oil free. Don't clean the belt with alcohol but do clean it with tepid soapy water, rinse well, the dry with a paper towel or lint-free cloth.

If you've done all that and speed is still consistently off you may have a motor pulley designed for the wrong frequency. That would make for about a 10% speed error which is a lot but that is a problem that I've seen before, especially if the turntable came from Europe or Asia and hasn't yet been changed over.

A good source for high-quality inexpensive belts is www.turntablebasics.com. They should have what you need.

Finally had a chance to get back to this TT today. I thoroughly cleaned the spindle assembly and bearing. While I had the bottom off, though, I noticed the 2 tubes that bring the lubricating oil to the motor were filled with a very thick yellow substance(25 year old oil?). I tried to soften it up a bit by squeezing the tubes with some success.

Anyway, it seems to have made a bit of difference but still not operating at the right speed. I suspect that this is the problem. I would guess the solution would be to replace the tubes(and the oil). I would like to be able to do this without disassembling the motor. I will try to disconnect the tubes at the top and squeeze the goop out that way.

Suspect you are correct about the lubrication and drying of the original oil. Once the volatiles go (evaporate) you are left with the paraffins, which are essentially nothing but wax and don't flow very well. You might find it easier to remove the motor to do this. Good luck.

If you use WD-40, as suggested below, insure that you dry the WD-40 thoroughly, as it is a solvent rather than a lubricant. And flush well with fresh oil when relubricating.

Believe Seth immerses the motors on Duals he repairs and then lets the oil drip off for a few days. Does a great job of lubing the motor. And a recent link to a Merrill TT states that the motor runs immersed in an oil bath. A clever idea.

Use WD 40 to flush the flexible straw will fit. Just lean tht TT over. It should get most if not all.

Thanks for the suggestion, hwf1. Too busy moving snow around today to deal with it. Too tired now.

Ya I see some folks in the NE had gotten 2' of snow. The snow shoveling business is had work and the cold can really sap your energy.

We had about 18 inches in northeast NJ. Fortunately, I was given a snowblower recently so it wasn't as painful as it might have been.

Back to my TT woes. The flexible straw has sort of a wick that must convery the lubrication to the motor. I flushed it as best as I could with WD40, relubed, reassembled and tried again. No luck - I'm about ready to call it a loss. :tears:

Have you replaced the belt? If the platter now spins freely and the motor spins freely the belt is the most likely the problem. Also did you find a small bearing in the spindle asslembly? It a little bigger than a BB.

Yup. I found the bearing. I believe I have the proper belt but, of course, the seller also told me that the TT sounded great so who knows. Oh well, I guess I'll pay a visit to www.turntablebasics.com.

Any luck with the TT?

Thanks for asking. I've been away for a week so I have nothing new to report. Also expect to be backed up at work for the next few days - not sure when I'll be able to get back to it.

A especially e-bay seller gave me a PL-A45D and I was hoping to find a decent thread on servicing this unit as it looks like a fairly nice one. It isn't in the best of cosmetic condition but doesn't appear to be rare obscure of special so if it works well then may be a candidate for a new base.

A especially generous e-bay seller gave me a PL-A45D and the other items I posted about. I was hoping to find a decent thread on servicing this unit as it looks like a fairly nice one. It isn't in the best of cosmetic condition but doesn't appear to be rare, obscure or "special" so if it works well then may be a candidate for a new base. :smoke: :smoke: :smoke:

A especially generous e-bay seller :

Isn't that an oxymoron? :scratch2:

PL-A45D

It's essentially the fully automatic version of the PL-12D.

Isn't that an oxymoron? :scratch2:
Actually I have taken to only dealing locally with sellers and am finding it to be the case more often than not. I paid $76 for 4 Bose 501's that sound fine, need grills replaced. He gave me the following pieces. 1 pair of B&O S45-2, untested until I get across town to pick up a pair of speaker plugs at a whopping $3 each, a ProjectOne Mark XXX Tuner, powers up untested further at this time, Marantz SR 2000, controls are a little scratchy, needs minor cosmetic repair to wood case, otherwise looks and sounds great and the Pioneer TT. Cart. was an Apature KOCE but stylus is trashed so I am assuming it is a dead item. :scratch2:


It's essentially the fully automatic version of the PL-12D.
Thanks for the info.:smoke: :smoke: :smoke: