Figured out the speed problem for Pioneer PL-41 & PL-50 tables

Metalownz,
I ordered two belts so far and my PL50 runs around 34.1. Causes a nastly sibilance. I got my last belt from Turntable Needles. It's .187 ish wide (top to bottom) and .035 thick. I just ordered one off LP Gear but I'm worried I just spent $32.00 dollars for the same belt I have. Are you speaking about the thickness or width (top to bottom)? I've been looking for a belt that has a thickness of .025 which would slow down my TT to it's proper speed. Thx

LP Gear used to sell the correct belt. I bought one. It's perfect. However, lately I've been hearing that LP Gear no longer sells the correct belt. Apparently, they sold out of the correct belts and are subsituting thicker belts.

The correct belt thickness should be around 0.6mm or about 0.025". Thacker sells one but it's much shorter than 34.1". I bought it as a back up belt. It works well enough, if very very slightly slow. Thacker sells this belt as a replacement for the PL30.

Here's a thread that discusses this issue: http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....easurements-bad-vs-good.755161/#post-10321001
 
LP Gear used to sell the correct belt. I bought one. It's perfect. However, lately I've been hearing that LP Gear no longer sells the correct belt. Apparently, they sold out of the correct belts and are subsituting thicker belts.

The correct belt thickness should be around 0.6mm or about 0.025". Thacker sells one but it's much shorter than 34.1". I bought it as a back up belt. It works well enough, if very very slightly slow. Thacker sells this belt as a replacement for the PL30.

Here's a thread that discusses this issue: http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....easurements-bad-vs-good.755161/#post-10321001
Thanks, I canceled my order. I'm thinking of chucking my capstan in my drill press and slowly taking it down with emery paper.
 
Thanks, I canceled my order. I'm thinking of chucking my capstan in my drill press and slowly taking it down with emery paper.

No, don't shave the capstan. You will ruin the capstan forever.

I would buy the Thakker belt. Your Pioneer will run at the correct speed with it. It is substantially shorter than the correct belt but it will work. I bought one. I recieved it within a week of ordering.

It runs very very very slightly slow. The speed error is inconsequential.

https://www.thakker.eu/en/belts/turntables/pioneer-pl-30-original-thakker-belt/a-3568/
 
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Im so out of the loop on the correct belt, but i can tell you LP Gear did sell the correct one when i bought two awhile back.
 
We all know a thicker belt will make it run faster correct? When i say thicker i dont mean top to bottom. I mean the thickness of the belt itself. Obviously a thicker belt will make these tables run faster. Its unfortunate that all ebayers sell the thicker belt only. Ive bought them all, so i know. So, you think you have the right belt, and you test speed, to find out it usually runs at a constant 34.0 RPM's. Or, you can move the capstan down and let it sit at the top of the lip and it'll usually slow speed down, but you'll get noise due to the belt rubbing the selector switch. There is also the shaving of the capstan (which ruins it). You can also put tape around the platter. These to me are all just band aids. I searched high and low for the right belt, and finally i found it. Sits on the middle of the capstan, speed is dead on 33 1/3. By the way, your table isn't supposed to run fast by design like some have said in the past. The PL-41 & PL-50 are supposed to have a belt thats supposed to be the correct thickness and it'll run on perfect speed. Im now fully enjoying my PL-41 & 50 tables.
I just tried 3 different belts on my Onky0 CP-1026A. The thinner the belt the faster the speed of the platter. The thickest belt produced the slowest speeds.
 
I just started researching belts for a PL-50 I picked up. This info is pretty disapointing, I wonder if there's any chance LP Gear will go back to their other supplier?? I intend to contact them and ask.
 
In the interest of confirmation that a thicker belt does indeed increase the speed of a PL-41 TT. I own two, side by side. My first TT is running 34.4ish and my other is 33.3.

Feeling the belt thickness the faster one is definitely thicker to the touch. That is by example, like cardboard is thicker than paper..(thickness not height).
 

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I just started researching belts for a PL-50 I picked up. This info is pretty disapointing, I wonder if there's any chance LP Gear will go back to their other supplier?? I intend to contact them and ask.
Would love to hear that answer if you get/got one.
 
Thanks much for the update!

They are currently out of stock but I will keep my eye open.
They put me on a waiting list or I signed up online for the waiting list. It wasn't long before they contacted me to go ahead and order
 
I was about to order a bel tfor my PL-50A from LP Gear and then reading their terms and conditions I see they charge a minimum $10 restocking fee on returned belts. Not sure I want to chance order one from them and then having it be the wrong one.

Has anyone else found the right belt anywhere lately?

Thanks!
 
I too have the problem of a belt that apparently is too thick causing a PL-50 turntable to run fast. My short term fix was to put a large silicon band (like a giant rubber band) on the platter's drive area. This increased the diameter of the platter's drive area and slowed the TT down the apt amount. Frankly, it sounds fine now, but I'd rather have the correct belt. I don't know how long this listing will stay correct, but currently on ebay an Australian shop, Fox Stylus, is selling, at a reasonable price a belt at 0.6mm thick; they articulate the speed issues with thicker belts in their listing,

PRB part number is FRL35.1
Specifications:
Internal circumference 35.1” / 892 mm
Cross section (width of belt) 0.240” / 6 mm
Wall (thickness of belt) 0.023” / 0.6 mm [this seems correct]

(The replacement belts that are 0.035"/ 0.9mm thick are common and typically get called out for speed-increase issues, I think.)

I have three different Pioneer turntables of this early 70s era: PL-41, Pl-50, and a PL-61. The PL-50 is the first one to show this hypersensitivity to belt-thickness, curiously.
I'll report back the results of the Fox Stylus belt when I get it.
 
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