Shipping damage to Trio KP-7700 (Kenwood KD-750), looking for advise on repair

Onebean

AK Subscriber
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On an impulse buy I picked up a Trio KP-7700 from a Japanese seller. This is the Trio version on the Kenwood KP-750. When the package arrived, and I unwrapped it, it was very well protected. Once I got all the bubble wrap off, I notices the counter weight had broken off the arm. I looked at the service manual, and it appears there is a spring steel wire that connects the counter weight shaft to the arm. With some effort, this looks like it's fixable. Has anyone here replaced that wire? Unfortunately when the counter weight broke off, it dinged up the plinth while it bounced around in shipping.

I pulled out my variac, and set it to 100 volts. When I plugged in the turntable, and pushed the power switch, it's dead. No lights, nothing. The auction clearly shows the table with the lights on, and the seller sold it as perfect working condition. Any ideas? I have not pulled the bottom to check the fuses yet, but depending on the sellers response, I might do that tonight.

What would you do if this was yours? The seller offered both partial or full refund. They have excellent feedback, so I hope to resolve this quickly. Needless to say, I was very disappointed.

Onebean
 
Full refund. Too much damage to want to get it all fixed up right and a learning experience for the seller.

No one ever ships a tt properly with the counterweight attached. The bare minimum for packaging is to look at the manual and see what is removed for shipping.

sorry for your loss
 
He shipped it with the counterweight on? What a dope.

My new to me BIC came with the counterweight attached, but taped on, tonearm taped down, all strapped with tape to a trashed LP on the platter that was taped to the plinth. Took me half an hour to get all the residue off.
 
If yer gonna buy a used table from anywhere as a buyer you always need to tell the seller how to pack it properly otherwise... you git what you git.
 
Yes, you are right. Lesson learned. The seller had tons of tables for sale, and excellent feedback, so I assumed. It was packed extremely well, the only missing component was support under that counter weight. Learn from my mistakes folks. Luckily the seller is willing to work with me.
 
I once bought a Philips GA 312 from a guy in Holland and he shipped it in home made packaging just like a factory shipped table with everything removed and in its own little storage compartment.
Also included was an hand written set up procedure that was spot on!
One of my better buys.
Goes to prove that some sellers know what they are doing.
 
Yes, you are right. Lesson learned. The seller had tons of tables for sale, and excellent feedback, so I assumed. It was packed extremely well, the only missing component was support under that counter weight. Learn from my mistakes folks. Luckily the seller is willing to work with me.

Was this resolved to your satisfaction? I have thought of buying turntables from that seller before and I’m curious.
 
Yes mackat, the seller was more than willing to work with me. I seriously doubt there was any foul play on their end, and I felt the resolution was fair. I would buy from them again with one caveat. I would ask for the arm to be removed and packaged separately. The table was packed very well, to withstand the long trip. The only issue was the unsupported counter weight. Heck, it the counter weight had been removed, it would have been fine mechanically.

I have started another thread asking for help diagnosing the electrical problem. Hopefully I can solve it.
 
Ironic how these things happen...I bought a KP-7700 through a Japanese proxy shipping company. It arrived today, and lo and behold, the counterweight stub was no longer part of the tonearm but sitting on the plinth. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, as it was packed extremely well. The counterweight itself was packed separately, not attached to the stub that broke off of the tonearm. I’m trying to figure out how to reattach it, but the little set screw on the stub doesn’t seem to want to catch the wire protruding from the tonearm. I wonder if the wire itself broke off partially.

Luckily, overall it isn’t as bad as your situation, as the cosmetic damage is fairly minor (2 or 3 small nicks) and the turntable works. It’s unfortunate, though, as this turntable was previously mint cosmetically. I actually paid more for shipping than I paid for the turntable itself, due to the suspension of SAL and EMS during this pandemic, and the total was not cheap. I am going to contact the proxy shipper and try to get at least some compensation, as it included shipping insurance. I was never planning on using the stock arm myself, but I may have wanted to sell it at some point. Were you able to re-attach the stub @Onebean?

Ben
 
Hi Ben @mackat sorry to hear about your shipping damage. If yours broke with no counter weigh attached, mine probably broke before it got the the UPS truck. The good news is, it's a pretty easy fix. I got the service manual from Vinyl Asylum (free download) and it shows the tiny wire you mentioned. If yours broke like mine, there is no reattaching it, because it's too short now. The service manual spell out the wire pretty clearly, I believe it calls for .007" piano wire. I did some searching for piano wire with no success, then it hit me. A guitar string should work, so I bought a cheap set of strings with as close of a wire diameter as I could find. It seems like I used a .009", but I can't remember for sure.

There is a set screw that hold the wire on the tone arm side, the service manual shows where to find it. Loosen that set screw and pull the broken wire out. Then insert the new guitar string (I left it plenty long for trimming). Then reinstall the rubber isolation piece, then reinstall the counter weight stub. I preloaded the rubber a bit, but not too much. My stub still sagged a little after installing the counter weight. It works good as new now.

What arm are you going to replace it with? I've seen one with a Fidelity Research FR-24. I'll be anxious to hear what you think of the tables performance. I think it's a pretty dang nice table myself. Keep me posted on your repair.
 
I really appreciate the info! Luckily, on mine, the wire is still attached to the tonearm stub. I didn’t find any of it broken off, it was just bent a little bit. I figured out that in order to attach it, I have to unscrew the set screw on the tonearm stub. That releases a little gold circular piece, which has 2 set screws on either side that clamp it to the wire. I was able to attach it, but I don’t think I have exactly the right tiny hex screwdriver, as I can’t tighten it enough to the point where I’m no longer afraid of it popping off once again once I screw the stub to it. I think I just need to find the right screwdriver só that I can tighten it enough.

I was planning on at least testing out the stock tonearm when I received it, but the whole stub fiasco prevented that. I was able to install my Fidelity Research FR-54 tonearm, and it’s sounding quite nice. I also have a KD-750 with an FR-24 mk2 tonearm that was purchased after the KP-7700 but received first (long story). That one has been recapped, but has some slight electrical noise coming from the motor that I’m trying to figure out, with the help of the dealer I purchased it through and its former owner. The KP-7700 also has some of this noise, but it is more faint and less apparent. There are some comments on this page: https://liquidaudio.com.au/kenwood-kd-600-turntable-motor-service/ that reference the same issue, but I’m unsure if the owner was ever able to resolve it.
 
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