I own a Technics SL-1401 and I’m a moron (Problem solved)

ictwoody

I like vintage gear — my preamp is from 2007.
Hey Guys,

I'm at a loss here. I purchased a really really nice SL-1401 about a year ago from a guy who had been using it as his daily driver for several years. It's cherry. It worked flawlessly when I occasionally used it in a 2nd system. Then I took it out of service for a few months. I hooked it up to demo some gear I was selling, and when I did, I turned it on, put on an album, and I pushed the start/stop button. The platter started spinning as it should and locked into speed... but the arm didn't cue to the beginning of the record. I manually cued it and it all worked fine, and when the end of the side was reached, it lifted, returned to the armrest, sat down and turned off the motor, just as it should. But then, if I tried to push the stop/start button again, the platter would start spinning, but the arm wouldn't cue to the beginning.

I had a similar problem on an SL-1700 and it was a little bell-crank inside that the grease had dried up on and caused it to be hard to move and stick. Once I figured that out and got it cleaned and re-lubed it worked like a champ.

I thought maybe it was something similar on this SL-1401. I've had the thing all apart and back together at least 2-3 times tonight and everything seems to be moving smoothly, well lubed. Nothing dried out or sticky that I can see. I didn't change anything other than not using it for a couple of months.

I'm totally at a loss and I don't know what to do. It's still a usable deck... just not as intended. I was getting ready to sell it to a buddy... but I can't do that until its working correctly again. Any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

HELP!

Technicsly-unsavvy.

- Woody
 
What he said. The 1401 is somewhat unusual in that moving the arm toward the record doesn't start the platter spinning. The start button does that.

At first I found this annoying but I soon concluded that the procedure gives you the perfect opportunity to dust the record while the arm is still safely on the armrest.

John
 
Holy crap!!! I’m a moron. :wtf:

Maybe I confused myself cause it was out of service for a while and it was an SL-1600 I sold my buddy.

It’s kinda dumb that Technics says “Automatic” right on the top of the plinth. It doesn’t say semi or full.

I was super worried that it was something in the circuitry. Thanks guys!!

I had looked through the owners manual and the service manual on vinylengine earlier tonight long before I posted and even with all that I glazed over the semi part.

I should delete this thread... my Audiophile status is probably going to get revoked.

:music::rockon:

- Woody

9252FA89-B101-4E90-9FDE-D5D366C3F99D.jpeg
 
No issues! It's like me talking about lowering the brush on a Shure V15III, composing the thread response while I'm staring at one on my turntable!

I guess we all have our moments. On the bright side... I’m super proficient at servicing an SL-1401 now. Or at least taking it apart and putting it back togeather. And I adjusted the suspension a bit while I was at it.

Glass half full.

- Woody
 
SL-1401 was the 1st turntable I purchased when I got back into this stuff ... soft-spot for it in my heart. $45 (CAD), including 20 records, a Mission "Sorbomat" platter mat, a stylus brush / magnifier and a DECCA "Zero Ohm" record brush ... December 2008. Those were the days!
 
Lubes and suspension critically adjusted and with felt mats and sitting on a lightweight table. This deck is superlative easily beating my 70s Linn Grace 707 combo.
Why? The suspension stays adjusted and works.
The arm bearing are superior and thus so is tracking.
I run mine with an asak with headshell weight.
 
I guess we all have our moments. On the bright side... I’m super proficient at servicing an SL-1401 now. Or at least taking it apart and putting it back togeather. And I adjusted the suspension a bit while I was at it.

Glass half full.

- Woody

The single biggest improvement I made to my SL-1401 was replacing the mat with the 6mm thick mat from an SL-1200 MK2. The weight difference between the stock 3mm mat and the 1200 mat is enough to necessitate readjusting the suspension but it was well worth the trouble.

John
 
Holy crap!!! I’m a moron. :wtf:



I should delete this thread... my Audiophile status is probably going to get revoked.

:music::rockon:

- Woody

No worries on your audiophile status, but if you deleted the thread you would completely lose your "Our Newest Member" status in the ever growing AK Morons, Idiots and Doh, what did I just do Club of fine upstanding members that fess up their personal audio oops.
 
No worries on your audiophile status, but if you deleted the thread you would completely lose your "Our Newest Member" status in the ever growing AK Morons, Idiots and Doh, what did I just do Club of fine upstanding members that fess up their personal audio oops.

Thankfully I haven’t borked too many things. Glad this was just brain fart and a waste of time and not anything irreversible.

- Woody
 
Would like to see/hear one ! :)

It is a beauty!

index.php
 
This is a nice table, I really like mine, especially for the low price I paid for it (free).. A little research here on AK I found out it is a fairly rare TT in that it was only made in 1978. Mine works well except the buttons are sticky and I heard I have to do some desoldering to remove them then fix the problem. It is mainly the 45RPM button that sticks on and the led stays lit along with the 33 rpm so I leave the 45 off since I don't have any 45 records anyway.

I am running a AT440MLb on mine and it aligned just right sound wise and works great on this table..
 
The single biggest improvement I made to my SL-1401 was replacing the mat with the 6mm thick mat from an SL-1200 MK2. The weight difference between the stock 3mm mat and the 1200 mat is enough to necessitate readjusting the suspension but it was well worth the trouble.

John

As long as your cartridge VTA is still ok.
 
This is a nice table, I really like mine, especially for the low price I paid for it (free).. A little research here on AK I found out it is a fairly rare TT in that it was only made in 1978. Mine works well except the buttons are sticky and I heard I have to do some desoldering to remove them then fix the problem. It is mainly the 45RPM button that sticks on and the led stays lit along with the 33 rpm so I leave the 45 off since I don't have any 45 records anyway.

I am running a AT440MLb on mine and it aligned just right sound wise and works great on this table..
I had the same issue on mine, solved with silicone deox
 
This is a nice table, I really like mine, especially for the low price I paid for it (free).. A little research here on AK I found out it is a fairly rare TT in that it was only made in 1978. Mine works well except the buttons are sticky and I heard I have to do some desoldering to remove them then fix the problem. It is mainly the 45RPM button that sticks on and the led stays lit along with the 33 rpm so I leave the 45 off since I don't have any 45 records anyway.

I am running a AT440MLb on mine and it aligned just right sound wise and works great on this table..

When I got mine the 45 RPM button was frozen and the Start button was getting close to being frozen so I squirted some DeoxIT around the perimeter of the buttons and then pressed them repeatedly until they operated normally - and then I did it some more. No disassembly or desoldering required.

Also the cuing heeded servicing and, though it isn't clear in the Service Bulletin, the SL-1401 is among the Method A models where all you need to do to renew the silicone is remove the cuing platform ("arm lift assembly") and squirt a little 300,000 cSt silicon into the arm lift cylinder.

John
 
Back
Top Bottom