Sony PS-X500 arm lift switch problem

I recently purchased a Sony PS-X500 turntable from GW. It had a Ortofon VMS 20E MKII cartridge.I took it home and was playing it for about a day and then today, the arm lift switch does not function. I was wondering if any X500 owners have had this same issue? Pressing the switch does nothing to arm. Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Another chap repaired a faulty PS-X600 switch, by substituting another switch, in this thread http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=476156 .

Thank you for the help Don, I hope its not the switch and its the ic that receives the signal from the switch. I will open it today and hope to find the culprit.

I would think the switch is easier to replace than an IC, that may no longer be available.

After I got the switch replaced, I found other issues with my x600. It's been sitting on a shelf for a couple years now, waiting for some love.

You are right on what you wrote. I read your 600 discussion and I was wondering if the part from digikey would fit?

ETI_5000 said:

Another chap repaired a faulty PS-X600 switch, by substituting another switch, in this thread

Click to expand...

The organdonorparts may have a usable salvaged part. :scratch2:

One of our forum sponsors: http://organdonorparts.com/

w_barton said:

You are right on what you wrote. I read your 600 discussion and I was wondering if the part from digikey would fit?

Click to expand...

I'm sure the Digikey part would work with some finessing. The original switch is .421 inches square where as the Digikey is .193 inches square. Height is the biggest issue. You don't want it higher than the original switch. You can always shim it up to the height you need, but you can't shim it down...

I'm going to have to edit the other thread and put the RS part number there since the link is defunct.

Oh, I could put it here also: RS part # 275-0004 2.5mm High Tact Switch qty 4

Wow, thank you for that great site! my initial peruse did not reveal anything(but then its a Sony), but, I will use for my other sick puppies. Great Gift! Thanks again

Sol7,

Thank you for the part number. I am about to dive into my turntable and I will post what I find.

I don't know if it was my fluke meter or my soldering iron that made my turntable have a change of heart and decided to work. Now it operates the way it was intended. My initial suspicion is that its a thermal issue, but, I will need to run it more to collect data to have an understanding of the problem. Thank you all again for your time and input in trying to help me bring back my turntable to its old operating self.

So now the tt arm is skipping across the record. When I tried balancing the arm, it intermittenly wave up and down. I think somebody had a post on this issue online.

My thoughts on the problem

After playing with it, I have come to the conclusion that the vertical portion of the circuit is defective. The up/down arm switch works and the so that is good (switch wise). The problem makes it look likes the switch is bad since pushing the switch does nothing.
I can't repair it until the Service manual arrives, which will be in a few days.

The arm on my X600 would wonder up and down. Could never get it to balance among other issues. It seemed to clear while pressing on one of the PCB connectors, so I reflowed the solder joints. Didn't help the issue. Finally put it up on the shelf for another day.

Before I begin, I want to thank you all for your valuable input to this problem that I had. Hope someday to be able to return the favor. thank you again

Sol7, that was one of the problems that cropped up among other things ( switches not working, vertical drift and horizontal sliding ). I found the problem to be a cold solder joint on a black wire jumper. I reheated with new solder and I have been playing it for the last hour and she is working like a champ and the problems have disappeared.
I did not attempt to analysis the function of the wire (takes to much time to figure the location in the schematic.) but I suspect input of the IC had a undetermined state and that is why different problems kept cropping up. Without the black wire connected, the startup state was determined by the power switch( that is why it will work at times by turning it on and off)
The 500 and 600 have the same boards types but different component labeling.
You are the right track to the root of the problem, if you ever get back to your 600, do check the black wire or any color wire that they are using as a jumper on the board (It runs across the top of the board) for a cold solder joint. (I suspect that they realized they made a mistake in their drawings, so that is why the jumper is there). Hope that helps

Good work. Dry solder joints cause more problems than anything else in electronics.:yes:

Maybe I should reflow the whole thing.

Preheating oven to 600 degrees......:yes:

While it's working, it's probably best to leave it.

Wrap up

a few things cropped up after I wrote the last post. The arm was sliding across the record and attempting to adjust the balance of the arm was fruitless since it was free floating and wanting to float back to its arm rest, regardless of where I set the tone arm. I ended up replacing the two vertical driver transistors and the op amp. I used NTE transistors that were complementary to each other. I suspect that you would have to adjust the vertical pot after the replacement. With the replacements, the arm did not drift towards the arm rest and I could adjust the arm .
Listening to the music, I noticed that the music was not as detailed and muddy and Intermittent humming was coming from my setup in the phono mode and I traced it back to the left channel of the turntable interconnect cable. I reheated the solder joints and now the sound is beautiful. A person commented on another post that his friend was saying it sounded like a CD. Well, that statement is pretty close. I have listening to my turntable now and my digital media is taking a vacation.The previous owner installed an Ortofon VMS20E MkII cartridge. Which to me is a wonderful match.
The transparency and imaging and is very good and the soundstage is wide.
Every record I spin, just sounds so good, I am listening to Julio Igesias and he sounds live, very nice transparency.
I do have a question, my arm balance weight is near the end of the tonearm arm to be balance, is that normal? It was previously half way down the arm sleeve.
My system
Denon PMA -757
Celestion ditton 300 speakers.
Sony dvp-s7700

sol, check your vertical circuit turntable, it could be just the vertical pot needing adjustment or your vertical drivers might be defective. measure the dc voltage on the pins of the opamp pins 2-3 should be at zero. Pin 1 should be close to zero(.5). pin 8 and 4 should be the same dc value but opposite polarity.