Another Pioneer pl-530 problem.... help!

jhinkel

jhinkel

Super Member
Hi everyone,

I have a huge problem with my Pioneer pl-530. It seems that the tonearm lift doesn't work. When I move the "Elevation" lever to the up position, the entire tonearm assembly moves , but the plunger that is supposed to push the tonearm lift up doesn't move at all. I tried spinning the "adjust screw", to adjust the elevation of the turntable. However, when I spin that screw, the entire threaded post it is on moves instead of just that screw.

I hope someone could help me fix the tonearm... Thanks in advance for any help someone might be able to give me :)!

-jhinkel-
 
Trying to understand.......

Which screw are you spinning? A pic perhaps?

Does the tonearm lift during normal AUTOMATIC playing sequence?

James
 
Is this what you are talking about?

pl-530Elevation.jpg
 
That's exactly what I was talking about! How funny... I was just about to post that exact picture :).

I actually didn't try it during normal Automatic playing because if the tonearm wouldn't raise enough, it seemed like the automatic mode would make the tonearm swing out over the platter, scratching the stylus on my cart in the process because the tonearm wouldn't raise enough.
I also just thought I would mention that I'm using the Ortofon 2m Red cartridge.

Thanks!
 
It could be that the old lubricant has become hard or very sticky and may be preventing full movement. Try cleaning it and relube with new dampening silicon oil.
 
Thanks pioneervato! I'm an extreme newbie, so would it be possible for you to tell me how to clean it? Would I need some sort of agent to flush out the old lubricant to clean it? also, where would I inject the new dampening silicon oil?
 
pioneervato said:
It could be that the old lubricant has become hard or very sticky and may be preventing full movement. Try cleaning it and relube with new dampening silicon oil.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

But, and I may be wrong here, the ELEVATION lever runs a cable that goes to that mechanism. In auto mode, the tonearm lift mechanism uses another mechanism to operate it. Basically, the lift may work in AUTO, but not using the ELEVATION lever. Not sure about the screw assembly (what should turn, etc.). Maybe an expert can pipe in.

I can dig into mine, if you get really stuck.
 
you've got a good point about it potentially working in AUTO, jjtucker2. I'll have to try that when I get a second...
 
Hey James, I just tested AUTOMATIC mode on my pl-530, and the tonearm doesn't lift high enough for my cartridge to clear the record surface. Does that same screw that covers MANUAL adjustment cover adjustment of tonearm elevation for AUTOMATIC mode? If not do you (or anyone else who might be able to help me too :) ) know where the adjustment for the tonearm elevation in AUTOMATIC mode might be located? Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to give me!

EDIT: Just for clarity, when I say screw above, I'm referring to the screw in the picture James provided (see post #3...).
 
I just thought of something else... there is a tiny screw that attaches the tonearm rest to the plunger that lifts the tonearm rest. if I loosened that screw, raised the tonearm rest up a little, and re-tightened it, would that help my problem any? Thanks!
 
jhinkel said:
Hey James, I just tested AUTOMATIC mode on my pl-530, and the tonearm doesn't lift high enough for my cartridge to clear the record surface. Does that same screw that covers MANUAL adjustment cover adjustment of tonearm elevation for AUTOMATIC mode? If not do you (or anyone else who might be able to help me too :) ) know where the adjustment for the tonearm elevation in AUTOMATIC mode might be located? Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to give me!

EDIT: Just for clarity, when I say screw above, I'm referring to the screw in the picture James provided (see post #3...).
Click to expand...

The ELEVATION lever just runs a cable that actuates the mechanism that is used in AUTO. Adjusting the "B" screw, shown above, should fix the problem for both. Also, check the integrity of the ELEVATION lever cable while your in there. Once you play with it a little, you'll see how it all works.

I am always suspect of these kind of adjustments as it would seem that any turntable that is reasonably taken care of would not come out of adjustment or someone has been living with the problem for a while. Mine was setup quite wrong when I received it. I guess it's possible it just came out of adjustment, but my point is just to look everything over and make sure nothing is broken before turning screws.

James
 
jhinkel said:
I just thought of something else... there is a tiny screw that attaches the tonearm rest to the plunger that lifts the tonearm rest. if I loosened that screw, raised the tonearm rest up a little, and re-tightened it, would that help my problem any? Thanks!
Click to expand...

If there is a gap between the tonearm and the rest when it is off, then I'd say go for it. Make a mark or something to indicate the original position in case you need to bring it back. I have never messed with mine, so I am not certain about that mechanism.

Did you do the lubrication that was recommended earlier?

James
 
Just want to clarify, I am not a Pioneer Turntable expert. Heck, I don;t think I'm an expert at anything!! I have one like yours that I have adjusted to get it working properly. Any experts feel free to chime in.

James
 
I actually haven't yet, but it doesn't seem like the dampening oil needs replaced. The tonearm rest doesn't seem to be stuck; it moves fluidly as it should, it just doesn't move enough. It seems like screw B just needs some lubrication in order to get it moving again, so I might use some silicon spray lubricant to free it up.
 
jjtucker2 said:
Just want to clarify, I am not a Pioneer Turntable expert. Heck, I don;t think I'm an expert at anything!! I have one like yours that I have adjusted to get it working properly. Any experts feel free to chime in.

James
Click to expand...
that's perfectly fine! you seem to know more than I do, so any help is very much appreciated :)!
 
alright, I've tried lubricating "screw b" to get it moving, but it still doesn't work. When I turn that screw, the entire threaded post assembly it is on moves with it. also, the auto return doesn't seem to lift the stylus. is this related to adjusting the elevation of the tonearm using screw b? Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me. I'm just a newbie that doesn't know very much about diagnosing audio problems yet :).
 
Let me do some research on your problem and see if I can't steer you in the right direction if no one else solves it for you. I have a PL-560 that I am still working on and I think the elevation system is like your 530 but that's where I will have to look and see if indeed they are similar.
 
That would be great! I REALLY appreciate it!! Just so you don't have to read through all the previous posts, the problem in a nutshell is:

The tonearm doesn't lift the stylus enough (in both auto and manual mode) to clear the surface of the platter. This happens with auto-return as well, and not just the initial drop onto the record surface.

Thanks again for your help pioneervato!
 
In looking at the diagram in post #3 is it possible that the cam that creates the lift is bent and can be adjusted? Or is that not possible with the 530? I ask only because I haven't got underneath my 560 to see if the mechanism is similar to your 530.

Also, you mentioned the set screw. Did you loosen it up and raise the lifting platform a little higher? The one on mine has just a very, very, small amount of space when the tonearm is resting on its post. Maybe yours is set too low as there is not a whole lot of lift that goes on. Just enough to clear the resting post as it swings the tonearm out onto the record.
 
The cam that creates the lift can only be adjusted by turning what the diagram in post #3 calls "screw a" this raises the circular piece (called "flat" in the diagram) one part of the cam rests on. This takes up any slop in the cam, so that the majority of the movement of the elevation switch is transferred to the other side of the cam. I've already made that adjustment, and the cam didn't appear bent to start with.

I definitely loosened the set screw and raised the lifting platform higher. That helped tremendously!!! the tonearm now clears the platter when it moves from the tonearm rest to the platter!

However, the tonearm still doesn't get picked up high enough during the auto-return phase of operation.

Thanks a lot! I didn't even know that the tonearm wasn't really supposed to lift a lot, because I was comparing it to the amount of tonearm movement that my Technics has (which is far more), so that was really helpful :)!
 
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