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Philips 437

L

lilc

New Member
I recently picked-up*a Philips 437 turntable and *I noticed when I was changing the belt that I could feel a little vibration in the motor shaft, (especially with the belt off) even with the switch in the OFF position. * It doesn't feel like it's trying to spin, it just feels like there's power going to it. *The turntable operates normally otherwise, *It just seems unusual to me that there would be power going to the motor( all of the time ) and I wondered if someone else *with a 437 would be willing lift the platter on theirs and see if it's normal or if ( and more often the case for me ) mine has a problem. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.
 
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Does it feel, perhaps, like a buzz or tingle? If so, maybe a little AC leakage - if the AC line cord's not polarized (and I don't think that it is), try reversing its orientation in the AC mains socket. (EDIT: I can't disagree with the advice in the first response to this thread - always best to unplug before futzing - but it should be "off" when "off", unless the switch is, shall we say, bjorked).

I do have a GA-437 downstairs... and I can check it out for you, but I have a... umm... feeling that the root cause I proposed above may be what's goin' on here(?).

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Mr. Hardy,

The tone arm looks to be quite different from the 212 tone arm.:thmbsp:

Please post some pictures of the unit when it is convenient!
 
The 437 is on the right in the scan I posted - for a brief while, both the 312 and the 437 were being made (the 437 superceded the GA-427 as the entry-level Philips ca. 1977 or so). The consensus is that the 427 was a nicer tt than the 437; the latter is somewhat plastic-y... but I wouldn't call it junk.

The one I have was a gift from AKer Markus, by the bye.

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Thank you. Yeah, I suppose unplugging the unit is always good advice, but I guess it didn't seem like I was going that deep. Unfortunately I'm not currently in a position where I can check the polarity issue.

mhardy6647, thank you, if you get a chance to check yours out I'd be interested in what you find. Thanks again.
 
I shall - but gonna be tomorrow; headin' to bed now :-P
Maybe someone further west (or more nocturnal than I) will weigh in in the meantime...
 
It appears the 437 specs a little better than the 427, tone arm difference as well. Like mhardy said though, a lot of plastic with the 437.
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Angler said:
That is a beautiful turntable!

Al
Click to expand...

The 437 is somewhat cheesily constructed; the earlier 427 was nicer... and the earlier still 308 (with an arm essentially identical to that used on the 212) nicer still. My first "hifi" turntable was a 308 that I bought used ca. 1977.

lilc, I got your PM, thanks... I will drag out the 437 this afternoon and test the power off status of the motor in mine (and snap a photo or two, as well).
 
Thanks mhardy6647, for posts #3 and #5. I just learned two things about my GA312: 1) Arm resonance is 7 Hz (Test Cartridge) and 2) List price was arround $180.

:scratch2: Hummm, I wonder what the test cartidge was.
 
Possibly a Philips cartridge that may have been included in Europe with some (perhaps even most) of them... it seems like the Philips tts were often/typically sold with cartridges in Europe, although sans cartridge in the US.
 
back on topic... jeepers!

GA437010312.jpg


Dragged out the 437 and tested the "does the motor 'vibrate' when the power switch is 'off'?" question from the original post...

and, dang it, it does?!?

GA437mythbusters.jpg


I guess Philips presaged the current "off means standby, not off" electronics fashion by decades!

In further exhibition of my lack of knowledge about this tt, my original response presumed that the pulley on the motor is metal (as, e.g., is the 212/312 pulley). Silly me; it's plastic... but it's got cooling fins or something on it!

So, back to the original question (finally)! The 437 here behaves just like yours - either it's "supposed" to do that (i.e., it's what Microsoft might refer to as a "feature") or both of these 437s, at their advanced age, have developed the same symptom of senility. Probably about a 50/50 chance that either one is the "true" answer! :-)

Now... can we get another 437 data point from someone?
 
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Thanks mhardy, I really appreciate it, but I don't know if I'm happy or sad.
I agree that another test would be welcome.
BTW, in searching for an answer to this I have been told that the AR XA behaves in a similar way(by design). Thanks again!
 
well... both the 437 and the AR turntables have AC synchronous motors... so... could be. I've given away the only AR tt that passed through here, so I cannot offer to test that for you :-P
 
lilc said:
I recently picked-up*a Philips 437 turntable and *I noticed when I was changing the belt that I could feel a little vibration in the motor shaft, (especially with the belt off) even with the switch in the OFF position. * ................
Click to expand...

It was many years ago, but I have experienced that also, enough times to be assured that it was not a fluke.

I was trying to remember what the turntables were, and was thinking primarily AR's, too.
 
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