Technics 1210 changing speed issue??? WTF

holmes

It has just in the last couple of days decided to randomly flip from 45 back to 33 on it's own accord, no rhyme or reason. Anyone else encountered this?

Arks

Yeah once after someone spilled a glass of wine on a 1200 during a club set. Some lady put her glass down on the mixer, after which it promptly spilled everywhere, all done while cursing me out for not playing whatever request she was after.

As an aside, the next day was the first time I ever completely wrecked an LP by washing it in hot water (to get the wine out of the grooves). Good times.

casbah

Both my Technics 1210 mkII have just recently died on me. They simply won't turn on - one stopped working before the recent move, one just after, so if anyone is imparting wisdom, I could benefit too...

I changed the plugs on them, only to realise that they're the type with no fuse in them so I didn't achieve anything there, I have no idea where the actual fuse resides on these turntables.

holmes

I think mine might have problems with the power source, if power is momentarily cut will it reset to 33 but still keep the motor going? I tried quickly turning it off & back on at the on/off switch but this killed the motor too. It's weird & annoying.

spelunk

there was a thread on this with no solution a few weeks back. i've had it happen too. i think it's a power supply issue but i never figured out if the problem was the internal power supply on the techs or the external power source. Luckily it only happened 2 or 3 times.

Horseleech

If there is even a momentary break in the power it will reset to 33, so it could be the power cord.

Also, see if your voltage selector, if your table has one, is set correctly.

holmes

I hope it is the external power supply. I'm going to change the multibox it is plugged into & see if there is an improvement.

Arks

If there is a momentary break in power the speed defaults to 33 (if it's on 45), however the platter will also stop spinning if this happens (tested this by unplugging my 1210 momentarily). So it's maybe not that simple.
Do you know anyone that repairs 12's?

markus71

Which makes me wonder....I bought my Technics around 12 years ago. One was new and the other one in perfect condition from a specialist audio shop in my hometown.
I never had any problems. Only one of the pop up lights doesn't work anymore but that's no big deal.

What do you guys do for maintenance? Take that thing apart and oil the motor and stuff?

casbah

I take them in to get serviced, if you find someone who's good and doesn't charge the earth it's a great investment. Unfortunately for me, my guy has just closed down and I don't know anyone else who will do the job.

JimBeam

there's a couple reasons this could happen:

power source-- techs will do weird stuff when they get momentary lapses in power supply. determine whether it's your wall source or the power cord and address the problem accordingly.
interference between the platter magnet and motor-- pull the platter and clean all that crap out of there with the end of a vacuum hose.
pitch control- when the slider wears out (internally) the turntable will go apeshit. replace it. (not difficult if you have basic electronics/soldering knowledge)

however, if this problem is happening in s.erato, it's a whole different issue-- it's either the USB (try another one) or the headshell socket on the tonearm is really loose. to access the screws that hold it securely, you have to remove the top bearing lock/pivot/screw assembly on the top of the tonearm partially remove the arm and flip it over. you'll see two very small screws that secure the socket in place, and they should be pretty tight.