I can’t believe I fixed it, PS-65 lives again.

NeverSatisfied

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
915
Location
Houston Texas
Tagline
Play the Game, don’t be the Game
#1
I am so surprised, just when I had given up and thrown in the towel, I decided to go for broke and really tear this baby apart.
I bought this as a supposedly working, clean TT that belonged to an audiophile. When it arrived, well packed I was hopeful, but that only lasted until I plugged it in and only the lights came on. Nothing else worked, platter would not spin, arm would not move but it would output audio if I touched the stylus.
I contacted the seller and he seemed genuinely surprised, and said it had belonged to a friend and he had heard play many times.
He offered a partial refund, I asked if he cared if I opened it up to look for something obvious before sending it back. He said he didn’t want it back and gave permission to dive in.
I downloaded the service manual and opened her up….wow this thing has some seriously complicated circuitry ( at least for someone like me). I spent about 5 hours poking around reading voltages and trying to understand how the arm system worked. I did figure out that if the arm lift isn’t in the up position nothing works, so I manually rotated the arm lifting coil assembly and all of a sudden the platter motor started working and the arm would move left and right….woo hoo. Well not exactly, after another 5 hour session I had narrowed it down to the arm lifting coil, which is deep inside the arm mechanism. Since this is and motorized, computer controlled arm I was chicken to dig any deeper.
I contacted the seller and told him I was throwing in the towel and he refunded my money.
Today, I was thinking about everything I had done so far and if it would be worth trying to find a Tech who could actually fix it and it hit me…..fuck it, I have nothing but time to loose and if I tear it up, so what, she was headed for the parts heap anyway.
So I took the arm mechanism apart carefully which involves un-soldering a bunch of tiny wires and peeling the layers of coils and magnets off layer by layer until I got to the lifting coil. Guess what, nothing looks burnt or damaged…..jeez. I turned off the iron and started to walk away thinking, oh well I gave it shot. Then that stubborn part of me thought “what would your pop’s do if he was still around ?”.
So I went back one more time and kind of let the old man channel through me, grabbed the meter and started poking around, Shazam…check the coil for continuity…OL, I’m pretty sure I yelled something that would make a sailor blush.
Great now what…I had looked at the coil already, so this time I got out dads old loops and really looked at the connections. There it was one of the tiny leads had broken, I swear this wire is as thin as my hair and I have never soldered anything like this before. I ended up having to add a small piece of wire because there was no extra wire coming from the coil. Getting everything back together was a challenge but somehow it did and low and behold the damn thing works.
The point of all this is actually to say thank you to all of the great folks on this site, I didn’t ask for help but after meeting Don and joining this site I got inspired. Seeing and reading about the stuff you guys do in your shops and on your kitchen tables gives me confidence to push myself, so thanks again guys.
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Bob Boyer

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
Apr 24, 2013
Messages
2,571
Location
Chattanooga, TN
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---
#11
We had wiring problems in Autocar winch trucks in the oilfield. We finally came to the conclusion the factory installed wire gremlins ....
Kinda reminds me of Bill Cosby's routine about the supercharged Cobra he bought from Carroll Shelby. Said it included a CHP patrolman who lived in the trunk...
 

mr_rye89

Veteran and General Yakker
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
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2,234
Location
Land of Entrapment
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Lost in the Ozone Again
#12
Brave man attempting (and succeeding!) repairing a Biotracer. Me with those Walkmans, my success rate is pretty low. The wireless Walkman I have needs one of those thin plastic snap ring things and I think it will work…..
 

Gepetto

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Staff member
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
13,473
Location
Sterling, MA
Tagline
Old 'Arn Enthusiast
#14
Brave man attempting (and succeeding!) repairing a Biotracer. Me with those Walkmans, my success rate is pretty low. The wireless Walkman I have needs one of those thin plastic snap ring things and I think it will work…..
Watch out for those Biotracers, you will never be alone again in life... :)

What was their marketing dept thinking?
 

NeverSatisfied

Chief Journeyman
Joined
Nov 3, 2021
Messages
915
Location
Houston Texas
Tagline
Play the Game, don’t be the Game
#15
By the looks of it, the shipping vibration...
I think your right, that coil is under magnets and plates, I did not find any foreign debris at all. Not sure but I wouldn’t think those coils get hot but maybe 40 years of heat cycles made the wire brittle?
I left out the 3 hour cleaning and polishing part of the story, she didn’t look this good when I unpacked her but it is so satisfying to bring this old gear back to life.
 

Gepetto

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
May 15, 2011
Messages
13,473
Location
Sterling, MA
Tagline
Old 'Arn Enthusiast
#17
I think your right, that coil is under magnets and plates, I did not find any foreign debris at all. Not sure but I wouldn’t think those coils get hot but maybe 40 years of heat cycles made the wire brittle?
I left out the 3 hour cleaning and polishing part of the story, she didn’t look this good when I unpacked her but it is so satisfying to bring this old gear back to life.
There is no heat there...
 
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