Restoration of my Technics SL-Q33

[Saket]

Okay members, I think I have made my mind finally and am ready for the plunge!

I will start the restoration process either from today evening or tomorrow. I will be really grateful if the learned & experienced members contribute to the process. It will be really reassuring.

The first step will be to photograph the internals of the TT. That will not only help in updating this thread, but the pictures will also be useful while re-assembling the TT back. Hence, I will try to strip down the TT today or by tomorrow. Hope the TT sings as well as it does now, after the restoration Wish me luck guys!

Any suggestions on how to strip off the control strip without damaging it: The black bar with the brand name & controls http://www.hi-fi.ru/upload/resize_c...ORTIONAL/7c7d883e5346279d773a5006e9666b97.JPG
Thanks,
Saket

 

[Hiten]

Is the strip plastic ? If plastic it should not be removed. If metal, take spatula type of thing and slowly try to remove without causing any bend or dents. Will be little difficult if glue is strong.
Regards

 

[Saket]

Is the strip plastic ? If plastic it should not be removed. If metal, take spatula type of thing and slowly try to remove without causing any bend or dents. Will be little difficult if glue is strong.
Regards

Thanks Hiten!
Its plastic. Will check the glue strength tonight and take a decision. The paint finish in a straight line is the task to be achieved. If it disagrees to come out as a strip, I will probably mask it with tape.

How to go about tone arm removal? It has bearings on the pivot. Is it safe to be taken out?

 

[jls001]

All the best!

Do be careful.

 

[Hiten]

Thanks Hiten!
Its plastic. Will check the glue strength tonight and take a decision. The paint finish in a straight line is the task to be achieved. If it disagrees to come out as a strip, I will probably mask it with tape.

How to go about tone arm removal? It has bearings on the pivot. Is it safe to be taken out?

Be extreeeemely careful if it is plastic.
I guess the whole tonearm assembly with circular base comes off if you remove the three screws from inside the plinth. But first desolder the tonearm wire.
Regards

 

[Hiten]

Don't know if it is mentioned. But why are you painting the plinth? Is the color worn out or are there any smudges etc. ?

 

[Saket]

Don't know if it is mentioned. But why are you painting the plinth? Is the color worn out or are there any smudges etc. ?

The paint has worn out, esp. at the edges. The dust cover has got too many scratches and has a crack in the centre.

Of course, the TT (the picture in the link) in the pic is not mine. I will be more than happy, if at the end, I achieve such a clean TT

 

[greenhorn]

At least for the dust cover, if the scratches are not major, rubbing compound does wonders.

 

[sachu888]

Meguiars Headlight restoration kit works very well for dust cover.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[reubensm]

All the very best Saket, my suggestion is to take out the motor and arm assembly in one piece rather than stripping these to pieces (assume this was your actual intention). Dont try to force the plastic strip out, you'll end up damaging it. Give it a "gentle" shot, if it does not respond, taping it would be a safe option.

On another note, please ensure that nothing is forced out of place or bent while taking things out. Remember, the SL Q33 is an automatic turntable and hence the auto start and auto-return engagement mechanism has to be taken great care off. If the tonearm is taken out, this will have to be re-calibrated or you arm may land in the wrong place or will either take off too early, or never take off at all. In my opinion, when in doubt, tape and paint, if adventurous, study the mechanical logic, draw diagrams (or get the original service manual with mechanical cross-sections and takes lots of photographs, better still videos of the parts working or the dismantling procedure

 

[Saket]

At least for the dust cover, if the scratches are not major, rubbing compound does wonders.

Meguiars Headlight restoration kit works very well for dust cover.

Regards,
Sachin

Thanks Greenhorn & Sachin for your nice suggestions. But the dust cover has developed a long crack across its centre, hence I am more interested in getting a new one fabricated. May be the glass-workers can help. Will try my luck there.

All the very best Saket, my suggestion is to take out the motor and arm assembly in one piece rather than stripping these to pieces (assume this was your actual intention). Dont try to force the plastic strip out, you'll end up damaging it. Give it a "gentle" shot, if it does not respond, taping it would be a safe option.

On another note, please ensure that nothing is forced out of place or bent while taking things out. Remember, the SL Q33 is an automatic turntable and hence the auto start and auto-return engagement mechanism has to be taken great care off. If the tonearm is taken out, this will have to be re-calibrated or you arm may land in the wrong place or will either take off too early, or never take off at all. In my opinion, when in doubt, tape and paint, if adventurous, study the mechanical logic, draw diagrams (or get the original service manual with mechanical cross-sections and takes lots of photographs, better still videos of the parts working or the dismantling procedure

Thanks Reuben for the great pointers. Really appreciate your concern and advice. Surely a job like this is worthless & even 'risky' without a camera! I will soon post my first impressions of the insides.

Regards,
Saket

 

[Saket]

Post 1 regarding restoration:

My major observations

1. Its a fully automatic turntable and uses opto-electromechanical ways to engage the automatic mechanism. Hence, apart from some mechanical parts, there are at least 6 sets of infra red receptors & transmitters fitted across different places and a pair of electro-mechanical switches. One IR receptor in fact stands on the deck itself, near the tonearm. Its job is to let the micro-computer know the size of disc being loaded on the platter. The tone-arm then descends on the disc accordingly. Also, with no disc on the platter, the turntable does not start - virtue of this IR post.

2. My first glimpse at the internals in detail is that the TT has been put up together extremely well; call it in the Technics tradition. Nothing at any place is either glued or click pressed. Everything inside & outside is held together by nuts & bolts. Even the plastic strip that we were dreading about is held by 5 nut/ bolt mounts from inside. Feels like an automobile!

3. The turntable was bought used, but there are no signs of any repair on the board and all original 'Technics' printed ICs sit there doing their duty silently.

4. The most difficult part is to dismantle the tone arm. I had a look at the 1200s arm removal process, but since the 1200 is not an automatic, the process is fairly simple. But no such luck here, to remove the base & the tone-arm, I need to completely dismantle the tonearm mechanics. Without removing the mechanicals, there is zero access to the actual screws holding the tone arm base to the chassis.

5. The side walls of the transformer is placed in a rubber shell to keep the turntable well dampened from its minor vibrations. Just shows the level of thought that has gone into the build.

I will soon post a set of internal pictures, just please someone let me know how to host it outside as we cannot post so many pictures on HFV due to space constraints.

 

[sachu888]

You can contact Trophy makers/sellers for Acrylic dust over fr your TT.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[Saket]

You can contact Trophy makers/sellers for Acrylic dust over fr your TT.

Regards,
Sachin

Thanks; that's a great idea.

 

[jls001]

I will soon post a set of internal pictures, just please someone let me know how to host it outside as we cannot post so many pictures on HFV due to space constraints.

Sign up with ImageShack? - Online Photo and Video Hosting.

On the home page after you sign in, there is a page for uploading your pictures. You can select and upload multiple pictures at a time.

After upload is finished, the site takes you automatically to the "My Images" page which gives you thumbnail view of the pictures you just uploaded. If it doesn't take you to "My Images" page, click on that link.

Right click on any picture. Select "Share It" --> select the URL for "Forums", copy this URL and paste this URL into your HFV post. The picture will show up in HFV post.

 

[Saket]

Ordered a glass dust cover yesterday. It will be fabricated with the original dimensions by an aquarium maker. I was reluctant to the idea of using support strips running all along the edges as that would alter the original & clean look, hence opted to get it done by the aquarium maker. They have strong glass adhesives which means a 100% glass dust cover with no support from other materials like wood or aluminum strips. Will be getting it by tomorrow evening.

Total cost: Rs. 350/-

 

[sachu888]

That's a very good price.Glass dust cover will look better IMO and easy to clean as well,only problem could be weight and handling.

Regards,
Sachin

 

[Saket]

That's a very good price.Glass dust cover will look better IMO and easy to clean as well,only problem could be weight and handling.

Regards,
Sachin

Yes Sachin & Sauravin,
I have opted for a clear glass, should look better. Also, will be less prone to scratches than the acrylics. It will surely be delicate but once its fixed to the TT, I am sure we, vinylheads, take more care of the TT itself than the glass, hence it should be safe. Forgot to add in the previous post, the edges of glass will be polished so as to smooth-en them.

Regards,
Saket

 

[reubensm]

How heavy would the glass dust cover be? Do you plan to hinge it on to the usual place on the TT cabinet or are you using a bigger glass cover which will rest on table?

 

[reubensm]

Please give details of the painting process when you reach that stage. It would be interesting to note what primer you are using, etc.