VM 570 turntable stopped working...

[anpap]

Hi all,

The VM 570 was restored and worked fine for a while, but the other day when I tried to play a record, the turntable somehow stopped working.
There's a clip under the tone arm, possibly to keep it from moving during transportation. Tone arm was secured when I turned the unit on and it popped up.
After that the turntable won't turn. When I turn the button to the "On" position, I hear a sound like a motor is turning, but nothing moves.

Uploaded a short video of it here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pSZ5Zf ... sp=sharing

Any idea of what could be the problem?

Hope it's something that can be fixed at home. It would be too much trouble to take the whole console back to the repair shop.

cheers,
Andreas

[electra225]

Can you rotate the turntable by hand? It kinda sounds like the drive tire is not gripping like it should. Sometimes, when a changer "gets a mind of its own", it helps to rotate the turntable by hand, let it do whatever it was doing when it hiccup'd, then see if it returns to normal. That's about all I can offer without more information. Good luck.

[William]

Thanks for the video, and it sounds like the motor spindle is hitting something metal. Do what Greg suggested, make sure the tone arm is not in the lock down position and is free to move through a cycle. Unplug the VM570 so there is no power to it, then turn the Off, On, Rej to On and start rotating the platter by hand. If the platter moves without binding or making any noise turn the Off, On, Rej to Rej, continue moving the platter by hand, and see if it goes through the Rej cycle without binding or making any noise. If that seems OK, it is probably a motor drive tire problem. To view that part of the changer you will need to remove the platter. There is a clip that holds the platter down in the center of the platter attached to the center spindle. Remove that clip and pull the platter off to view the top of the motor, the motor shaft, and the drive tire. Once you have done that, please take a photo and post it here so we can see what it looks like.

I believe you mentioned you have a schematic; do you also have a VM service schematic for the changer?

Bill

[anpap]

Thanks Bill and electra225!

Tried to turn the turntable (clockwise) by hand with the device turned off.
The tone arm moves a little bit, then moves back to its original position and the switch turns to the OFF position.

Checking underneath the record player it seems that the idler wheel tries to move, but it's like something is holding it.
Rotating the turntable by hand makes the idler wheel turn.

I do have the schematic and service manuals.

Will give it a couple more tries and then try to remove the platter.

--A

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Bill, the V-M changer is a 1201 stereo type version.

Andreas, was the idler wheel replaced ?

[anpap]

Yes, the idler wheel has been replaced (with the 50Hz version).

[electra225]

Were the motor mounts replaced? Does the motor look like it is trying to fall out of the changer? Does the motor shaft line up to the drive tire?

[William]

Have you removed the platter yet? That is the next step so we can see what is going on.

Bill

[anpap]

Nope... Still at work.

Hope I can try it tonight (6-7 hours from how).

[anpap]

Ok, just removed the plate.

Placed a photo and video here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/ ... sp=sharing

Shouldn't the idler wheel be in contact with the record speed selector/shaft?

The motor mounts were not replaced, as far as i know.

Anyway, I pushed the idler wheel a little so that now, when I turn the switch to the ON position, it comes to contact with the speed selector and turns normally.
Uploaded a video and photo of that one too.

It seems that the problem occurs if the OFF-ON-REJ button is turned counter-clockwise, i.e. before the OFF position.

Now I must manage to put the plate back in place to test it

[electra225]

A picture of the bottom side of the changer may lend a bit more information. Sounds to me like a linkage is sticking. Is that white grease I see on the drive tire, under the clip that holds it on? That doesn't look right to me. I'd like to see the motor mounts. Some changers have a feature that removes the drive tire from the motor shaft and the platter so the drive tire doesn't flat spot when it's not running.

[anpap]

Doesn't look like grease - if I understood about the location correctly...

Posted a couple of photos of the bottom side of the changer in the same google drive folder.
Hope they help!

- Andreas

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

Andreas,

In your photo of the idler wheel motor plate assembly (3rd down):

The idler wheel retraction spring is not mounted on the motor
plate assembly correctly.

The left side of the spring in your photo is what I refer to.

There is a milled hole in the assembly edge near where
the spring currently is mounted.

In addition, the idler arm assembly is located incorrectly.

The "blade" of the assembly should be to the right side
of the motor spindle.

The first 2 of my photos show the correct orientation of the
idler arm assembly and the spring.

[William]

Andreas. What Mr. Mogul stated is correct and his photos are spot on so that should help you solve your problem. And, as electra225 mentioned, you do have the system that pulls the idler away from everything when the changer is in the off position. I would also suggest that you get some motor mounts from Gary and change those out if they have not been already changed.

To answer you last question, you will need some needle nose pliers or something that will pinch. At the top of the spindle there is a chrome thing that pulls up, and that needs to be extended before the platter will fall down where it belongs. What I do, is set the platter in place, then push the chrome thing up from the bottom with my thumb and grab it with the needle nose pliers continuing to pull up on it. Once you have done that, the platter will fall and then you can work it on down. Make sure one the platter is set in place that you carefully rotate the platter to make sure the idler is under the platter where it belongs. If you have everything in place your changer should work as it should.

Bill

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

To answer you last question, you will need some needle nose pliers or something that will pinch. At the top of the spindle there is a chrome thing that pulls up, and that needs to be extended before the platter will fall down where it belongs. Bill

Another way I use sometimes is to apply a small piece of tape so that
the moveable spindle tab is pushed up first, then the tape applied so
the tab stays vertical.

[anpap]

Thanks guys! Really useful information!

Wouldn't have noticed that...

I managed to fix the spring location and the blade location (see photo), but the spring came off after a couple of tests.
Maybe the spring needs to be replaced?

Will try again, anyway, and see.

- Andreas

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

I managed to fix the spring location and the blade location (see photo), but the spring came off after a couple of tests.
Maybe the spring needs to be replaced?

Andreas

The spring looks fine.
Bend the open ends of the spring closer, so it will
not slip off the mount holes.

The idler wheel is in the correct position
per the photo you posted.

Please turn the On/Off/Reject knob to Off position, to
verify the idler is pulled away from its position in
your photo.

[anpap]

Managed to attach the spring more securely now.
(A pair of forceps really helped. )

Also managed to put back the plate and it works again now!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wJ-dLC ... sp=sharing

Now on to the task of installing the missing 12-inch speaker.

Thank you all for your assistance!

[William]

One step done and just a couple more before it will be back to factory original. The 12" woofer should be easy to install, are the original mounting studs still there?

Bill

[anpap]

Don't know if they are the original, but there 4-5 thin screws with pointy ends on the cabinet. Actually mounted the speaker on those, but have not yet put nuts to secure it.

- Andreas