Thorens questions- TD 295 Mk III

[Conrad Hoffman]

Didn't get any responses on the Vinyl Engine with this, so maybe someone here can point me in the right direction. There seems to be a dearth of information on this and the newer Thorens-

Picked up a used Thorens 295 Mk III that needed a bit of TLC. I've got it working quite well now, but have some questions. The opto that stops the table at the end of the disc is off a bit. Some discs stop, some don't. IMO, the trip point should be a bit further out. The arm appears to mount in a round hole, held (I think) by two Phillips head screws. Is it simply a matter of loosening the screws and rotating the assembly, or is there some other means of adjusting this thing? Next, I have all manner of oils and don't believe there is any magic oil for the platter bearing. Can anyone recommend an easy to obtain oil like Starrett tool oil, a gun oil, pure mineral oil, Break-free, Triflow, high viscosity way oil, machine spindle oil with a specific SAE weight, etc, that matches the factory oils? Is there a trimmer for speed, or are the electronics non-adjustable? The speed is close, but not perfect. Finally, is there a procedure for adjusting the arm pivots? I did download the general service info posted on the VE, but the model specific stuff wasn't included (obviously), and the oil info wasn't specific enough to track down. Thanks!

[Conrad Hoffman]

Nobody? Well, I think I have the oil under control. After polishing the shaft with 1 micron aluminum oxide powder and some metallurgical polishing film, I decided on Hoppe's high viscosity gun and instrument oil. "High" is a relative term, as it's only slightly thicker than sewing machine oil. I didn't want to introduce Teflon or anything other than oil in the bearing, so I avoided the higher tech products. It takes more oil than I would have thought to insure full oiling of the shaft, about ten drops down the bearing hole. Seems to give a silent low friction result. IMO, the bronze bearing would have benefited from polishing, but the risk of leaving even fine abrasive in there seemed too great. I don't know how these were originally shipped or set up, but I don't think the top of the shaft got sufficient lubrication and the manual makes no mention of routine servicing.

[anatech]

Hi Conrad,
I think the general maintenance is the same for other Thorens products. I have (and love) a TD-125 MKII and a few others. Lovely things these. I do believe there is a section on Vinyl Engine that deals with this. It's a big site so you may need to hunt around for it.

Thorens still exists in some form. I'd love to get one of their newer high end tables. Why not give them a ring or send an email?

I haven't heard of your model before so I am assuming it's much newer than anything I have ever owned. A TD-115 MKII was the newest table I had. I sold it for what I paid for it.

-Chris