Sony PS-X800 tonearm sometimes does not lower??

[Maniac]

Hello there, I've recently acquired a Sony PS-X800 turntable and it worked very well right out of the box (after I put it all together that is), and it appears that after the unit warms up, the tonearm will increasingly likely to not lower onto the record automatically.


When it works, it works in the following steps:

Press Play -> Tonearm move out at a fast speed -> Stop at a
predetermined position -> slowly move into location -> tonearm lowers
onto the record -> MUSIC!


When it doesn't work, it does the following steps

Press Play ->Tonearm move out at a fast speed -> Stop at a
predetermined position -> nothing happens anymore.


If I press tonearm up/down button, it won't do anything, but if I
press the tone arm left/right button, and then press the tonearm
up/down button, then it will lower normally and work just fine.


Does anyone have any ideas about this? Vinyl Engine have all the schematics and service manuals, but there isn't a clear answer about this problem on the service manual.


Thanks

David

[h_a]

Hi David,

congrats to your nice table!

It's a pity that it's making troubles. Unfortunately I cannot give you real advice as I've never had my hands on a X800.

That it works when cold sounds a bit like a cold solderjoint, however that's just a guess.

However if that was the problem, you would still be lucky as the electronics of the X800 belong to the complex type of turntables.

Have fun, Hannes

[Maniac]

Originally posted by h_a
Hi David,

congrats to your nice table!

It's a pity that it's making troubles. Unfortunately I cannot give you real advice as I've never had my hands on a X800.

That it works when cold sounds a bit like a cold solderjoint, however that's just a guess.

However if that was the problem, you would still be lucky as the electronics of the X800 belong to the complex type of turntables.

Have fun, Hannes

I just got a sudden inspiration on the cold solder joints... If expansion can cause it to malfunction, then slapping it around might shake it back into contact when it is not functioning...

And well, it worked!! I guess I'll have to tear it down soon and basically resolder everything with eutectic solder to prevent that from happening.


Thanks man, I'll post updates on that when I got the time to tear it down and inspect it.

[Maniac]

I've just tore it open and started replacing ely caps and peeled one of the old cap open just for the heck of it...

The cap is AMAZING.... 30 years and it actually is still kinda moist... not as wet as I would expect from a new cap, but something that had been made 30 years ago... well... that's not too bad actually...


The inside of the unit is a MESS of wires, this kinda reminds me that maybe the design rule at Sony wasn't refined enough to make the drive more service friendly... I miss the day when I tore open a Tascam CD401 MKII, it was so well organized that you really have to be color blind to put it back incorrectly (everything is color coded... eg: a green 3 ping plug goes into a green 3 pin socket, it impossible to get it wrong...)...


Ah well... Let's see if my patience wore out first or the caps are fully replaced first...

[Maniac]

I managed to replace most of the parts on the power supply board, man that was filled with all kinda weird value caps. I had to go through my cap store, trying to find something that fits the value and size...

It's now powered on and working, no errors as of yet, fingers crossed of course...

[QSerraTico_Tico]

Originally Posted by Maniac

I managed to replace most of the parts on the power supply board, man that was filled with all kinda weird value caps. I had to go through my cap store, trying to find something that fits the value and size...

It's now powered on and working, no errors as of yet, fingers crossed of course...

Mines was healed by cleaning the shiny rod and lubbing it with PTFE (Teflon) spray. Then replacing the rubber belt of the fast-forward motor......

[robertor]

maybe here will be something can help you and your TT:

Sony PS-X800 Owners Manual, Service Manual, Schematics, Free Download | Vinyl Engine

[QSerraTico_Tico]

Originally Posted by robertor

maybe here will be something can help you and your TT:

Sony PS-X800 Owners Manual, Service Manual, Schematics, Free Download | Vinyl Engine

Thanks Rob but I have already the service manual in print.
My player is completely functional

[robertor]

i have 2 vintage TT: thorens TD 150 MkII and pioneer PL 12 D but i'm very interested to buy a TT with linear tracking tonearm.

not too much expensive but nice.

some suggestion?

thanks.