Rega 3 turntable info needed

[Derek Cohen]

Hi all

I was out walking with the lady wife on Australia Day morning. It was toss-it-out-day. And I found a Rega 3 turntable at the kerbside!

This takes me back 20 years. I still have a large vinyl collection and use a Thorens TD150 with mods that sports a Rega 3 arm (and Supex MC), so finding this Rega was an absolute delight!

It looked in good ... excellent condition (albeit dirty) ...







Can anyone identify the cartridge - no name that I could see, but I did not look underneath, just outside.... And it you recognise it, is it worth keeping (assuming all is well).



I plugged it in at home and the glass plate failed to move. I removed the plate and the motor wizzed around. Clearly there was not enough torque from the motor/belt to the plate. Now this may either be (1) the belt has stretched (which is what I suspect), or (2) the motor housing is not rigid and losing tension as it flexes (this can occur - I guess - when people move turntables with the heavy plate in place. It should be removed to relieve stress on the pully/motor).

The pully/motor did flex ..



What do the learned assembly suggest? And where in Perth (or mail order in Oz) can I get another belt?

For reference, since this is my first post to this forum, I am still mostly living 25 years in the past with regards equipment: main system is Thorens/Rega/Supex and Marantz CD inputs, Musical Fidelity Synthesis amp, and B&W DM7 mk2 speakers.

Looking forward to your comments.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[markinuk]

Well, what a find! Great that it has the RB300 arm fitted. It sounds as though you are already familiar with this excellent device.

I can answer at least some of your questions: the motor is mounted on a suspended assembly, so is intended to move about, and indeed should wobble when the deck is started. The suspension is actually another drive belt! The problem with starting is probably, as you suggest, an old belt that needs replacing. I'm afraid I can't help with local sources for these, as I live in the UK, but they should be widely available.

There is now a motor upgrade kit for the Planar 3 (and 2) that substitutes a quieter motor, and power supply, mounted more rigidly to the plinth. This gives better wow and flutter performance, apparently. However, the new belt would obviously be the first priority.

I suppose it's worth checking the arm's bearings are in good condition by setting downforce to zero and seeing whether the arm then moves freely. The turntable apparently needs little other maintenance apart from belt replacement, though the main bearing can benefit from re-oiling if the deck has been upside-down for any period, or otherwise after some years of use. The inner platter and the motor pulley would probably grip the belt better if their running surfaces were cleaned. Sometimes, the pulley becomes detached from the motor shaft, so that it doesn't rotate when loaded by the heavy platter, but this can be fixed with careful use of a drop of superglue.

I still have one of those cartridges: it's the original Rega Bias, now replaced by the Bias 2. It's unusual for a moving-magnet cartridge in that the stylus is fixed in place, so the whole cartridge has to be changed when the stylus is worn - just like an MC. Unless you can be sure the stylus tip is OK, it would be best replaced with a new cartridge, but they give quite a pleasant sound when in good condition.

HTH,

Mark

[chili555]

Is the motor shaft simply spinning in the pulley? That's a pretty common Rega problem. I fixed it in my P25 with a carefully placed dot of superglue. Make sure the pulley is pushed down on the motor shaft to the correct spot to line up both the 33 and 45 grooves with the subplatter...before you apply the glue.

[Panicos K]

Another thing you should check is if there is a small steel ball in the bearing housing.If not it could be a reason why motor cannot rotate the platter easily.Make sure about this before you apply any glue to the pulley.

[jono68]

Hi Derek et al
I have moved to perth from UK and far from throwing out my rega 3,
i would like to ask for best solutions for running it here with the different current.
Please let me know what I should best do...
do i need a new motor?
Who is best to do the work here in Perth
Many thanks in advance
jono

[graeme uk]

best solution would probably be the Rega PSU upgrade, we send them out to australia all the time with just a different wall wart style psu.
Maybe just call and ask?

The rega motor is 24v.

[pmonti]

Please tell me if you can give me the distance between the center of the pulleys (motor and disc). Im tring to build one rega plinth preserving the original distance and i haven't the original rega belt. Best regards.