The Official Turntable Drive System/Motor Thread!

[makaiyumtony]

Originally Posted by gtyler

Hi All,

I have been working on a TT design for some time now and I quickly realized that the most difficult step was designing a good drive system. As I have searched I have noticed that there are many people who are also looking for a good DIY turntable drive system, some to upgrade existing tables, some for new designs. There are some great ideas out there, but they are all over in different threads and sites, so I thought I'd start this thread that is specifically dedicated to TT drive systems.

Please, if you have ideas for DIY drive systems post them here. Maybe you have a schematic for a nice variable frequency drive (VFD) that could drive synchronous motors, or maybe you have a feedback system that could be used on encoded DC motors, or maybe you have some way of using old VCR drive motors. Whatever your plans, post your links, and share your idea here so everyone can benefit.

Also, if you are looking for a specific kind of drive system and need some help, post here and hopefully the collective knowledge of the followers of this thread can help.

I hope that this thread will become the "one stop shop" for those looking for TT drive systems.

Thanks for your contributions.

I had posted one already in here. it is use an old direct drive TT to drive with a elastic thread work perfect and don't cost too much on the top with speed control too, no bearing of power motor can compare to a direct drive platter and ratio 1 to 1 smooth and quiet, the only problem is need more space
tony ma

[Straight Tracker]

Hello everyone,

I originally joined this forum to do research on Tangential Tonearms and
to share the design of my own Tonearm. Having never participated in any
kind of forum, I havn't figured out yet how to do that. But after reading
all the suggestions as to how to drive a DIY turntable, it has become apparent that a simple way to do that would be to use a motor from a
used direct drive turntable as has been suggested by many others.
But instead of driving from a direct drive turntable to a DIY turntable with
a belt, why don't you take the extra step of removing the motor from the
direct drive turntable and make a free standing housing for it in the Micro Seiki style? In addition, since the direct drive motors were not made to take a side load, I would add a bail or bracket to the top of the motor
so that the top of the spindle could be supported with a bronze sleeve
bearing. A number of years ago I obtained two direct drive motors from
Matsushita as samples to experiment with. but I never got around to that.
Yesterday I looked at the motors and found that the idea with the bail
is feasable. This approach would take up half the space and would look
pleasing to the eye. What do you think?

Ralf

[Straight Tracker]

Hello everyone,

In addition to the direct drive motor, a capstan motor from a junked
professional studio tape recorder could be used. The attached picture
shows a Matsushita direct drive motor and a Beau capstan motor.
The direct drive motor woul need a support bearing near the top in my
opinion. The capstan motor would be ok as is because it was designed to take a side load. The capstan motor is "stubby" which would help to keep
a low profile in the overall appearance. Most of the capstan motors in
professional studio tape decks are much taller. That would be ok if one
were to design one of those tall turntables.

Ralf

[benb]

I'm very interested in this thread and want to make my own TT, much moreso than other audio components, even though I have less mechanical skills and knowledge than of electronics.

There's an interesting thread here that may merit review, even though it has a bit of a negative title: "Why is DD bad?"
Why is DD bad?

[Nanook]

after leaving the LYD42 Hurst motor running for a week and applying a little 3-in-1 oil (light machine oil) to the bearings as per George Merrill, I can safely say the motor is very quiet .The motor I chose is substantially more robust than those intended for turntable use.

I am mounting it in an Ariston 11s , at the (approximately) 7:30 position as per the Funk Firm and others. I have to say I am completely disappointed with the build quality of the Ariston. Linns are essentially the same thing, and I'd be even more disappointed had I paid for a new LP12...

[gtyler]

Originally Posted by Nanook

after leaving the LYD42 Hurst motor running for a week and applying a little 3-in-1 oil (light machine oil) to the bearings as per George Merrill, I can safely say the motor is very quiet .The motor I chose is substantially more robust than those intended for turntable use.

I am mounting it in an Ariston 11s , at the (approximately) 7:30 position as per the Funk Firm and others. I have to say I am completely disappointed with the build quality of the Ariston. Linns are essentially the same thing, and I'd be even more disappointed had I paid for a new LP12...

Excellent! Good to hear that the hurst is working well for you. What are you using to drive your motor? You mentioned that you had thought about the MP3 source, but never what you actually decided to use in the end. I would love to hear what is working for you because my motor is very similar to the one you have.

[Nanook]

gtyler:

I haven't checked the speed but will do so most likely tonight. Based on Hurst's specs, the motor should run at 300 RPM. As the original motor had the same speed, it should all work out. The Ariston is not mine, so I am limiting the motor change to just the motor and cap...

In particular which motor do you have?

For a variable speed control, I intend to use mp3 tracks of 60 Hz, in stereo, 90° out of phase. I'll make several with +/- .06Hz, so that I can adjust the speed. Run the signal to a stereo amp (class D or whatever, but ---as per Mark Kelly, not an AB type). Then through a speaker transformer to up the voltage to 70 volts or so... and out to the turntable motor. The power from the amp will act as a power supply, so no need for a switch, but a fuse would still be a smart thing to include.

An alternative is to feed a small voltage to a few DC stepper motors...

The Ariston is not mine, so I am limiting the changes to just the motor and cap...

[Nanook]

I'm using the model LYD42115D. The 3001-001 "turntable motor" is from the same series, but has 1/2 the torque at the same speed. The LYD requires 4 Watts, whilst the "turntable motor" requires 1.8 Watts.

So a little more energy. but a lot more torque. As I stated one post ago, the motor is very quiet now. Originally it was quite nasty...

[a.wayne]

Hello Stew ,
Would this one work better , thoughts ? ...

T, TA Direct Drive Permanent Magnet AC Synchronous Motors





* 2601-001
* Item # Model T DD Synchronous Motor........ 98.51

[Nanook]

larger motors can be noisy. The motor I suggested is only $15 or so. (I paid more due to shipment to Canada, but still cheap!).

Tonight I am installing it on the plinth to see if it spins quietly using a stethoscope to check it.