Hi all,
First time poster here and new to the analog/TT world.
I just inherited a Thorens TD126 MKII Electronic from my grandfather.
It was working when he disconnected it (he converted his entire record collection to digital) and it sat in a box for awhile until it was delivered to me - via car.
Upon first power up, the strobe light lit up and then died. So, I pulled it apart and noticed the fuse had blown. I ordered a new fuse, put it in, powered it up, it powered on for about 10 seconds, then went out again...another blown fuse.
Any tips for tackling this project? Are there common failures/weak-links I should look to replace/address first? I'd like to bring this table back to life.
Thanks in advance.
-Steven
Also, here's a photo of the table:
First time poster here and new to the analog/TT world.
I just inherited a Thorens TD126 MKII Electronic from my grandfather.
It was working when he disconnected it (he converted his entire record collection to digital) and it sat in a box for awhile until it was delivered to me - via car.
Upon first power up, the strobe light lit up and then died. So, I pulled it apart and noticed the fuse had blown. I ordered a new fuse, put it in, powered it up, it powered on for about 10 seconds, then went out again...another blown fuse.
Any tips for tackling this project? Are there common failures/weak-links I should look to replace/address first? I'd like to bring this table back to life.
Thanks in advance.
-Steven
Also, here's a photo of the table:
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Replace all electrolytics in the power supply before going any further. The strobe neon is powered by a winding on the power transformer. Also check the rectifier(s) as one or more of the diodes may have shorted. Don't power up again until you are sure you have found and replaced the bad parts. Use a ballast lamp in series with the table power cable to limit current to a safe value in the event of another fault during testing - a 40W lamp should suffice.
Nothing else works, that I can tell - since the fuse blows and nothing receives power. I have other fuses but they keep blowing, so I need to figure out why this is happening.
Thanks for the tip Kevin. I’ll dive in and see what’s going on in there. Any recommendations on where to pick up capacitors?
Yes, it does rotate freely…though only by hand since I’ve never had power for it to be able to spin on its own.
Presuming you can read the capacitance value and voltage rating on each one, you should easily find equivalents at Digikey and Mouser. Anything with the same value and same-or-the-next-higher voltage rating will do, but for the longest-lasting electrolytics (maybe 40 years instead of 25 years), get the lowest ESR and highest temperature rating. You may see a lifetime rating of 5,000 hours at 105C and you may think that's not a very long time (208 days continuous), but that's at a temperature above boiling water, and electrolytics last exponentially longer at lower temperatures (something like twice as long for every 10C drop).
If you don't have experience soldering, and especially removing old parts from a printed circuit board, get a piece of electronic junk and practice taking the parts off of it first.
Make sure the + (or -) side of electrolytics are marked on the board, or otherwise make notes of their polarity so you put the new ones in the right way.
If you don't have experience soldering, and especially removing old parts from a printed circuit board, get a piece of electronic junk and practice taking the parts off of it first.
Make sure the + (or -) side of electrolytics are marked on the board, or otherwise make notes of their polarity so you put the new ones in the right way.
If there is a capacitor accross the power switch, discard it and try again.
Do you have disconnected the secondary winding(s) of the transformer and tried to supply your turntable as is ?
If the fuse blows again your transformer is dead.
You need to have some skills with a soldering iron and some mesuring devices to fix a thing like this.
Do you have disconnected the secondary winding(s) of the transformer and tried to supply your turntable as is ?
If the fuse blows again your transformer is dead.
You need to have some skills with a soldering iron and some mesuring devices to fix a thing like this.
That capacitor may be elsewhere.
Currently it is of brand RIFA, a true failure for the old devices.
You must replace or discard it first.
Ok, so I now have the laser/light staying on - thanks to a new set of fuses (.125A / 250V)...looks like the old ones were bad.
Now, nothing else on the unit works. The main lights don't light up when the power is on just the timing light. This seems to be directly fed off the power switch...whereas everything else is run through the power supply/transformer. Is the transformer possibly bad?
Also, my grandfather had the entire unit gone through before driving it down to me and it was working great - seems like something may have been affected during transport.
Now, nothing else on the unit works. The main lights don't light up when the power is on just the timing light. This seems to be directly fed off the power switch...whereas everything else is run through the power supply/transformer. Is the transformer possibly bad?
Also, my grandfather had the entire unit gone through before driving it down to me and it was working great - seems like something may have been affected during transport.
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