SME 3012 circa 1969 cueing mechanism

patientdog · 11th April 2004, 03:11 PM

I have one of these with an Ortofon SPU Gold [Van den Hul retipped]

The silicon damping fluid in the cue mechanism has dried up which means that I dare not let the arm auto descend - unless I want to watch the arm bounce up and down on the record until the cantilever breaks.

Has anyone ever replaced the fluid in the cueing mechanism?

It used to be a factory job but SME no longer services the 3009 etc range so I have been told.

I supect you can't actually open the shell to replenish the damping fluid.

ingvar ahlberg · 11th April 2004, 09:39 PM

Hi
As far as i remember the vertical "pin" in the lift is threaded so You can unscrew it and get new fluid in. But i think You would get the field sevice manual from:mailto:service@sme.ltd.uk (The SPU and 3012 combination i think still is about as good as it gets )

analog_sa · 11th April 2004, 10:32 PM

I've done it a few times. Don't remember many details other than it was really hard to open it and you need the highest possible viscosity (1000000?) silicone oil. I never managed to get such thick oil but after the repair it worked like a dream anyway.

fdegrove · 11th April 2004, 11:50 PM

Hi,

Quote:

I never managed to get such thick oil but after the repair it worked like a dream anyway.

Neither have I but I used the thickest grade I could order from the pharmacy and that worked just as well.

If it's the same grade as the one used in the damping trough of the arm itself then I still have an original container from SME in case anyone's desperate...

Cheers,

patientdog · 12th April 2004, 04:59 PM

Thanks for all this - I will ring SME tomorrow and let you know. Needless to say the pin seemed reluctant to unscrew!

hsort · 23rd April 2004, 08:38 AM

I did this some years ago with my old 3009 SME. I used 1000000 silicon oil, but 500000 is also ok. You have to dismantle the lever mechanismus by screwing out the 2 little screws on the topside of the lever and putting up the cover and fill in a tiny quantity of such oil. it works fine then

regards
hsort

patientdog · 23rd April 2004, 05:14 PM

Thanks very much for this - I will have a go.

SME did not want to know - they no longer service these arms.

I did try to buy an old 3009 Series 2 original for the part but was warned that it had the same problem.

11th April 2004, 03:11 PM	#1
patientdog diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Vale of Glamorgan	SME 3012 circa 1969 cueing mechanism I have one of these with an Ortofon SPU Gold [Van den Hul retipped] The silicon damping fluid in the cue mechanism has dried up which means that I dare not let the arm auto descend - unless I want to watch the arm bounce up and down on the record until the cantilever breaks. Has anyone ever replaced the fluid in the cueing mechanism? It used to be a factory job but SME no longer services the 3009 etc range so I have been told. I supect you can't actually open the shell to replenish the damping fluid.

11th April 2004, 09:39 PM	#2
ingvar ahlberg diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Kungsbacka on the Swedish westcoast	Hi As far as i remember the vertical "pin" in the lift is threaded so You can unscrew it and get new fluid in. But i think You would get the field sevice manual from:mailto:service@sme.ltd.uk (The SPU and 3012 combination i think still is about as good as it gets ) __________________ Ingvar

23rd April 2004, 08:38 AM	#6
hsort diyAudio Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: europ,germany	I did this some years ago with my old 3009 SME. I used 1000000 silicon oil, but 500000 is also ok. You have to dismantle the lever mechanismus by screwing out the 2 little screws on the topside of the lever and putting up the cover and fill in a tiny quantity of such oil. it works fine then regards hsort __________________ hsort

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11th April 2004, 10:32 PM	#3
analog_sa diyAudio Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Sofia	I've done it a few times. Don't remember many details other than it was really hard to open it and you need the highest possible viscosity (1000000?) silicone oil. I never managed to get such thick oil but after the repair it worked like a dream anyway.

12th April 2004, 04:59 PM	#5
patientdog diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Vale of Glamorgan	Thanks for all this - I will ring SME tomorrow and let you know. Needless to say the pin seemed reluctant to unscrew!

23rd April 2004, 05:14 PM	#7
patientdog diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Vale of Glamorgan	Thanks very much for this - I will have a go. SME did not want to know - they no longer service these arms. I did try to buy an old 3009 Series 2 original for the part but was warned that it had the same problem.

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