Technics SL-1300 Turntable Problem

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Hello,

Help please! I've got an Technics SL-1300 Turntable that has issues. For some reason a few months ago it started doing this. When it finishes playing a record and the tone arm has returned to the resting position, the turntable will not stop spinning. I have to unplug it to get it to stop. I flipped it over once to look at it and then it worked fine. It started doing it again a few plays after that. Not sure what the problem is and I have NO documentation on this thing. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Owen
 
Switch

Owen,

I had a Technics SL-1950 that I had rebuilt several years ago, but unfortunately I do not remember if the power switch is optical or a cam switch. They are very simple and logical in design and if you remove the bottom cover you shold be able to spot the problem. If it is an optical switch, it will just need cleaned. If it is a cam switch or similar, it may just need adjusting or replaced. But it sounds to me as though it is just a minor detail, that will not take any parts.

Please practice standard electrical safety precautions, as you are working with line voltage and there are a few capacitors in the PSU and on the circuit board. If you don't know what I am talking about, leave the bottom on and stay out!!!!

Here are a few links to TT sites dealing in Technics:

http://www.backspin.org/technics.htm

http://www.theturntablefactory.com/index.html

I loved my old Technics TT, I think that they are still the best turntable for the money, especially the 1350, 1650 & 1950 which are 6 stack tt. I know that speaking about a stack turntable is heresy in audiophile circles, but if you take a bit of time and effort and apply some damping, fine tune the bearings in the tone-arm, install and set-up a top of the line MM cartridge, $150 minimum, and a few other tweaks, they will outperform any CD player under $2000 that I have heard, and you have access to millions of LP's at $.25 or so. Sure the Techincs TT can not compare with a Linn Sondeck or an Origin or a Mitchells, but you have spent only a fraction of the cost and since you are spinning $.50 vinyl, you don't feel bad about using a more user friendly, albeit, much less pricey turntable. One of the biggest drawbacks of vinyl is the short listening times, so if you use a stack with 4 LP's you can get around an hour of pure music.

Surf, Sun & Sound
 
Thanks...

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a look at it. I only paid $30.00 for the turntable at a swap meet. :D And even if it isn't the best thing in the world, I've got it hooked up to a Pro Logic surround sound decoder, and it sounds great to me. That's what really matters!

Thanks for the input.

Owen
 
Technics 1300

Owen,

$30.00 for a 1300 is very good indeed, but do me a favor and hook-up to a good phono stage driving a Class-A amp to make good use of it. You won't believe your ears. You will be upgrading you speakers next.

I was stunned at the quality of sound these turntables are able to produce. I believe that the direct drive system used in the Technics turntable is one of the best drive systems ever. It is much berated by the Hi-Fi world, without a lot of data to disprove them. Your 1300 should have an aluminum base, which will introduce some ringing and rumble into the system if you do not damp it. Also the aluminum platter needs some damping. I will pit a Technics 1300 with a few tweaks against many of the so called "Audiophile" turntables in quality of sound. My old SL-1950 could hold its own against most any turntable that was $1200 and under. One of the undicovered bargains of the audio world, and to think they were made in the "70's", I wonder sometimes how far we actually have come.

Surf, Sun & Sound
 
Where's the switch?

Hey,

It ook a look at the insides of the tt again and I can't seem to locate this switch you speak of. I didn't totally disassemble the thing because it looks awfully complicated. I think this player has a cam switch. I checked out those links also, but they have no info on this kind of thing. Any more ideas?

Thanks,

Owen
 
Where is the switch?!

Audio Kid,

You are right it is a cam switch, Sony uses an optical switch on some of their turntables.

I am not sure of the exact location, but I can tell you that it is under the tone arm mounting plate(I think!). I am going completely from memory here, but the logic is that as the tone-arm moves from or returns to the resting position, the switch is closed or opened to start or stop the platter turning. Also, the switch is activated when you pull the start lever toward you to start the tone-arm sequence to the playing position. From memory, the start lever activates the switch via a flip lever, but there is a cam that is connected to the memo-repeat function mechanism also, so that it prevents the tone-arm from deactivating the switch until the memo-repeat function has returned to the "0" position.

Now remember, that you can start or stop the turntable anytime by moving the tone-arm toward or back from the platter, so you should be able to locate it by watching what the tone-arm contacts as you move it.

Also you do have a 1300 or a 1300 MKII?

Actually, after rereading the thread, double check that the memo-repeat selector knob has returned all the way to "0". I had a Technics that would not turn off until I manually returned the selector knob back to "0". Everytime you start the turntable with the start lever, it will move the memo-repeat selector to the "1" position, and then after lowering the tone-arm to the platter, it will return the selector to "0". This done via a cam and flip lever and if there is any "stickiness" in the selector, it will not return to the "0" position, without your help. If this is the case, a very easy fix, a little vasoline will do the trick. Do not use WD-40 or any type of oil, will not work for long.

Hope this helps,

Surf, Sun & Sound
 
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