Need help with Thorens TP-16 tonearm

[pjblakey]

I have a Thorens Tp-16 tonearm and TP-63 arm tube that the previous owner rewired.
In doing so, he decided to remove the two plastic parts that comprise the pin and socket connector and discard them. I guess the intent was to have continuous wire from cartridge to rca plug. However the arm has lost the rigidity provided by the connector. The bayonet locking nut alone is not sufficient.
Anyone know if the connector parts are available to restore the arm?
Or any other idea to provide the rigidity necessary.
Thanks
Peter

 

[elwood625]

Go to Ebay and find VOLANTE1, she has all the NOS parts for Thorens. I bought very hard to find parts for my TP90 tonearm. She is in Switzerland. Very fast shipping.

 

[pjblakey]

Thanks for the tip. I already contacted them and they do have the socket portion plus tonearm wires but not the pins.

 

[elwood625]

It should be easy to find something that will work for pins once you have the socket to determine diameter. I would think gold cartridge clips may work by squeezing them closed.

 

[pjblakey]

The pins per se is not the problem. The two plastic pieces, one has sockets, one has pins, when connected contributes significantly to the rigidity of the arm. I had considered using a couple dabs of epoxy to fix the arm and wand together, since apparently the two plastic pieces are hard to find, unless I buy a complete wand.

 

[elwood625]

I understand, to bad someone gutted it. If the ID of the tube is a common size like 8mm, you may be able to find a plastic sleeve to hold the two parts together while the glue sets. Since the tonearm wiring is in place slit the sleeve into two halves. Glue is worth a try, nothing to lose with this arm. If it doesn't work it just means you still need another arm assembly.

 

[pjblakey]

Pretty much my thoughts too. I was thinking about machining an aluminum or even wooden insert with a groove cut along its length to place where the original plastic pieces are supposed to be. The simpler thing would be to use, say three dabs of epoxy on the flare and lock with the bayonet nut. Could be even better performance than the original. I like the fact the wiring has no connector in the middle and I’m not a fan of splitting a tonearm in two anyway.

 

[Bare]

Went to see VOLANTE1 thorens items on Ebay.
Seriously aggressive pricings as well as heavy overcharge on the shippings.