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Repairing a beam-of-light turntable - Printable Version

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Repairing a beam-of-light turntable - wmcpherson99 - 01-01-2010

I have a philco 42-1012 console which I have been slowly fixing over a number of years. I heard a restored 42-1012 playing a 78 on you tube and was very impressed with the quality of the sound so I decided to start working on mine again. The bell idler on my beam-of-light has a flat spot and is cracked .So I need to get my idlers repaired and I'd like to know who does the best job of repairing them?

Re: Repairing a beam-of-light turntable - Ron Ramirez - 01-02-2010

I believe West-Tech Services has developed a replacement rubber piece for the bell drive idler.

http://www.west-techservices.com/

Re: Repairing a beam-of-light turntable - wmcpherson99 - 01-03-2010

Well, I took the turn table apart , cleaned and oiled it up. I took the idler wheels off and sanded them down a bit. So now the record changing is functional and quiet. I found two burnt out bulbs the one for turn table speed and the beam-of-light bulb. I had an incorrect bulb to replace the beam-of-light bulb. So I could test the light sensor and it was putting out .042 volts. I tried a playing a 78 and got no sound. I checked the needle/mirror assembly and found rock rubber bushings. Worst I found the needle tang was only loosely attached the to mirror and could be wiggled about 45 degrees. So I rigged up some new bushing and epoxy-ed the needle tang back on to the mirror. So I tried playing a 78 again and I still got no sound from 78 but I did get a loud hum from my work light. I've owned this console for over ten years and I've totally re-capped it. It plays well but I'll have to wait and see if West Tech has replacement bulbs before I can get the phonograph to work.