The PHILCO Phorum

   I picked up this great unit yesterday since I need a record player for the den. It was not working when I tested it in the store so I got it nice and cheap. I dismantled it last night and found that the rubber grommets on the motor mount had literally melted causing the idler wheel to drop so it was not touching the turntable. I put in new grommets but the player was still not functioning. I was going to rebuild the unit anyway so I pulled the chassis and mech last night and went to work. I dismantled the mechanical parts and cleaned all the pivot points, spindles, and gears. I re-lubed it and put it back together. The player had a few caps so those were replaced too. I put everything back together after washing the cabinet real well. She is now fully functioning....ish.... I am only having one problem with low volume. I am hoping it is something easy and not the cartridge. I checked the 12AV6 tube and it is good. I didnt think to check the 50L6 or the 35W4. I am getting sound from the speaker so we shall see.
Here are a few pics. No pic after rebuilding the mech. I was too tired,

Me
   

You might try cleaning the cartridge contacts. Those tilt cartridges aren't wired in, they just snap into the tone arm head. BTW I don't think working ones are found very often. I wonder if you have the ceramic version instead of the crystal? If you take it out to clean the contacts, let us know what the cartridge number is. I've heard those changers (M-22?) can be hard to rebuild but it sounds like it was no sweat for you! Nice job!

There was no number on the cart. Everything else in the entire player had a number except for that

I cleaned the terminals but it still has low volume. Guess it is the cart...UGh

Here are some pics.

You can't get carts anymore but you can still get styli from eBay or the other online sources. New styli might help, your's looks roached. I tried rebuilding one of those carts with a homegrown Rochelle salt crystal and had some success. I need to get my 51-1330 recapped and get the M-22 rebuilt so I can try for a better result. These might be better candidates for piezo wafer rebuilds since they take such a tiny element.

I have a bunch of Piezo wafers coming in the mail this week so hopefully that will work of I cant get the volume issue fixed.

Me