Topic: Need help with my turntable

[mikeincharleston]

ok so i've had my dad's turntable for many years.  anyway it's got an electronic arm and i'm trying to burn some old 7" records to CD for easier playback in the car.  anyway for some reason the arm will only go so far in before it automatically rises and it doesn't play the whole 7".  the arm can move further in, it's not like it has run out of room.  for some reason it will only go so far.  i searched for a while on google last night, but i put in what looked to be the model number that was on the turntable and it just came up with needle replacements.  i talked to my friends dad and said there should be some screws or something so you can tweek it to work, but i played around with it a bit last night and couldn't figure it out.  anyone have any idea what i'm talking about?  it's really a pain...

mike

edit:  it's a JVC turntable and it's gotta be close to 15+ years old so it's hard to find stuff online.

[macdaddy]

sounds like the whole tonearm is outta position...

can you adjust it..?

[mikeincharleston]

i don't know.  i think there are two screws on the actual arm that i'm gonna play with later.  when you hit the "start" button the arm lifts and stops right at the start of any 7" or 12".  how could i tell if the tone arm is "out of position"?  never really messed with turntables so i have no clue.  i mean it plays records fine, the arm only moves so far in though.  still looking for the model online for reference...

[macdaddy]

i don't know.  i think there are two screws on the actual arm that i'm gonna play with later.  when you hit the "start" button the arm lifts and stops right at the start of any 7" or 12".  how could i tell if the tone arm is "out of position"?  never really messed with turntables so i have no clue.  i mean it plays records fine, the arm only moves so far in though.  still looking for the model online for reference...

well if it starts at the correct positions, then that is not the problem...

is something impeding the path of the tonearm, causing it to not go all the way inside..?

[mikeincharleston]

yeah it sucks.  it plays the records and it's all good and then bam, arm lifts and stops.  i checked the arm and it still has at least another 1-1.5" for the arm to move inward.  i took off the platter and there was nothing to mess with.  like i said, the arm has two little screws on either side, but i don't see how that could help, it's probably just for putting in a new needle as the arm doesn't really raise more than a few mm.

[mikeincharleston]

i'll give that a shot...thanks macdaddy and moke.  i give up trying to find the pic online.  nothing on google image, nothing after an hour of searching regular google as well.

[mikeincharleston]

If its an auto turntable, there's likely tons of moving parts in there, so open slowly and cautiously

that's the only thing i'm worried about

[zowie]

There's a trip mechanism that's misadjusted.  If it's mechanical, adjusting it should be a simple matter once you figure out where it is.  Look for an eccentric screw or a slide.  I've done it on serveral turntables but haven't any idea about yours.  Try to find a service manual and it will tell you.

If it's a higher end turntable, the trip mechanism may be magnetic or electronic eye.  That may not be so easily adjustible. I've never played with those.

Don't worry about opening the TT case up.  But don't start disassembling things if you don't know what you're doing.  This is not something that likely requires dissassembly anyhow.

In the meantime, does the TT have a full manual mode?  Try to play a record manually.  The auto shut off may disengage (this varies from model to model).

[zowie]

I do not disagree.

[mikeincharleston]

well i played with it for about 2 hours tonight and i have no idea what to do with it.  there is nothing that would seem to fix it.  there was a bunch of stuff in the casing that i didn't want to mess with (that i'm sure had nothing to do with the needle).  anyway now i'm looking for a new "manual" turntable.  these fully automatic ones suck.  i like to just be able to pick up a needle and drop it where i need it.  thanks for the help though.  argh...anyone looking to unload a used turntable?

[zowie]

well i played with it for about 2 hours tonight and i have no idea what to do with it.  there is nothing that would seem to fix it.  there was a bunch of stuff in the casing that i didn't want to mess with (that i'm sure had nothing to do with the needle).  anyway now i'm looking for a new "manual" turntable.  these fully automatic ones suck.  i like to just be able to pick up a needle and drop it where i need it.  thanks for the help though.  argh...anyone looking to unload a used turntable?

You could always just break the mechanism.  I don't know just what TT you have, but many later JVCs are only worth about $25.