Grounding turntables

rj_dnb

rj_dnb

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Dec 29, 2009
Is running an ungrounded turntable going to cause irreversible damage??
I noticed today channel 2 had quite a loud buzz coming from it, thru headphones and speaker, even with no record spinning. Ran thru line4 (ch2) and 5 & 6 (ch3), same thing. Checked the grounding cable and that had come off. Plugged back into ch2 with it regrounded (which I'm assuming was the actual problem,) and its the same. Could mixing with it ungrounded (wouldn't have been more than an hour or 2) have cocked up something in the electrics of the turntable?? Any ideas/suggestions? Thanks
 
Not to my knowledge, most probably just loose solder connection inside the turntable. Dodgy phono's can also cause buzzing and distortion in my experience too.
 
Could be one of a couple things.

Dedbult's suggestion could be spot on–there is something loose on the circuit board.

The buzzing can also be caused by a faulty connection between your cartridge and your tone arm. Check and clean the contact points of both the tone arm and the cartridge base and see if that helps.

How long have you owned the deck(s)? After a lot of use the factory RCA's tend to wear down to the point of outputting noise due to a wiring fault. I've had all my Technics properly serviced to get those old shitty RCA's out and some freshness installed.

Cheers.
 
I've had a clean or the carts and tone arm, same thing unfortunately. Im thinking its gotta be internal - either the solder or the RCAs themselves. I've had them around 2 years and I bought them 2nd hand off eBay. I'll have a look at getting them both serviced / phonos replaced as I've never had it done. Out of interest how often would you recommend servicing on 1210s? Thanks for your help
 
rj_dnb said:
Out of interest how often would you recommend servicing on 1210s? Thanks for your help
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You kind of know when they need servicing tbh.... If every care is taken with the turntables then you shouldn't need to service it more then once every 2 years or so... all depends on how much they are use, how they are used and how they are stored not when it use etc.

If you have never had it done peice of mind would be to have it done...

As for the buzzing could be alot of things... the ground could have come off inside the turntable... could be a break in the ground cable. RCAs could be poorly connected or bad solder joints etc.

As service should help uncover the issue...

I'm in Stevenage and do servicing, repairs and mods... there are a few others here that do too... just find out the most local and give them a heads up.
 
rj_dnb said:
I've had a clean or the carts and tone arm, same thing unfortunately. Im thinking its gotta be internal - either the solder or the RCAs themselves. I've had them around 2 years and I bought them 2nd hand off eBay. I'll have a look at getting them both serviced / phonos replaced as I've never had it done. Out of interest how often would you recommend servicing on 1210s? Thanks for your help
Click to expand...

I've owned several Technics throughout the years, most of which have been bought second hand or locally. I typically will have them serviced as soon as I buy them so that I can have them properly cleaned, calibrated and have fresh RCA's installed. You really shouldn't need to have them serviced often so long as they stay in a smoke free environment and you keep a cover on them to keep the dust out. I'd say service every 3-5 years, but only if you're noticing performance issues.

If DJHicks is legit, I'd have him take a look at your decks and, if possible, have him internally ground your turntables. I've tried to find a shop around here to do it but they all refuse because it goes against the factory specs...though in reality, it makes a helluva lot more sense and keeps one extra wire from dangling about.

Cheers.
 
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