Medley Hi-Fi Compact music centre

[ben]

From pride of place to crushed and rusted.. sad!
If the amp still works (unlikely given the humidity and corrosion) it might be easier to get a replacement garrard deck for it, unless you're handy with the ol' sandpaper and paint/primer

[Gulliver]

I know it is sad. I will try to coax it into live nonetheless.

Unfortunately I have no control over how my mother stores things in her attic. And if she had her way, everything in there would be in a landfill.

I should have time over the Christmas period to give it a really good look over, and if it really is just a rusty deck then the whole unit is savable. Depends what the inside looks like really.

I am not sure why it is so humid up there, it doesn't feel humid. I know there is a water tank but it has a lid and other metalic items have not rusted.

[Gulliver]

After checking that nothing inside looked damaged, I plugged the old Medley record player in....hooked her up to a modern receiver and she works!

OK, some mechanical issues. It's running a tad slow, which is why it was retired in 1987. Something silly like 2% slow. But noticable to my ears. And the autochange isn't working but that can be coaxed back into life.

Electronically the pre-amp, cartridge and everything between is working fine. The bass is still good enough to shake plates from the shelf - as happened today

OK, stupid question...how do I remove the platter. It's a standard Garrard 2025 deck.

[ben]

The woodwork actually looks great (surprisingly) in that pic, but the deck looks terrible with all that rust. The motor will probably need the bearings cleaning and relubricating. Not too hard to do. As I said, if you plan to keep it, it might be worth just getting another garrard deck for it, pretty much any from that era will fit the cutout in the plinth

['LIVEWIRE?']

The platter is held in place by a circlip at the base of the centre spindle (possibly covered by a trim disc) When removing the circlip note which way round it is fitted.

[Nickthedentist]

You really need to remove the motor, take it apart, clean and oil its bearings with 3-in-1. Not difficult, but you need to gain access to the bottom of the deck as well.

Then clean and oil the turntable's bearing. Don't lose the plastic cage with ball bearings in it, nor the big washers above and below it.

Next, remove the rubber-tyred idler wheel, and clean/oil its bearing too. Again, note where the washers go, and don't lose them (easy to do because they often stick to the wheel as you lift it off, but can then drop off).

Finally, clean the motor pulley, edge of the rubber idler wheel and the inner rim of the turntable where the idler drives it with alcohol (isopropyl is good if you can get it, otherwise meths from a DIY store is OK) on a clean rag or piece of kitchen paper.

If the torque seems low, roughen the edge of the idler wheel with a fine sandpaper, being careful not to make it even slightly flat anywhere, then re-clean as above.

Hopefully, the speed will be fine then, though a few of these old decks can be a pain to get running at exactly the right speed.

Not a big job, you should be able to do it in an hour if you work methodically.

If it's going back into storage, ensure the deck's main control is in the OFF position, as this retracts the idler wheel from the motor pulley and prevents flat spots developing.

Nick.

[Refugee]

Also make sure no oil gets onto any rubber parts. It kills them.

[Gulliver]

I want to stick with the original deck, for sentimental reasons as much as anything. As Ben points out, when I was a toddler this machine had pride of place in the living room. It was the record player I learned to play records on. A bit later it was mine in my first "hi fi" set up and it remained until 1987. A replacement deck can never be the same.

A friend has suggested keeping it rusty but really I think I want to restore it.

BTW I posted a video of it running in that rusty state to my Facebook friends and two of them described it as "the magic record player". I am not sure about magic but I was surprised the insides aren't as bad as the outside.

[Gulliver]

Thanks for reminding me about the circlip! I saw it last night and thought it had something to do with removing the platter. It's been so long!

IPA is no problem I work in a laboratory and can easily appropriate small quantities of such chemicals. I already have a vial of 99.98% pure IPA for tape head cleaning

I think what I want to do is get it working properly (huge thanks Nickthedentist) and then look at the cosmetics. The wooden cabinet is fine, just needs some polish. The deck and the rubber mat are the only problems given that I want it as it was in 1977 not when it was brand new.

It will probably have to go back into storage but I have already found a kinder place for it than the attic...and at some point when time and space allow it will be included in a second system...maybe in time for it's 50th birthday.

[Nickthedentist]

You may be surprised how much improvement you get on the painted metal parts with car cutting compound (from Halfords etc.). I did a 1950s BSR autochanger which looked a right, sad, rusty mess, but which came out in almost showroom condition with just 15 minutes of hard work.

Nick.

[Gulliver]

A big thank you to everyone who has helped.

What started as curiosity as to who Medley were has ended up with 100% intention to restore it to it's former glory. The piece de resistance would be getting the power amp inside working again but an electronic engineer failed to do that in 1978.

I will update this thread as and when I get work done. There is a possibility I may get to work on it again this coming weekend

For now it is semi functional and in a safe, dry place where the temperature doesn't fluctuate much.

[Nickthedentist]

Yes, the amp will be harder, not least because the previous repairer might have made a mess of things before giving up!

[julie_m]

But nobody beside you will ever know, if you have to replace part or all of the original discrete transistor circuit with a couple of commonly available ICs, such as TDA20xx devices

[Nickthedentist]

Yes, good idea. You would need to save the high-impedance input circuitry though; ceramic cartridges don't work well into low-impedance amp inputs.

[Gulliver]

OK I managed to begin the restoration. I tried "T-Cut" on the paintwork with some improvement. More work to be done on that front. What I really wanted to do was get under the skin.

Removing the platter I could see it is in near pristine condition, a stark contrast to the rusty top of the deck. The autochange mechanism isn't working correctly but nothing seems to be missing or broken so it can be coaxed back into life.

I removed the spindle and the centre of the induction motor applying a little 3 in one where it seemed appropriate. The speed is better but not yet perfect. However I was only able to play records for about 10 minutes it may get better yet.

As yet I've done nothing to the rubber idler wheel but there are tiny pieces of rubber all over that area suggesting it's worn. This record player did see a *lot* of use.

Otherwise internally it looks nice and clean. No labels to say where it was made and what Medley's address might have been.

Photos attached.

[Gulliver]

Just a quick update for anyone who's interested, I spent another hour with this record player on Sunday. I took the idler assembly apart, added just a drop of 3-in-1 and put it back together...sandpapered the idler wheel until it appeared to be smooth. I also generally cleaned the rubber and bits of dust etc. from the top area of the deck and around the idler assembly.

The turntable is now up to correct speed at 33, 45 and 78. I assume 16 is too but I don't have any 16rpm records. Checking against recordings of the material I was playing the speed must be very close to accurate, probably as close as the 2025 deck ever was. So, for the first time since about 1986 it's running at the correct speeds. For the first time I was able to listen to the Beach Boys 78's I picked up on Record Store Day last year while sojourning in the USA. All in all the sound is very pleasing though there is a fair bit of rumble compared to a modern turntable once the music starts it's nice.

After some adjustment the arm is now tracking a full 12" record. However I will invest in a new stylus as they're cheap. The cartridge itself is performing admirably and is indeed a Sonotone 9TAHC as surmised by a couple of you.

The autochange mechanism....well on two occasions it picked up at the end of the record and returned the arm to rest. But the 'reject' or 'start' lever isn't engaging the mechanism. So work to be done there. I have obtained a service manual so that's the next part...and I need a new autochange spindle as the original has disappeared.

But, thanks to the advice I received here, I have the old girl actually playing records and looking a bit less shabby than before.

As I've said this lives in my mother's house (no space at my home and the wife won't allow any more gear!). I think my aspiration is to make it the centrepiece of a small system in the spare bedroom there.

[Nickthedentist]

Well done, nice to hear that it's up and running again after all these years.

Nick.

[ben]

Agreed!
Bear in mind that for 78s you'll need the version of the stylus with a 78 tip. I may have one somewhere if you struggle to find one.

[Nickthedentist]

9TAHC styluses only seem to be readily available in LP/78 configuration, with sapphire tips at the moment.

Nick.

[Gulliver]

The only 78's I have played recently are 2011 vinyl pressings with microgrooves.

If I play any shellac I will be sure to get the correct stylus. The one fitted currently says "LP" on both sides. I imagine it was bought from Tandy in the mid 1980's.