Garrard AP76 niggles

[RojDW48]

No life out of its auto functions, but it single plays nice and quietly. However the tonearm doesn't quite make it at either end of its travel - ie - it gets to the runout groove, but not all the way in. And it needs a little pressure to get it on to the arm rest, then clip to make sure it stays there.

Any wise words?

[Nickthedentist]

Yes. The words are full, stripdown, clean and relubricate

[paulsherwin]

You might get away with just a lube if you don't want to tackle a full on dismantling. The new oil/grease dilutes and dissolves the old gummy stuff. Nick's right really though.

[Michael Maurice]

They are more complex than the SP25 and it’s auto changer variants. Make copious notes, take lots of pictures and strip and lubricate sections at a time.

[Craig Sawyers]

the AP76 was the first deck I ever bought, when I was about 16. And that boys and girls was half a century ago

Craig

[RojDW48]

Originally Posted by Nickthedentist

Yes. The words are full, stripdown, clean and relubricate

You are right, of course, Nick - but I am a very lazy fellow, and I don't mind not having all those auto functions - AND Garrard have fitted that cam under the motor plate, so I have to do even more work to get it going.

[paulsherwin]

This will horrify many people, but if you really are feeling lazy, give the moving parts a short squirt of bog standard WD40 and exercise them. Obviously, don't overdo it. After a couple of weeks when the white spirit has evaporated, relube with oil or grease as appropriate.

[RojDW48]

Originally Posted by paulsherwin

This will horrify many people, but if you really are feeling lazy, give the moving parts a short squirt of bog standard WD40 and exercise them. Obviously, don't overdo it. After a couple of weeks when the white spirit has evaporated, relube with oil or grease as appropriate.

I'm not horrified - thanks Paul. I have tried the hairdryer trick, with no effect at all, which is unusual - I usually get an encouraging twitch or two. I shall have a proper go tomorrow.

[Craig Sawyers]

The teletype or teleprinter groups have a real problem with WD40. Now these are really complex (much more complex than a record deck) electromechanical assemblies. And of course now full of tarry grease.

If you make the mistake of spraying on WD40, it mobilises the grease and washes it even deeper into the moving parts. The WD solvent then evaporates, and the teletype is now seized solid. The only recovery is complete disassembly (hundreds of parts, springs etc), complete clean and relubricate.

Now I haven't done one of those, but I have restored the BP Lorenz SZ42 from WWII. And I did strip the critical parts, washing them in solvent (IPA or hexane) and used modern greases for precisely that reason.

Then they had a partial SZ42 from a military museum in Norway. The plan was to restore that too, and use a modern motor (that was missing) and do a similar restoration. The Norwegians were having none of that - they viewed the original grease as being "an historical artefact". I kid you not.

Craig

[paulsherwin]

There's no doubt that a complete stripdown and clean would be the best solution, but it's a lot of work.

[Nickthedentist]

...but it's very good learning excercise and teaches you a lot about how these clever devices work. YOu might even enjoy it.

Loads of notes and photos are essential though, as well as plenty of time, patience, good lighting etc.

[Edward Huggins]

The Garrard AP76 was a rather underrated deck. If you are happy to do without any of its auto features then strip out the cam gear and anything that might produce any drag on the platter at all i.e. just make it a basic rim drive manual deck.

[RojDW48]

Originally Posted by Edward Huggins

The Garrard AP76 was a rather underrated deck. If you are happy to do without any of its auto features then strip out the cam gear and anything that might produce any drag on the platter at all i.e. just make it a basic rim drive manual deck.

Ssshhh!! That's exactly what I am thinking of doing - but don't tell Nick.

It is a nice TT, isn't it? I was very pleasantly surprised. But what is really puzzling is that a TT which only seeks to set down, pickup, return and stop should be so much more complicated than one which also played a stack of records in order - even sensing their diameters!!

[Edward Huggins]

Yes, but this single player also has to be able to auto-play the correct size of each record.
So whilst there is no "stack, drop and trip" sizing action, it still needs a lot of mech to do what it does.

[RojDW48]

Good point, Edward. It's de-automated now and playing very sweetly. I took plenty of photos just in case I feel like re-instating in the future.