Sansui RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

Ryan_1993 · 8th Jan 2019, 8:25 pm

Hi all,

I got a Sanusi XR-Q7 from an acquaintance, he got given it from a family friend, but didn't want it, so sold it to me. it had a weird male kettle lead plug on it so he didn't test it, so I've wired it up with a normal UK 3 pin plug.

It powers up fine, however it doesn't seem to operate properly. When you press start/stop nothing happens, other than the motor for the tonearm (this is obviously inside the unit) and it starts spinning. The tone arm doesn't lift or anything either. If you manually place the tone arm on the platter and press start stop all it wants to do is return to the resting point no platter spin.

I've looked a bit online, but with it being quite a rare model its hard to find details. From what I gather the tone arm has to be 100% perfect on this otherwise it won't work correctly it has alot of sensors.

Does anyone know what I should be looking for in the tonearm mechanism as a couple of posts have hinted this might be the issue? The LED's on the internal sensors all seem to be working fine as well well.

One thing to note if I power the machine off and manually spin the drive cog for the tone arm mechanism in a backwards direction it operates the tone arm lift mechanism and it moves up and down, but I'm not sure why it doesn't work when powered on.

Here's a quick video

https://youtu.be/LgYF2sm2XO8

Does anyone know if would be possible to just temporarily rewire it and bypass all the automatic control functions so it works as a completely manually TT for the meantime?

barretter · 9th Jan 2019, 12:31 am

There's a free service manual on Vinyl Engine (www.vinylengine.com). Membership is free, you just have to register.

Chiltern · 9th Jan 2019, 12:35 am

This model, in common with others that have a motorised arm has a belt drive from the arm motor. check that this is in place and in good condition.

Alan

Ryan_1993 · 9th Jan 2019, 9:36 am

First thing I checked, the belt is all working fine. The arm lift mechanism isn’t operating though. The LED sensors and receivers under the tone arm are also working.

I’m a bit concerned it's the main turntable control chip given that it's all computerised.

60 oldjohn · 9th Jan 2019, 2:12 pm

What happens if you place arm on the outer track? If it stays there maybe just a platter drive problem. Seems like arm returns ok once it finishes record and reaches centre of platter. SOME players need the arm to be gently pulled to the right past the resting position to power the platter.

John.

barretter · 9th Jan 2019, 5:22 pm

No, this is an automatic turntable. When you press the start button the platter starts rotating and the arm moves over and plonks the stylus down on the outer part of the groove. It looks like something has gone wrong with the electronic control system..

ben · 9th Jan 2019, 5:53 pm

Sounds like there's missing voltage(s).
I would imagine there's a relay or switching transistor to turn the main motor on, or supply its drive chip. You'd need to measure in this area. Clean any relay contacts of course. With the circuit diagram it shouldn't be too hard to trace this fault. Remember to take the head, counterweight and platter off and tape the arm down before flipping it over (onto a cushion or similar).

Ryan_1993 · 9th Jan 2019, 8:20 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by 60 oldjohn

What happens if you place arm on the outer track? If it stays there maybe just a platter drive problem. Seems like arm returns ok once it finishes record and reaches centre of platter. SOME players need the arm to be gently pulled to the right past the resting position to power the platter.

The platter doesn’t move as I’ve already stated in my original post. If you press start stop all the tone arm does is return to the rest position. The platter never starts moving and I can’t get it to move unfortunately. It seems to be something to do with the main control board. Most likely bad capacitors. I actually did notice there is some red residue on top of one, but it looked more like red permanent marker ink. I assumed it was a mark from manufacturer or Quality control from back in the factory.

Quote:

Originally Posted by barretter

No, this is an automatic turntable. When you press the start button the platter starts rotating and the arm moves over and plonks the stylus down on the outer part of the groove. It looks like something has gone wrong with the electronic control system..

I’ve been told the fault has most definitely been caused by either a faulty or dead capacitor or broken solder joint on the control board so this makes sense.

I’m taking it to someone in Leeds this weekend as i I don’t have any test equipment for this sort or thing.

One guy in a Sansui audio group on facebok reported the same issues as me and a repair to his main computer control board fixed it up, they Told him his proplems were suspected caps at fault. Cost him about 100 euros to get repaired.

Which is fine as I now got the turntable for nothing, so if I can get it working. I’ll have a top end turntable for a couple of hundred quid with the repair lol.

ben · 9th Jan 2019, 11:05 pm

Don't believe everything you read online. 100 notes just to change some caps?
My suggestion is to ask in the help wanted section here if you haven't already. There are a few members in the Leeds area. I hope it is one of those to whom you'll be taking it! Any experienced audio tech with a multimeter should at least be able to give you a diagnosis as to what is wrong and then an estimate of the likely repair cost. Just going on internet guesswork and blanket capacitor changing is a recipe for an expensive mess!

Ryan_1993 · 10th Jan 2019, 8:54 am

I really don’t want to do this myself. Given the rarity of the machine with parts being very hard to obtain. I’ve had a look at everything internally i can. Checked over the motor etc and cannot see anything noticeable. So I think the issue lies on a circuit board or in the PSU. The repair tech seems to have very good reviews and specialises in vintage audio equipment.

Even if it costs me 400 or 500 to repair. I’ve got like a £700 Turntable for much, much cheaper than ebay and retail prices and its a pretty rare high end model. Since I didn’t pay anything for it. I can spend more on the repair.

I’ve refurbed and repaired my Pioneer PL-12D And Toshiba SM-3750. I upgraded the RCA cables, replaced the motor etc in the Pioneer, but these are a joy to work on, the Pioneer is beyond basic inside.

With this Sansui its got quartz lock, computer controlled, direct drive dual motor for the platter, its fully automatic, but not like in your typical sense. Both the tone arm and platter aren’t connected physically like on typical low end auto turntables. The computers control the auto mechanism and an array of sensors. Without the necessary equipment something like this would be impossible to fix yourself.

It does look very nice in my Hifi setup though. Definitely a massive upgrade over my PL-12D

SiriusHardware · 10th Jan 2019, 10:59 am

Although that quote seems expensive, we shouldn't really discourage people who are aware of their technical limitations from seeking, and paying for, professional help. We often advise people to do exactly that.

There was a discussion only recently about how repair shops have all but died out due to the fact that nobody is prepared to have things repaired any more. Let's not drive the remaining ones out of business.

Lloyd 1985 · 10th Jan 2019, 12:19 pm

Could it be that the unit isn't detecting that the arm is in its rest position? From all the turntables I have here that are computer controlled, if the tonearm isn't in the correct position when turned on, it will try to move it to its rest position, if it doesn't get there and trigger the sensor then pressing start will do nothing. Might be worth checking connections to sensors in the tonearm, and if they are optical sensors, maybe give them a blast of air to make sure they are clear.

Regards,
Lloyd

Beobloke · 10th Jan 2019, 1:56 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan_1993

Even if it costs me 400 or 500 to repair. I’ve got like a £700 Turntable for much, much cheaper than ebay and retail prices and its a pretty rare high end model. Since I didn’t pay anything for it. I can spend more on the repair.

Please don't do this - there is a fully working one currently for sale on the internet for £325 and that is about the top end of the price range for this model.

Consequently, spending £400 or more to repair yours would be a somewhat foolish excercise, in my opinion!

Ryan_1993 · 10th Jan 2019, 2:33 pm

Why do people on here always twist and turn words of others. I said if it costs 400 or 500 it doesn’t bother me. Which it won’t. It’s obviously not going to cost that much, but if it did I wouldn’t be too concerned as I have a very good top spec turntable. I never said “I’ve been told this is going to cost “400-500”. Just that if it turned out to cost that much in repairing it, I’d be okay with that, but I know it’s not going to be anything like that.

I’ve been looking for one of these turntables for years and to be given one is pretty great.

I’ve seen these turntables as high as 900 Euros online and someone in Japan just wants 200 Euros for a tone arm spare part.

Ryan_1993 · 10th Jan 2019, 2:37 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiriusHardware

Although that quote seems expensive, we shouldn't really discourage people who are aware of their technical limitations from seeking, and paying for, professional help. We often advise people to do exactly that.

There was a discussion only recently about how repair shops have all but died out due to the fact that nobody is prepared to have things repaired any more. Let's not drive the remaining ones out of business.

Where has this quote come from? I haven’t said a quote the repair tech has told me to bring it in which is what I’m doing? All I’ve said is that someone online abroad told me when there’s went wrong like this it cost them 100 euros to fix as an approximation. I never said that’s What ive been quoted and then I said if turns out to cost something like “400 or 500” to fix I’d be okay with that. Which I would be as like a max top end I’d be willing to spend on it.

I can’t imagine even the most skilled person alive could diagnose the problem without sufficient electrical testing equipment. Unfortunately, I’m good at Cassette mechanism repair but nothing as complex as this

SiriusHardware · 10th Jan 2019, 2:50 pm

Sorry, 'Quote' was my word, not yours. I was referring to the 100 Euros you had mentioned as a possible likely cost, based on (someone's?) previous experience.

For the rest, I was supporting your apparent willingness to take the job to someone with the necessary equipment to effect a repair.

Ryan_1993 · 10th Jan 2019, 2:51 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lloyd 1985

Could it be that the unit isn't detecting that the arm is in its rest position? From all the turntables I have here that are computer controlled, if the tonearm isn't in the correct position when turned on, it will try to move it to its rest position, if it doesn't get there and trigger the sensor then pressing start will do nothing. Might be worth checking connections to sensors in the tonearm, and if they are optical sensors, maybe give them a blast of air to make sure they are clear.

This really does make sense. Hopefully it’s an easy fix. It’s absolutely immaculate shape just a few light scratches on the dust cover lid

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiriusHardware

Sorry, 'Quote' was my word, not yours. I was referring to the 100 Euros you had mentioned as a possible likely cost, based on (someone's?) previous experience.

For the rest, I was supporting your apparent willingness to take the job to someone with the necessary equipment to effect a repair.

Thanks

Yeah I definitely don’t want to tackle this myself. The machine is very rare. Hardly any have come up on eBay if you look at past searches and completed stuff. I don’t wanna take the risk lol 😂

Radio Wrangler · 10th Jan 2019, 3:50 pm

OK, you don't want to tackle it yourself.
You don't mind the price of someone else fixing it for you.
You do want the thing you have working
You do not want to buy another.

That's easy, then. You have only one course of action that fits your conditions and the price probably doesn't veto it. Go for it!

This is a website stuffed with people who do wade in and do fix things for themselves. Some of the restorations are beyond belief, some are very simple. The people on here by their nature would like you to save some money and would like you to learn about troubleshooting. They're just trying to be helpful.

The non-financial downside to having a repair specialist look at your turntable is that if he isn't local, there is a very high risk of damage in shipping the thing. If that happens and you find another one, it'll never be as good as the first one, of course. The fates decree it ;-)

David

Ryan_1993 · 10th Jan 2019, 4:32 pm

I can repair stuff and I do. I’ve repaired cassette decks, vintage rotary telephones and the odd antique radio. Unfortunately this is a very complex turntable and without proper electrical testing equipment for checking Integrated circuits I would struggle as would anyone.

The repair tech I’ve found is local about 28 miles away. I definitely won’t be shipping it off anywhere. I’d rather drive it there. He specialises in vintage audio repair and has done for about 37 years.

Sometimes a repair can be beyond one's abilities. This is definitely one of those cases Nowhere near as easy as swapping out the motor on my PL-12D or replacing the odd belt or Pinch Roller or motor as found in my cassette machines.

Beobloke · 11th Jan 2019, 1:58 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryan_1993

Why do people on here always twist and turn words of others. I said if it costs 400 or 500 it doesn’t bother me. Which it won’t. It’s obviously not going to cost that much, but if it did I wouldn’t be too concerned as I have a very good top spec turntable. I never said “I’ve been told this is going to cost “400-500”. Just that if it turned out to cost that much in repairing it, I’d be okay with that, but I know it’s not going to be anything like that.

I’ve been looking for one of these turntables for years and to be given one is pretty great.

I’ve seen these turntables as high as 900 Euros online and someone in Japan just wants 200 Euros for a tone arm spare part.

I did not 'twist or turn your words'. As you have pointed out, you said "Even if it costs me 400 or 500 to repair. I’ve got like a £700 Turntable for much, much cheaper than ebay and retail prices and its a pretty rare high end model. Since I didn’t pay anything for it. I can spend more on the repair."

My point was that it is not a £700 turntable and there is one available from the very source you mention currently for £325. Therefore I was offering advice to you that to spend £400-500 on repairing the one you have would seem a little pointless.

However, it's your money and you're free to spend it how you like. For what it's worth, I hope you get it working for a lot less.

8th Jan 2019, 8:25 pm	#1
Ryan_1993 Hexode Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 329	Sansui RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting Hi all, I got a Sanusi XR-Q7 from an acquaintance, he got given it from a family friend, but didn't want it, so sold it to me. it had a weird male kettle lead plug on it so he didn't test it, so I've wired it up with a normal UK 3 pin plug. It powers up fine, however it doesn't seem to operate properly. When you press start/stop nothing happens, other than the motor for the tonearm (this is obviously inside the unit) and it starts spinning. The tone arm doesn't lift or anything either. If you manually place the tone arm on the platter and press start stop all it wants to do is return to the resting point no platter spin. I've looked a bit online, but with it being quite a rare model its hard to find details. From what I gather the tone arm has to be 100% perfect on this otherwise it won't work correctly it has alot of sensors. Does anyone know what I should be looking for in the tonearm mechanism as a couple of posts have hinted this might be the issue? The LED's on the internal sensors all seem to be working fine as well well. One thing to note if I power the machine off and manually spin the drive cog for the tone arm mechanism in a backwards direction it operates the tone arm lift mechanism and it moves up and down, but I'm not sure why it doesn't work when powered on. Here's a quick video https://youtu.be/LgYF2sm2XO8 Does anyone know if would be possible to just temporarily rewire it and bypass all the automatic control functions so it works as a completely manually TT for the meantime? Last edited by Ryan_1993; 8th Jan 2019 at 8:35 pm.

9th Jan 2019, 12:31 am	#2
barretter Heptode Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Todmorden, West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 870	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting There's a free service manual on Vinyl Engine (www.vinylengine.com). Membership is free, you just have to register.

9th Jan 2019, 12:35 am	#3
Chiltern Heptode Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Somerset, UK. Posts: 555	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting This model, in common with others that have a motorised arm has a belt drive from the arm motor. check that this is in place and in good condition. Alan

9th Jan 2019, 9:36 am	#4
Ryan_1993 Hexode Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 329	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting First thing I checked, the belt is all working fine. The arm lift mechanism isn’t operating though. The LED sensors and receivers under the tone arm are also working. I’m a bit concerned it's the main turntable control chip given that it's all computerised.

9th Jan 2019, 2:12 pm	#5
60 oldjohn Dekatron Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: East Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 3,987	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting What happens if you place arm on the outer track? If it stays there maybe just a platter drive problem. Seems like arm returns ok once it finishes record and reaches centre of platter. SOME players need the arm to be gently pulled to the right past the resting position to power the platter. John.

9th Jan 2019, 5:22 pm	#6
barretter Heptode Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Todmorden, West Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 870	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting No, this is an automatic turntable. When you press the start button the platter starts rotating and the arm moves over and plonks the stylus down on the outer part of the groove. It looks like something has gone wrong with the electronic control system..

9th Jan 2019, 5:53 pm	#7
ben Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK Posts: 7,498	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting Sounds like there's missing voltage(s). I would imagine there's a relay or switching transistor to turn the main motor on, or supply its drive chip. You'd need to measure in this area. Clean any relay contacts of course. With the circuit diagram it shouldn't be too hard to trace this fault. Remember to take the head, counterweight and platter off and tape the arm down before flipping it over (onto a cushion or similar). __________________ Regards, Ben.

9th Jan 2019, 11:05 pm	#9
ben Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Madrid, Spain / Wirral, UK Posts: 7,498	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting Don't believe everything you read online. 100 notes just to change some caps? My suggestion is to ask in the help wanted section here if you haven't already. There are a few members in the Leeds area. I hope it is one of those to whom you'll be taking it! Any experienced audio tech with a multimeter should at least be able to give you a diagnosis as to what is wrong and then an estimate of the likely repair cost. Just going on internet guesswork and blanket capacitor changing is a recipe for an expensive mess! __________________ Regards, Ben.

10th Jan 2019, 8:54 am	#10
Ryan_1993 Hexode Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 329	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting I really don’t want to do this myself. Given the rarity of the machine with parts being very hard to obtain. I’ve had a look at everything internally i can. Checked over the motor etc and cannot see anything noticeable. So I think the issue lies on a circuit board or in the PSU. The repair tech seems to have very good reviews and specialises in vintage audio equipment. Even if it costs me 400 or 500 to repair. I’ve got like a £700 Turntable for much, much cheaper than ebay and retail prices and its a pretty rare high end model. Since I didn’t pay anything for it. I can spend more on the repair. I’ve refurbed and repaired my Pioneer PL-12D And Toshiba SM-3750. I upgraded the RCA cables, replaced the motor etc in the Pioneer, but these are a joy to work on, the Pioneer is beyond basic inside. With this Sansui its got quartz lock, computer controlled, direct drive dual motor for the platter, its fully automatic, but not like in your typical sense. Both the tone arm and platter aren’t connected physically like on typical low end auto turntables. The computers control the auto mechanism and an array of sensors. Without the necessary equipment something like this would be impossible to fix yourself. It does look very nice in my Hifi setup though. Definitely a massive upgrade over my PL-12D Attached Thumbnails

10th Jan 2019, 10:59 am	#11
SiriusHardware Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK. Posts: 11,556	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting Although that quote seems expensive, we shouldn't really discourage people who are aware of their technical limitations from seeking, and paying for, professional help. We often advise people to do exactly that. There was a discussion only recently about how repair shops have all but died out due to the fact that nobody is prepared to have things repaired any more. Let's not drive the remaining ones out of business.

10th Jan 2019, 12:19 pm	#12
Lloyd 1985 Nonode Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Coningsby, Lincolnshire, UK. Posts: 2,819	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting Could it be that the unit isn't detecting that the arm is in its rest position? From all the turntables I have here that are computer controlled, if the tonearm isn't in the correct position when turned on, it will try to move it to its rest position, if it doesn't get there and trigger the sensor then pressing start will do nothing. Might be worth checking connections to sensors in the tonearm, and if they are optical sensors, maybe give them a blast of air to make sure they are clear. Regards, Lloyd

10th Jan 2019, 2:33 pm	#14
Ryan_1993 Hexode Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 329	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting Why do people on here always twist and turn words of others. I said if it costs 400 or 500 it doesn’t bother me. Which it won’t. It’s obviously not going to cost that much, but if it did I wouldn’t be too concerned as I have a very good top spec turntable. I never said “I’ve been told this is going to cost “400-500”. Just that if it turned out to cost that much in repairing it, I’d be okay with that, but I know it’s not going to be anything like that. I’ve been looking for one of these turntables for years and to be given one is pretty great. I’ve seen these turntables as high as 900 Euros online and someone in Japan just wants 200 Euros for a tone arm spare part. Last edited by Ryan_1993; 10th Jan 2019 at 2:50 pm.

10th Jan 2019, 2:50 pm	#16
SiriusHardware Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK. Posts: 11,556	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting Sorry, 'Quote' was my word, not yours. I was referring to the 100 Euros you had mentioned as a possible likely cost, based on (someone's?) previous experience. For the rest, I was supporting your apparent willingness to take the job to someone with the necessary equipment to effect a repair.

10th Jan 2019, 3:50 pm	#18
Radio Wrangler Moderator Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Fife, Scotland, UK. Posts: 22,872	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting OK, you don't want to tackle it yourself. You don't mind the price of someone else fixing it for you. You do want the thing you have working You do not want to buy another. That's easy, then. You have only one course of action that fits your conditions and the price probably doesn't veto it. Go for it! This is a website stuffed with people who do wade in and do fix things for themselves. Some of the restorations are beyond belief, some are very simple. The people on here by their nature would like you to save some money and would like you to learn about troubleshooting. They're just trying to be helpful. The non-financial downside to having a repair specialist look at your turntable is that if he isn't local, there is a very high risk of damage in shipping the thing. If that happens and you find another one, it'll never be as good as the first one, of course. The fates decree it ;-) David __________________ Can't afford the volcanic island yet, but the plans for my monorail and the goons' uniforms are done

10th Jan 2019, 4:32 pm	#19
Ryan_1993 Hexode Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Yorkshire, UK. Posts: 329	Re: Sanusi RS-Q7 Turntable not spinning up and tone arm not lifting I can repair stuff and I do. I’ve repaired cassette decks, vintage rotary telephones and the odd antique radio. Unfortunately this is a very complex turntable and without proper electrical testing equipment for checking Integrated circuits I would struggle as would anyone. The repair tech I’ve found is local about 28 miles away. I definitely won’t be shipping it off anywhere. I’d rather drive it there. He specialises in vintage audio repair and has done for about 37 years. Sometimes a repair can be beyond one's abilities. This is definitely one of those cases Nowhere near as easy as swapping out the motor on my PL-12D or replacing the odd belt or Pinch Roller or motor as found in my cassette machines.