E.A.R. DeLuxe record player.

[parlourtw73vs]

I recently bought this record player off eBay. The seller advertised it as having a low hum and the pilot light lit up but the record deck was inoperative. He told me that it had belonged to his wife's parents who were now deceased and they were selling off sundry items found in their house. When I got it home I didn't plug it in as I assumed that the deck would be glued up with the usual Garrard grease so I removed it, degreased and relubricated it and gave the whole machine a thorough cleaning. After re- assembly I then plugged it in and switched on. I know this is not the recommended procedure but as the vendor had already said they had tried it out I reasoned that any damage had been done already and hopefully I'd be rewarded with some sound. The pilot light illuminated but I couldn't detect any hum from the amplifier, on the upside the deck started to perform faultlessly and worked automatically on all speeds so that at least appears to be one problem less. The turntable's motor starts to spin as soon as the power is on so perhaps that was the low hum the vendor had noticed but it is really very low indeed in sound. Unfortunately I'm not at all competent in the restoration of electronic circuitry, I'm much better at mechanical and cabinet work so I'm hoping that the many knowledgeable contributors on this forum will be able to help me with this problem. I will try to upload some photos to assist in any advice that can be given as I would really like to try to learn how to solve this electric problem. As I hope the images will show, this is quite a handsome looking player and I really like the Garrard 209 auto deck, one of the best looking units which appears to be really well engineered. The valves are two UCL 82's and neither has any sign of life with regard to the heaters glowing, it does appear that no power at all is getting to the amplifier. The cartridge is a Garrard GC8 which superficially seems OK, although I realise this is no guarantee of its working and in fact the odds are greatly against it, however, it would be good to try it out on the working amp. I have a multimeter which I mainly use for checking continuity and charge voltages on my old car so I'm not a complete beginner to their usage, but if I find the problem beyond me with your assistance then I will definitely put it in the hands of someone more capable. Any help with identifying this machine and some notes on the level of performance I can expect from it would be most appreciated, it does have a very large speaker and I think it could be a push pull amplifier with about 6 or 7 watts output so hopefully it will be well worth a little effort. Thanks in advance for any help and advice that is forthcoming.

[Station X]

If the heaters are not glowing the first thing to do is trace out the heater wiring (pins 4 and 5) and see where they're fed from.

Some EAR players had the heaters connected in series with the motor, but that's not consistent with the motor running. If you pull out a valve does the motor stop?

[Nuvistor]

E.A.R did make some better record players than many on the market.

Presuming the valves are correct the heaters are probably in series so a break in the series chain will stop them lighting up. Without power being connected trace the heater circuit, there is a small green wire wound resistor that is light green in the middle, it doesn’t look like the wiring is original just hanging there. That may be the dropper resistor for the heaters. Check if it it open circuit.

There may be a circuit in the service data at the top of the page, I am not in a position to check just now.

Post crossed with Graham.

[GrimJosef]

Originally Posted by parlourtw73vs

I recently bought this record player off eBay ... Unfortunately I'm not at all competent in the restoration of electronic circuitry ...

I'm concerned about this. I can't see a mains isolating transformer in your pictures. On the right hand side of the fourth picture there may be one (or perhaps two ?) metal rectifiers directly rectifying the mains to provide the HT. I'm also not at all sure which parts of the metalwork, if any, might be safety earthed and which parts might not.

People who are 'not at all competent' need to take very great care indeed if they're working on equipment which might not be safety earthed. So, for example, when Station X suggests pulling out a valve to see if the motor stops he will have assumed that you know to unplug the whole thing from the mains before you do this. I'd recommend not touching any bit of it at all when it's plugged in - not even the record deck if you're uncertain about whether there may be a fault somewhere.

Cheers,

GJ

['LIVEWIRE?']

The service data may be included as the 'Music Maker De Luxe' in a service sheet available for £1.99 from VRSD

[Edward Huggins]

You've got a good 'un there! This is one of the last of the better quality record players from EAR before Perdio took them over. Yours is from 1960, it is in Push-Pull and will give a good 6-8 watts. Don't worry abut the old GC8 mono cartridge - this is not suitable for stereo records and the amplifier has enough gain for a "modern" Ceramic type.

Check both the UCL82 heaters (Pins 4 and 5) for continuity. If open circuit, the valve must be replaced. The 90V heater supply may come from the motor winding (unlikely on a Garrard 209) so may come via the big green series resistor dropper. Has it overheated? I can see 2 Plessey red and yellow caps and these may also have failed by now. You are lucky that very complex autochanger is working OK, so 100% well worth restoring/getting restored. That 9" x 5" speaker is an added bonus. Please do keep us updated on progress.

[Clydeuk]

Radiomuseum has an entry for this player https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/electricau_de_luxe.html

This confirms that the 2 x UCL82 is correct.

I can't see a mains transformer either, unless there is one mounted away from the chassis.

[Herald1360]

The two UCL83 valves suggest the Bantam in the 1958 models collection. That is a push pull amp but is also live chassis with no mains isolating transformer.

[Station X]

Originally Posted by GrimJosef

People who are 'not at all competent' need to take very great care indeed if they're working on equipment which might not be safety earthed. So, for example, when Station X suggests pulling out a valve to see if the motor stops he will have assumed that you know to unplug the whole thing from the mains before you do this. I'd recommend not touching any bit of it at all when it's plugged in - not even the record deck if you're uncertain about whether there may be a fault somewhere.

Cheers,

GJ

The OP has 103 posts to his name, mostly relating to audio equipment. He's hardly your typical record player newbie making his first post in the forums. I would hope that during his time using the forums he has picked up a bit of basic safety information and understands the possible dangers in working on live equipment.

A few weeks ago I purchased some solvent adhesive with which to repair a Perspex container. I'm not joking when I say it came with 9 closely typed A4 pages of safety information. I don't want to see the forums get like that, so I'm not going to prefix my posts with safety warnings.

Several members have suggested checking out the heater wiring. If it goes to the wire wound resistor we can get the OP to test it without any need to apply power. I await his reply.

[Edward Huggins]

The fact that the Garrard motor starts once power is applied is not a good sign.

This suggests that the On/Off mechanism is not linking as it should and over time (if not already) will damage the idler wheel and produce speed instability.

[Station X]

Originally Posted by Herald1360

The two UCL83 valves suggest the Bantam in the 1958 models collection. That is a push pull amp but is also live chassis with no mains isolating transformer.

The Bantam circuit is probably a good bet for a reasonable match, but the OP's player has UCL82's

[Station X]

Originally Posted by 'LIVEWIRE?'

The service data may be included as the 'Music Maker De Luxe' in a service sheet available for £1.99 from VRSD

I'm afraid not. That player uses an EZ80 and an ECL86.

[parlourtw73vs]

I'm gratified to see the response to my original post with suggestions already coming in for likely areas to check. I also expected to see a contribution from Edward and wasn't disappointed in his ability to verify my original belief that this was a superior player. I take onboard Grimjosef's remark about safety but as Stationx has said I'm not a complete newbie and always remove the mains plug when examining the electrical side of things. In the past I've always bought machines which I know to be electronically operative but which have required mechanical and cosmetic attention and have unfortunately neglected to try and master the rudiments of problem solving on what are really quite simple circuits. Edward, you say the motor being permanently on may imply that the control linkages are not correct, I may have been a little unclear in my original post. I meant to say that the motor is permanently turning even in the off position but the turntable and idler wheel are disconnected, there's even a simple brake on this deck which rapidly brings the platter to a halt when it is switched off. I will check the heater circuits, am I correct in applying the multimeter probes to pins 4 & 5 to check for continuity and will I need to set the meter to any particular resistance range or simply use the "audible buzz" position? Also, do I count the pins in a clockwise direction starting from the pin on the left of the large gap? Many thanks for all your help so far and I will keep you posted on the progress I make, I've also put on another couple of photos which may be of interest.
Malc.

[GrimJosef]

The pins on valves are numbered 'clockwise increasing' when you're looking directly at them i.e. from the underside of the valve. In the case of UCL82s, which are B9A based, pins 1 and 9 are therefore to the left and right of the gap respectively. The datasheet http://www.r-type.org/pdfs/ucl82.pdf shows that the resistance of the heater, which is indeed between pins 4 and 5, is 500ohms (50V, 0.1A) when it's hot, but it will be a good deal less than this when cold. Whether it's low enough to buzz your meter on the continuity setting may depend on which particular meter you're using. I'd try it on a kilohm range (1kohm or 2kohm probably).

Cheers,

GJ

[Station X]

It looks to me like there are two rectifiers wired in series to the left of the first picture?

Clear pictures showing the wiring on the valve bases would be useful.

[teetoon]

Hello all, the two green wires from the Garrard deck indicate that it is a 160 volt motor intended to be in series with valve heaters. There will be no switch on a deck where this is used.
I'd be a bit worried if the deck is running but no valve heaters.

David.

[Station X]

That would fit in with what I said in post #2. Garrard did produce decks with 160V motors.

Hence my suggestion to remove a valve and see if the deck stops. If it doesn't stop it MAY indicate that the heater circuit has been rewired.

I hope a 160V motor isn't being fed with 230V. We need the OP to confirm how the heaters are wired.

[ms660]

Looks like a resistor in series with the heaters and the motor, can't quite maker out the value....300 ohms? if so then that might figure for a 110-120 volt motor.

The reservoir looks to have been subbed but I can't see the -ve return path for the replacement.

The control panel appears to have an earth connection, the single green wire could be the deck grounding to the chassis via the tubular ceramic isolator on the chassis topside.

The wire going through the valve holder rivet hole is, I think, the heater feed connecting to pin 4 of the right hand UCL82.

Maybe...

Lawrence.

[teetoon]

It's not just me then that thinks this has been altered.
The return on that yellow cap appears to be wrapped around the o/p tx bolt.

Why is there 2 rectifiers and a piece of twin flex between them, and I'm sure that further dropper from the red wire to the smoothing cap would not have had a floating connection when manufactured.

Maybe the motor is connected directly accross the mains. It will run like that but will get very hot. Guess how I know that ?

EDIT: there's another dropper resistor at the back of the board just under the speaker. It gets worse.

David.

[parlourtw73vs]

OK, I've carried out some of the tests which have been recommended.
Firstly I removed both valves, the pilot light came on and the motor began to run as before.
Secondly, I connected my, admittedly budget, multimeter across pins 4 & 5 with the resistance set at 2K, which was also the audible signal setting. I got the whining tone on both valves and the display showed 074 on 1 valve and 078 on the second.
The large green resistor installed near the diodes marked at 100 ohms gave a reading of 099 on the 2K setting, no audible signal though.
The resistor which has been commented on which is paler in the middle gave a reading of 448, again on the 2K setting and no audible signal. There was no indication on it of its value, could it have had a wraparound label which has fallen off resulting in the paler centre band?
Lastly, I checked the green wire wound resistor near the large hunts capacitor marked at 3300 ohms which gave a reading of 3.44 but this time on the 20K setting. I've also uploaded some more images trying to give clearer views of the wiring but it is a very compact circuit and difficult to separate some of its details. With regard to the wiring to the turntable unit having been interfered with, if you examine the photo of the underside of the valve bases you will see an elongated paxolin panel which is a series of sockets into which are plugged the leads from the pick up cartridge on the left, one empty, and then the 2 thicker green leads which supply the motor. All these appear original and not tampered with although I obviously can't guarantee this. Maybe the vendors parents found that this player had ceased to give off any sound and had put it away who knows how many years ago where it had languished until now! It's certainly in excellent overall condition and seems to have been well cared for so perhaps they'd intended to get it repaired but had never got round to it.