Garrard 86SB platter rubbing

[mikej56]

Hello all,

I recently bought this Garrard 86SB turntable as 'not powering on' from an auction. It was packed very poorly and arrived with the platter separated from the deck and the Shure cartridge knocked out of its bracket on the arm, etc.
This is a real pity as the deck looks like new.
My first problem is that the platter doesn't rotate and is obviously sitting too low on its spindle. The motor runs perfectly and is noise free, but has no chance of turning the platter as it is rubbing on the deck. The ball bearing on the top of the spindle doesn't look worn and moves freely.
I checked out previous threads here which deal with this turntable and came across one which touched on this fault.

see: https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=200158
Post 12 on that thread suggests fitting a spacer on the spindle to raise it enough so that the edge of the platter clears the deck surface.

I simply can't see how this is possible as the spindle appears to be pressed into its support bracket, so there appears to be no way to fit a spacer in there.
If anyone knows how to do this please enlighten me.

Mike

[mikej56]

The only possibility that I can see of raising the platter is to add a piece of plastic ( or something) to the underside of the record spindle. Although getting something the right size, or even anything to stick to the existing plastic could be fun. Unless anyone has any better suggestions I'll give this a go.

I still can't understand why the platter has dropped - was there something else in below the spindle, which may have gone missing?
Vinyl Engine has some drawings of the parts of this turntable but they're not very clear. They do show an 'O' ring at the bottom of the support spindle, which is missing, but I can't imagine that it has anything to do with the height of the platter - surly the shaft rotating on a rubber ring would act like a brake?

[G6ONEDave]

It might be that the O ring is fitted the other side of the nylon bush, that would raise the height of the nylon bush by the thickness of the O ring. Likewise a packer ring between the ball bearing housing and platter would have the same effect.

Another thought is about the ball bearing, is it too loose in it's housing. I would expect it to be locked in position but if it's disappearing into the housing, that could also cause the platter to catch the deck.

Dave

[mikej56]

Thanks Dave,
There is no mention of a nylon bush in the Vinyl Engine manual.
The ball bearing is not worn and moves freely in its socket but has no play in any direction.
If the shaft is raised by a bush at the bottom then that would cause play at the ball bearing, that's what's making me think that something is missing underneath the record spindle.

[mikej56]

The platter is running freely now -silent and smooth.
I'm surprised that the old belt actually drives it, although it takes it a while to get up speed. I have a new belt ordered.

I glued small washers onto the underside of the turntable spindle but that still didn't give quite enough clearance so I added a bit of plastic from a toothpaste tube top. The superglue worked well with this type of plastic.

Now to sort out the damage to the pickup - the cartridge was knocked out of its bracket on the head shell, ripping the wires out of the connector. That's for another day.