Sony Garrard SP 25 MK IV tone-arm issues

[mrburtreynoldz]

Hi everyone,

I was recently given an old Sony Garrard SP 25 MK IV record player with original speakers et al and it's in great nick on the whole but when testing it for the first by playing a few 7" singles, I found that with each and every one of them - it would only play up until a certain point (3/4 through) and then loop the last notes up until that point, as if all of the different singles were scratched & stuck in more or less the same place.

On closer inspection of the tone-arm, it doesn't seem to be able to move across the turntable past that particular point and despite changing the record speeds & settings and adjusting the weight on the tone-arm, the problem remains.

Can anyone advise me on what exactly the issue might be and how I might go about fixing it or replacing parts?

I'm happy to post pics on request if needed.

Thanks.

[Electronpusher0]

Garrard SP25 record decks have reached the age where they will all need a service if not used for some time, the grease hardens and the autochanger mechanism under the deck will not work properly. The most likely problem in this case is the two little sliders (pawls) that get nudged by the arm and initiate the arm lift and return via a cam.
the arm starts to nudge the sliders at about the point you describe, finally moving enough to trip the return sequence at the end of the track.
When the grease hardens the sliders do not move and halt the arm.

Search the forum and you will find a lot of information about servicing them.
The manual can be downloaded from the Vinyl Engine website, this is the link
https://www.vinylengine.com/library/garrard/sp-25.shtml

Peter

[Sideband]

Basically you will need to strip down the mechanism and remove all the old hardened grease and then re-grease the appropriate parts. You'll need to do this properly and methodically, DO NOT be tempted to spray any of the mechanism with WD40 or try any random oiling....it will end in tears and disaster!

Loads of information within these forums and on the web.

[Electronpusher0]

When you service the underside of the deck you will need to turn it over and lay it down somewhere, many a pickup arm has been broken while servicing the underside, I find a bean bag is ideal to lay the deck on while servicing.

Peter

[PsychMan]

For this particular fault and this particular deck, freeing up and regreasing the cam and ensuring the trip pawl is free to move will likely be all that is needed.

This can be done from the top once the turntable has moved as far as I remember, and doesn't take very long at all

[Techman]

While I totally agree with what everyone says regarding a full service of this deck, I agree with PsychMan in that what he describes will cure the fault in the short term and get the deck operating as it should.

This trip pawl problem seems to come up every other day on this forum - a 'search' will probably turn up literally thousands of posts, all on the same subject.

[Station X]

Indeed. I've managed to fix non vintage radio stuff by searching on relevant forums. I didn't need to join them to ask questions, as the answers were already there.

[patrickgnl]

Originally Posted by Sideband

Basically you will need to strip down the mechanism and remove all the old hardened grease and then re-grease the appropriate parts. You'll need to do this properly and methodically, DO NOT be tempted to spray any of the mechanism with WD40 or try any random oiling....it will end in tears and disaster!

Loads of information within these forums and on the web.

I think if i had read your post first it would have put me off what i did. A few weeks ago i discovered my old Sp25 Mk iv in my brother in laws garage. It had been there 35 years. I had to change the mains lead as the original one was in a state. When i tested the deck, the pickup would lift and then switch itself off. The underside was very clean - anyway, i just greased the moving points Underneath and under the turntable using some silicone lubricant and a cotton bud, a few minutes later it worked perfectly.

Maybe i was lucky....

Patrick