skep419
No show, all go!
Radio works but record player doesn't. Anybody work on these things?
zenith D910-11 record player help
- Thread starter skep419
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skep419
No show, all go!
Girlfriend got some records from her uncle.
I may know someone....
OldmanRick
Well-Known Member
If it's beyond a stylus or a turntable belt, i'm out.
My mother still has one similar that works, but i doubt it gets used anymore. Very cool though. :thumbrig:
P.S. Some great albums there....
My mother still has one similar that works, but i doubt it gets used anymore. Very cool though. :thumbrig:P.S. Some great albums there....
Wooo! 60's flashback!
Used to fix these way back when in my father's TV repair shop. You did not say what the problem was, so I'll assume the platter does not turn. There is a C clip at the center of the platter and when it is removed, the platter will lift off the spindle. Underneath, you will find the platter is friction driven by a rubber tired idler off the motor shaft. You may find that the motor will not turn. They are easily repaired by disassembling and cleaning the shaft and bushings. This is an open frame motor and it's only 2 screws to separate the upper and lower bearings from the frame. Clean with alcohol and reassemble with a drop of light oil. Same treatment for any other rotating parts.
If all else fails, I have a BSR turntable in good working order that would directly replace the Zenith. Yours for the shipping.
Used to fix these way back when in my father's TV repair shop. You did not say what the problem was, so I'll assume the platter does not turn. There is a C clip at the center of the platter and when it is removed, the platter will lift off the spindle. Underneath, you will find the platter is friction driven by a rubber tired idler off the motor shaft. You may find that the motor will not turn. They are easily repaired by disassembling and cleaning the shaft and bushings. This is an open frame motor and it's only 2 screws to separate the upper and lower bearings from the frame. Clean with alcohol and reassemble with a drop of light oil. Same treatment for any other rotating parts.
If all else fails, I have a BSR turntable in good working order that would directly replace the Zenith. Yours for the shipping.
Original LP',spread the whole honest scope Hate.when good albums,,get remastered! Like a damn good movie,leave it alone !
skep419
No show, all go!
To be honest I don't even know how to turn the record player on. I'm guessing phono. But nothing happens when switched to it. No lights (like the radio). There is a rej, on, off label on the arm but no switch.
You know you're a geezer if.....you know how to operate a turntable.
Boy, do I feel old!
What you see in your Zenith is a record changer or automatic turntable. You would put a record, (or a stack of records) on the spindle. The L shaped arm you see is a sensor that would determine if there were records waiting to be played and it was lifted and swung out of the way to load records, then swung back over the records, dropped onto the stack and would drop lower with each record played. The spindle has a lever which holds the records up off the platter until called for. There is a mechanism within the turntable that determines the position of the tonearm and the sensor arm and either drops the next record onto the platter, moves the tonearm off the rest, positions it over the start grooves of the record and slowly drops the needle onto the record surface, or it will sense that there are no more records to be played and will lift the tonearm, return it to the rest and shut off the platter. Usually, there was an alternate spindle provided with no lever. You could remove the automatic spindle by pulling it up and out and replace it with the shorter manual spindle which did not have the record hold/drop mechanism. This was preferable for the serious audiophile in that automatic record handling was extremely damaging to the records themselves. All the high end turntables were manual only. Automatic turntables like yours were a consumer device and were considered low end. Most were manufacturered by BSR or Garrard and fitted by the electronics manufacturer, (like Zenith), to their consoles.
There will be two levers on your turntable. One will select the platter speed, typically 33 1/3, 45, or 78 rpm. LP's such as in your picture were 33 1/3. Selecting different speeds would produce interesting variations of the music and was generally considered to be amusing. The second lever is used to start the platter and initiate the automatic action. With the stereo turned on and phono selected, moving the 3 position lever to the on position would start the platter turning. This position has a detent that keeps the platter turning till the lever is moved back to the off position, (either manually, or by the automatic mechanism sensing the end of the record). The same lever has a spring loaded start, or auto position which initiates the automatic action as described above. If you start the turntable without a record on the automatic spindle and engage the auto mechanism, the tonearm will lift off the rest and cycle back to the resting position, after which the turntable will shut off. If the record detector lever is held lifted, the turntable will think there is a record to be played and will drop the tonearm where the start grooves should be. Moving the tonearm to the center of the platter with the platter turning will engage the auto cycle mechanism with results depending on the position of the record sensor lever. No more records will return the tonearm to the rest and shut off the turntable. Keep in mind this process is entirely mechanical. The only electric circuits are the motor and the phono cartridge.
I would recommend you avoid stacking your records on the spindle, but if you choose to do so, it won't be fatal, especially for well used records. Place a record on the turntable, start the platter and move the tonearm over the start grooves, dropping it gently to the record surface. If all is well, you should hear real analog audio coming out the speakers. Enjoy!
Boy, do I feel old!
What you see in your Zenith is a record changer or automatic turntable. You would put a record, (or a stack of records) on the spindle. The L shaped arm you see is a sensor that would determine if there were records waiting to be played and it was lifted and swung out of the way to load records, then swung back over the records, dropped onto the stack and would drop lower with each record played. The spindle has a lever which holds the records up off the platter until called for. There is a mechanism within the turntable that determines the position of the tonearm and the sensor arm and either drops the next record onto the platter, moves the tonearm off the rest, positions it over the start grooves of the record and slowly drops the needle onto the record surface, or it will sense that there are no more records to be played and will lift the tonearm, return it to the rest and shut off the platter. Usually, there was an alternate spindle provided with no lever. You could remove the automatic spindle by pulling it up and out and replace it with the shorter manual spindle which did not have the record hold/drop mechanism. This was preferable for the serious audiophile in that automatic record handling was extremely damaging to the records themselves. All the high end turntables were manual only. Automatic turntables like yours were a consumer device and were considered low end. Most were manufacturered by BSR or Garrard and fitted by the electronics manufacturer, (like Zenith), to their consoles.
There will be two levers on your turntable. One will select the platter speed, typically 33 1/3, 45, or 78 rpm. LP's such as in your picture were 33 1/3. Selecting different speeds would produce interesting variations of the music and was generally considered to be amusing. The second lever is used to start the platter and initiate the automatic action. With the stereo turned on and phono selected, moving the 3 position lever to the on position would start the platter turning. This position has a detent that keeps the platter turning till the lever is moved back to the off position, (either manually, or by the automatic mechanism sensing the end of the record). The same lever has a spring loaded start, or auto position which initiates the automatic action as described above. If you start the turntable without a record on the automatic spindle and engage the auto mechanism, the tonearm will lift off the rest and cycle back to the resting position, after which the turntable will shut off. If the record detector lever is held lifted, the turntable will think there is a record to be played and will drop the tonearm where the start grooves should be. Moving the tonearm to the center of the platter with the platter turning will engage the auto cycle mechanism with results depending on the position of the record sensor lever. No more records will return the tonearm to the rest and shut off the turntable. Keep in mind this process is entirely mechanical. The only electric circuits are the motor and the phono cartridge.
I would recommend you avoid stacking your records on the spindle, but if you choose to do so, it won't be fatal, especially for well used records. Place a record on the turntable, start the platter and move the tonearm over the start grooves, dropping it gently to the record surface. If all is well, you should hear real analog audio coming out the speakers. Enjoy!
skep419
No show, all go!
Thanks. Record dropped started spinning. However the needle arm doesn't move.
You can manually move the tonearm over the start grooves and carefully drop the needle onto the record. Sounds like there may be problems with the auto mechanism. If I recall, there is some sort of linkage to the tonearm pivot which could become disconnected, but the details would be in the exact model of turntable you have. I tried looking for a match, but yours is somewhat different from the common BSR and Garrard models I mentioned. If you want to have a look at the mechanism, remove the back cover and you will find the turntable is mounted on springs with a pin and retaining clip accessed from underneath. I believe there were usually 3 such points. Remove the clips and you can lift the turntable assembly out from the top.
Good luck!
Good luck!
67Dart273
Well-Known Member
That thing doesn't look new enough to be belt driven but it might be. In any case, the thing is driven either by a motor running on a rubber covered idler, or a belt. One of 'em might be broken.
One some turntables the tone arm turns the motor on/ off. Wiggle the speed switch, make sure all radio controls are appropriately selected for phono, and move the tone arm clear over to the center and back, see if the table turns.
One some turntables the tone arm turns the motor on/ off. Wiggle the speed switch, make sure all radio controls are appropriately selected for phono, and move the tone arm clear over to the center and back, see if the table turns.
Ain't that the truth. I picked up a turntable a couple of years ago with about 300 albums. When my kids saw it, they asked, "what's that". :banghead:
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