Tone arm replacement

Nice , i just received my tonearm wire for a technics. mk5
First question , Which tonearm are you try to put in and why, since if you want a better sound , sell the unit instead of useless replacements and do you use the phono or line out...

Check the arm wires have not got caught around the anti skate mechanism.
Did you adjust the screw / lock nut on top of the arm?. It's not supposed to be moved but if you did it might be to tight.

Depends where in the world you live. If in the USA Radioshack, should have something to do the job. And in the UK Maplins have a good range of cables.

More than likely your RCA's need to be replaced. There is no need to open it up, as the ground wire rarely every comes loose. It's held down by a screw & soldered to the circuit board. Unless you pulled on the ground wire.

There are only 3 issues which can cause this:

1) Technics Tonearm - Check the 4 prongs inside the tonearm. Make sure they are all clean (shiny gold), and all protruding the same distance. There are springs behind these prongs, and often times they do come loose over time or overtightening.

2) Technics RCA Cables - This is more than likely the culprit.

3) Cartridge/Headshell - swap out with your good unit. If it works, then your good. Just replace cartridge

With the exception of #3, the other 2 will require assistance from a qualified service technician, otherwise you could cause more damage to your turntables.

- OPTiC
Master Tech, 1200s.com
Technics Parts : Technics Repairs

I've seen this on technics turntables before. Try tightening the screw on the arm.

It's clearly a mechanical interference under the hood, so to speak. If you're comfortable with this, unplug the power and signal from the TT, remove platter and manually rotate the tonearm across its arc, listening or feeling for the drag. Maybe you will see the cause with the platter off.

If not, remove the headshell so it won't be damaged, remove the turntable from its base and lay it upside-down, being careful to keep the platter engaged so it doesn't fall off, on a thick soft fleece blanket supporting the whole thing by the platter so nothing stresses or interferes with the tonearm. Once again, rotate the tonearm and observe. I'm sure you'll hear or feel where the problem is. The next trick would be to resolve it.

I have an old Dual 1249 that had the same sympton as yours and it was a mechanical binding near the mechanical pivot area beneath the base. One of the links to the auto-eject mechanism was rubbing and you could see the wear on it. The tonearm assembly had come unseated in its cut-out and I just pressed down on it (from its normal top) and it popped back into place, about 1 mm. Voila! Fixed.

Unfortunately, not an easy fix. You will need to replace the entire tonearm, and this should only be done by a qualified service center.

If you would like to try it yourself, check out this site - http://djprolab.com - their are DO It Yourself repair videos for this model.

NOTE: This is NOT an easy fix, and if you had to ask this type of question, I am going to assume you don't have much knowledge with electronic repair.

- OPTiC
The Technics Expert
Technics Repair
DJ Equipment

Hey raz, i've just taken apart and put back together my turn table trying to cure the same problem. I DIDN'T NEED TO!!!!
number 1) i think the tone arm is a sealed unit so far as i can gather so if the spring is broken you need a new tone arm. however. Get a cotton swab, soak in malt vinegar and use this to gently push the faulty contact in. The idea behind this is to get vinegar around the contact shaft. This should dislodge the dirt and release the contact.

Tonearms if not installed correctly can screw you your records over time. Personally, I'd pay the extra 20. Good Luck.