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Can anyone advise / help me please?
I have lubricated the motor bearings of my Beogram 2000 (properly by vacuum infusion) and have just put it all back into the turntable. I also cleaned and lubricated all moving parts of the idler wheel assembly.
I also had to replace the LIFT button assembly as mine had broken.
I'm as sure as I can be that I've put everything back correctly - I took many photos during disassembly.
I was hoping for a faultless re-commission of the turntable but sadly that is not the case.
PROBLEMS:
When I press the LIFT button I get a loud horrible 'spinning' noise (sounds to me like metal on metal, but I could be wrong?) combined with no rotation of the platter. The platter will spin if I help it manually, but it doesn't spin for long, certainly not long enough for the pick up arm to move over to the start of the record.
Additionally, when I press the LIFT button again to stop the motor, nothing happens, the motor keeps running, along with the horrible noise. I know the motor is working because I can see the conical stepped pulley, that drives the idler wheel, spinning.
To further complicate matters, when I power off and repeat the start process the motor sometimes doesn't work at all (or at least the conical stepped pulley is not spinning).
I have checked several times that the conical stepped pulley turns freely by hand, that it has been done up tight and is not slipping on the rotor spindle. I have also checked that the platter drive belt is seated properly. I now fear that if I allow the motor to run for too long, particularly with this noise present, then I will 'burn' something out or definitely do some damage.
I was very careful when lubricating the motor bearings. Both were soaked in acetone, then air dried, then soaked under vacuum in Mobil Velocite 6 oil. It took 24hrs before all the bubbles had stopped rising, then I released the vacuum. I also soaked the felt pads in acetone, air dried them, and re-oiled them before re-assembly. I had lost track which bearing was the bottom and which was the top but I believe them to be identical.
MOTOR NOISE - The noise is either coming from the stepped pulley (do I have it too tight up against the metal frame, however, as stated earlier it turns freely by hand), OR is it the motor or the bearings or an out of balance issue? I wasn't getting this noise before disassembling the motor. Obviously I have done something wrong but what? Have I fouled up somewhere when re-lubricating the motor bearings, or if not, have I assembled the Idler Wheel framework wrongly, i.e. do the 3 spring tensioners that secure the idler wheel framework need to go back in a certain way, perhaps in a specific order? That said, the noise occurs regardless of whether the idler wheel is in contact or not with the conical stepped pulley.
LIFT BUTTON START IS INTERMITTENT PLUS IT IS NOT STOPPING THE MOTOR - I have checked the solenoid that the LIFT button engages and all seems ok, no broken wires or anything that I can see. Pressing the LIFT button does start the motor, but starting is intermittent, and the platter doesn't turn on its own, i.e. without my help. The 'base' platter that the main platter sits on spins very freely when the turntable has no power (and possibly when there is power but I haven't checked that yet). I have also checked the thin connecting rod that runs away from the LIFT button rotating ring, and that seems ok. I've 'visually' checked all electrical wiring and I can't see anything wrong. I've turned the speed selector around the LIFT button to each of its 3 speed positions and everything seems fine, mechanically at least.
I'm now puzzled. Such a shame, particularly after a lot of hard work (hard as I've never done anything like this before). Does anyone have any ideas on the reasons for these problems and what steps I might take to identify and rectify?
Thank you for your help. Carl