Mine was solid too. I managed to force the spring out of the long channel without damaging it. I then used this to rotate the pin back and fore, with a cotton bud soaked in Isopropanol held against it. It took about 3 minutes to get it totally loose. Three drops of quality clock oil, force the spring back into the channel thingy, and the job was done!

Andy T.

just quickly, have no opened up the beast and im trying to figure out it's inards. Lik you thought, once I'd removed the bent wire spring thing the brass pin was stuck solid. Does the pic actually come out of the sleeve or does it just rotate? What is it connected to?

Also, there are 3 black round cups with glue like grease on, looking very old and tired, what are these for?

 I'm just trying my best not to break any of it at the mo!

And, any other parts I can clean/oil while im in here? So much for  "superb" condition TT. Tghe emtal rods etc all look weathered and the grease looks ancient. But then I suppose it is!

edit: have put it back together to try itt, and now the arm seems to work as it should, staying in the raised position when at rest, then moving over the record and lowering. However, it does not lower enoguh to touch the record, it hovers less than a mm above not making contact. Is this the same problem? have I just not oiled the pin enough?

Thanks

CT 

How do I check that it is correctly balanced at zero ?

I'll give it another go tomorrow and clean off any remnants that are left, but will leave it to soak overnight.  Is there anything I can lubricate to aid the horizontal movement of the arm, as opposed to the vertical?

Edit: the arm doesn't drop to the height of the record because the pivot that it moves on under the cover with the weight and stuff in appears to be as gunked up as the brass pin and sleeve were, I can push the arm down further than it drops but the pivot seems sticky and notchy after this. How can I lubricate this part. Can I actually take the arm off somehow? Beyond my abilities?

Thanks

CT 

Chris,
This is a (bad) picture looking down the arm (blue arrow)
When the arm lowers, the black plastic piece (green arrow) should lower enough to leave a gap between itself and the screw (red arrow).
If it doesn't, then either the black bit isn't going down enough (most likely) or the screw needs adjusting (doubt it)
If the black bit isn't going down enough, the brass pin isn't free properly in it's sleeve and the arm will still be resting on it. You won't be able to test balance on zero, nor feel whether horizontal movement is free and easy.

Martin, how am I doing?

Andy T.

🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

The black plastic part was going down as far as it could, but the arm still wasn't lowering enough. Looked insiade and teh crew was down as far as it would go, so simply wound it up  a few turns, pressed play, and voila!

 Any tips in terms of adjustments to get it sounding best?

Thanks everyone!