And now the 6v reading taken across OC2 which is essentially the emitter of 2TR6 under no load....

And finally the 6v measured across OC2 under load.......couple of the pics are awaiting moderator so may not be posted straight away 🙂

Ok.....bit of an issue getting pics posted, no problem these are the readings I have taken so far?

6v transformer output to rectifier 

no load = 9.57vac

loaded= 8.61vac

6v transformer output to rectifier loaded

MIN = 0.001A (ac)

AVG = 0.236A (ac)

MAX = 0.257A (ac)

6v transformer output from rectifier

no load = 6.32vdc

loaded = 5.85vdc

24v transformer output to rectifier

no load = 32.27vac

loaded = 28.9vac

24v transformer output to rectifier

no load 0.07A (ac)

loaded 0.730A (ac)

It was unfortunate that I couldn't get a reading of the current when the solenoid energised on tone arm dropping, the first time I measured at this point the fuse in my fluke was blown.....its rated at 3A. Now this surge was so quick the fluke couldnt register it....I used my other fluke to make the same measurements as it is rated 10A and got the readings above.....I tried several times and couldnt get a MAX reading greater than 0.730A......looking at the solenoid operation it is very quick to operate the switch that drops the initial current down to the holding current.....i'm a little surprised its that quick! 

Craig wrote:

.....I tried several times and couldnt get a MAX reading greater than 0.730A......looking at the solenoid operation it is very quick to operate the switch that drops the initial current down to the holding current.....i'm a little surprised its that quick! 

I tjhink it's not surprising that you couldn't measure the initial surge current since the activated solenoid immediately switches off the direct connection of the soleneoid to ground. I guess this could happen in anywhere from 50-300msec and your min/max function on the Fluke789 isn't that quick. The manual for your meter doesn't provide any data but my Fluke 189, which came out shortly after, shows min 100msec for normal min/max and 250usec for transient detection in 'fast min/max' mode. But yours doesn't have 'fast min/max'.

It is a little bit surprising though that you see no difference between 'arm down' and 'arm lifted'! If I understand this correctly, the solenoid is ON whenever the arm is down and OFF when the arm is lifted, right? The holding current should be Vin/(Rsolenoid+7R1), ie. approx 30V/(9+8.2) = approx 1.7A... 😮
Is there any chance you could measure the solenoid current directly -- or at least the DC voltage from solenoid input to GND when it's activated? Or is that a mistake in the manual? An 8.2 ohm/ 1W resistor can take a maximum of 350mA before it starts going up in smoke...😕

=============
edit:  Oops, forget what I said! I completely overlooked the feedback from 7R1 to the base of 1TR10. 😠
This feedback loop controls the current through the solenoid transistor 0TR4, ie. as soon as that voltage goes >0.7V, 1TR10 and 1TR11 start throttling 0TR4.
0.7V / 8.2 ohm = 85mA  --> ergo, the holding current of the solenoid will be somewhere around 100mA...and that sounds fine for solenoid and 7R1!

Hmmm, nevertheless.... you still should see a different current on the 24Vac winding on arm up and arm down! I think you should redo that measurement, but this time forget about the min/max average mode, just measure it in normal AC current measurement and give me the mAac values for tonearm up and tonearm down. Thanks!

Ok.......took three measurements this afternoon:

Unit switched on, measuring between the transformer 24vac output and rectifier, carriage moving to drop point for 33rpm = 420mAac

carriage stopped and solenoid energised = 740mA ac

Tone arm lifted and solenoid deenergised = 370mAac

🤒 Excellent! That settles it!
Those values make sense and we can assume an average current of 0.75A at the 24V coil during normal opetration and 0.25A at the 9Vrms  winding (or 12V in case of the 2x12V replacement trafo). Thus we get 0.75Ax24V+0.25Ax12V =  approx 21VA at normal continuous operation. By choosing a 30VA transformer we therefore have 50% headroom for surges caused by solenoid, relay, motor inrush currents and other unknown factors/variations.
Your measurements in max mode show that we don't have to anticipate lengthy repetitive high current events during nornal operation.

Therefore I'm happy to sign off on your request for an off-the-shelf toroid with only 30VA nominal power and 2x12V secondary windings. I'm 95-98% confident that this won't cause any trouble in the future in terms of overload or overheating of the transformer.

Regarding the 6V supply I still stick with a fixed 6V LDO rated at 0.8-1A. A leaded TO220 would be best because you could add a 50 Cent clip-on heatsink if needed, but an SMD version is fine if kept away from external heat sources.
You may want to order some 0.2A slow blow fuses as a replacement for the existing T0.25A versions.  30VA/230V = 0.13A nominal primary current, so 200mA fuses seem more appropriate.

Congratz! Now I have a good feeling about the 30VA transformer and the whole fix of ths transfrmer issue.

That's quality........I have a 30va transformer on order, its 70mm dia some im confident it will fit into the footprint of the original, I dont have a problem mounting the voltage regulator off the PCB2, It's a very congested board and as I said Dillen advocates removing  2TR6 to avoid excess heat....I will order this 

Craig wrote:

....I will order this link and mount it on a board and wire onto the PCB2....

🤒 Don't forget to order the stabilizing caps! They are to be mounted close to the input and output pins of the regulator.
Your datasheet recommends >330nF at input and shows a 22uF cap at the output (specifically defined as tantalum and low ESR). Since you'r not running the LDO at its limit I think that 10uF tantalum on input and output should be fine (or any value from 1-10uF).

Impressive team work between the 2 of you, Craigs perseverance and Manfys technical knowledge coming together in perfect harmony, I cant wait to see the end of this, standing applause to both of you

thanks Soren.....always a comfort to know your looking on.....

First pass at connecting the voltage regulator off the PCB....the unwanted components removed