Hello everybody,

I need some help. When I start playing a record, the tonearm moves to the correct drop-down position and the stylus lowers to the record correctly. It starts playing, the tonearm following the groove, but the laser guide arm stays put in the initial position. Basically, the two arms are trying to separate. Eventually, the tonearm starts backtracking as it is unable to move forward. The laser arm seems to be locked solid. When the turntable is not turning and the arms are in the extreme right rest position, they could be moved manually together to the left without any resistance. Does anybody know what the problem is and how to resolve it?

Zlatan

Could be a lamp/sensor problem. Inside the carriage is an opto sensor tat reads the angle of the tonearm
and produces a signal to the electronics to drive the servo motor and move the carriage accordingly.
Can you hear the servo motor run when the tonearms are non-parallel ?
If it runs, it may be a mechanical problem.
If it doesn't, it may be a sensor problem, maybe just a broken lamp.

Martin

Thanks for the quick reply, Martin. No there is no sound coming from the motor. The "33" display stays normally on all the time and once the tonearm cannot get any further, the stylus stays in the same groove.

Zlatan

Maybe just the servo drive band dropped off(likely) or broken(unlikely).

Thanks, Graham.

If the belt came off, the motor will normally be very audible.
I suggest you check the lamp and signal from the sensor inside the carriage.

Martin