|
Posts: 1740
Location: Little Rock, Arkansas
Joined: July 27, 2006
|
I restored an HK/Rabco ST-7 this summer. Here's what I learned:
- Rabco arm: There's a little tire that the carriage rides on. This little thing is buried inside the carriage mechanism and rides on top of the long, black roller. It pitches side-to-side so that the carriage will track with the tone arm as it moves across the LP. The problem is that this tire's material, at least on my unit, had _melted_ into a puddle of goo; rendering the whole mechanism usless. The good news is that I found a replacement at the local Ace Hardware store in the plumbing section. The bad news is that you have to remove the carriage from the mechanism and then pull the little roller out to replace it. The service manual shows how to do it and how to realign everything but it is not for the faint-of-heart. This is likely why your local tech backed off.
- Tone arm wiring: Expect to see weak joints where the small wires exit the carriage and are soldered onto a terminal strip. Most of the ground wires on the carriage break first, it seems, from the carriage movement. I use a small piece of heat shrink tubing when I resolder the ground wire to help relieve stress on that joint.
- Tonearm setup jig and spacers: Originally supplied with the turntable, this oddly shaped piece of plastic is designed to set the overhang and VTA for the cartridge you use. I've had the opportunity to borrow one long enough to get the measurments off it and then transfer them to a Home Depot framing angle tool so I can do without it. They're often lost and tend to sell for big $$ on eBay as a result. Locate your brother's and put it in a bank vault deposit box.
- Belts: They're available from some eBay suppliers. Be aware that I know one person with an ST7 who received the wrong size belt from one supplier who didn't make good. Mine are ok so far.
- Motor and controller board: There are some electrolytic caps that should be replaced mainly for their age. There's 2 or 3 on the motor itself and then a few on the controller board.
- Colored light bulbs: These are actually some odd-ball bulbs that you can find available from online light bulb specialists but only in packages of 10. The shipping will far outweigh the bulb costs. The unit will not operate correctly if they're burned out.
- End of LP auto arm lift circuit: there's another bulb in the back of the TT that activates the end of LP lift function. After a full rebuild, you have to reset the adjustments to make it work. It can be touchy and requires a different bulb than the other lights.
BTW, I've _really_ impressed with this TT in terms for performance. Frankly, the Technics SL-1200 I have is still in the box after I rotated this ST7 into my system. I picked up another one in August just for spares and may sell the SL-1200 at some point.
I have a service manual for the ST-7, which I believe, is pretty much, just a silver-faced version of the black-colored ST-8.
Cheers,
David
|
I've got some.... - doodlebug 07:33:15 11/06/09
(1)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2009, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
[ Go Green ]
[ Take5 ]