CARE AND MAINTENANCE of the PALMER 2.5 record deck
The Palmer 2.5 was produced in a limited run during the late 2000’s and early 2010’s.
In principle it is a high mass / low torque design, where a heavy platter is spun up to speed by hand and then kept exactly there with very little effort from a low torque motor driving a thin low contact belt. The Wave Mechanic motor is locked to the mains 60 Hz frequency and will stay stable under normal circumstances. The entire design was meticulously worked and refined to tune every part for low noise, low friction and to reduce vibration. The resulting deck was tested at Stereophile magazine and instantly gained an 'A' rating for its powerful, effortless sound.
The deck requires very little maintenance, but to preserve it for future generations, some simple annual work is needed.
Step 1: Dismantle the deck.
Unplug the power supply from the mains.
Unscrew and remove the power supply cord from the supply. (It remains attached at the deck end).
Unplug the arm lead from the amp, and make sure the earth wire is unscrewed both there and at the deck end.
Remove the arm lead plugs from the arm and set the lead aside.
Remove the record clamp and set aside.
Remove the cork mat and set aside.
Remove the drive belt for cleaning. (Lot’s of opinions on this process…choose your own method).
Carefully remove the platter for cleaning. A simple two handed lift will free it from the bearing spindle, where it normally rests simply held by its weight.
Very gently lift and twist the bearing spindle from the solid bronze housing.
Be very careful not to knock it since the bearing itself is sitting in a cup at the base of the shaft and could fall free. Don’t worry if it does however. Once the bearing assembly has been cleaned, you can replace the ball into the bearing shaft bottom and retain it there with a tiny blob of bearing grease whist the shaft is refitted (see below).
bearing by
John Dutfield, on Flickr
Taking care to protect the cartridge, remove the tonearm from the brass arm base (following the arm makers instructions). In the case of the SME M2 remove the hanging bias weight first and set aside. Note the arm’s mounting position on the brass arm base. If it moves then you will need to re-align the arm later.
If you wish to, use an Allen key and remove the brass arm base for cleaning but, take care to note it’s exact position. If that moves you will need to re set the whole arm alignment. Not an easy job. I normally clean the brass-work with the mounting block left in place.
stripped down by
John Dutfield, on Flickr
Step 2: Cleaning the parts.
We all have favourite products for this, but I have used Beeswax furniture polish (a very small amount) on the wooden deck itself; Brasso for the brass arm mount, and otherwise a very gentle clean for the arm parts and platter with warm water, a drop of soap and a damp cloth, but that is a choice you should make for yourself. Test the cleaning agent on something else first!
All the old oil should be removed from the bearing spindle and from inside the bearing housing. I use a cotton wool ear bud.
BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THE BALL BEARING, as noted above.
Once clean and dry, add two or three drops of ISO 32 'slideway oil' to the inside of the bearing housing and use a clean cotton bud to wipe oil all round the bearing walls. Just a very thin coating is all you need. The bearing tolerances are very tight and refitting the bearing shaft will be very hard if too much oil is applied.
Clean the drive belt if you wish. Belt life is dependant on use of course but two years should be a minimum. If the belt feels loose, or the rubber shows any signs of perishing, then replace it. The thread here on PFM has lots of info on new belts.
I have never cleaned the cork mat save gently brushing it free of dust. Your choice.
Step 3: Re-assembly.
Gently refit the bearing back into the bronze housing. It will take gentle downward pressure and some twisting to re seat it. Don’t worry if it floats a little high for a while. One the platter is refitted, its weight will seat the bearing down. Be gentle at all times through this bit of the process.
Refit and realign the arm, and add the falling weight. And that’s about it.
earth lead attachment by
John Dutfield, on Flickr
That lot takes me under an hour and is all that is needed for a whole year.
Notes on use.
It’s worth turning the power supply on and leaving it a short while after any disconnection. 2 mins is fine.
The motor does not mind sitting without the platter turning whilst it is on. If you lightly touch the motor top, you will feel a gentle vibration as the unit wants to turn, but it is quite happy with that load for shortish periods of time. I have never left it more than 5 minutes like this although John Palmer said it would be fine. As soon as the unit is revolving normally, all vibration drops to the measured levels.
Using a strobe disk, the battery powered red light and the power supply knob to
fine tune the speed is best done by swinging the raised tonearm out over the 33.33 markings on the disk. Looking down and shining the red light down from above it’s then easy to use the end of the tonearm as a stable point to see which way the markings are drifting. (Leave the stylus guard on in case!). Just twist the speed control knob on the power supply front panel until the strobe is quite still. Once set, it will stay that wayuunless you don't use the deck for along time.
Starting the deck, just place a hand under the platter at about 4pm and give a firm spin clockwise. You can’t over-swing the platter (make it too fast) since it will just settle back to 33.33 in a few seconds. You CAN under-swing it. Too gentle a shove and it will settle at less than 33.33. A few practices will get you 'in the swing' hoho.
Stopping the deck is by a gentle hand under the platter, or turn off the power supply at the end of the session and wait for it to run down.
Siting the deck.
Like many unsuspended decks, The Palmer needs to be well sited to prevent any local vibrations from reaching it, although its high mass and the well designed levelling feet shrug off most things that might upset lighter designs.
The top shelf of any well designed equipment rack will be fine in normal circumstances. At one Wigwam show, I had to place it on a wonky sideboard. The room won 'sound of the show' that year, proof of it’s indifference to support when compared to lightweight non suspended decks maybe
John D. 25. 09. 2022.
