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Bearing adjustment Pro-Ject 9cc tonearm (RPM 9.1X)

mandarin

mandarin

pfm Member
Hi again
I've been playing records now for 4 days! and 4 brand new records were skipping. Also when I let the tonearm descend with the dampened lever thingy, it would move toward the outer perimeter.

I tried everything I could think of. Moving the anti skate weight to another groove. Finally took it off and noticed it did the same thing!

So then I realised that the guy in the shop that set the deck up for me, tightened quite rigorously all the bearing screws both horizontal and vertical, because the arm was slack (transport?). So I played around with those for a while, slackened a little without any feeling of looseness and sure enough, the descent/ascent went without any movement any more !!! yay! (anti-skate weight back in place, on full recommended force too)

But... back to the skipping records. This happened on too many new records for it to be coincidence. Different companies, different artists, different countries even. So I slackened the bearing screw yet further by turning like a millimeter. Still no obvious looseness, but I think I seem to have stopped this skipping!!!!

Does it sound like I'm doing the right thing? It's still early days yet. I'd appreciate your more learned opinions.

Thanks !

(edited to be a bit more clear)
 
Oh one more thing... ONE album does something really bad. When the needle gets to the end of Featuring Norah Jones, it throws it back to the middle of the last track instead of sending it into a loop like all the other records. Ouch!?
 
If this is a new arm, I would suggest you take it back to the dealer concerned. I've never heard of a dealer tightening bearings on a tonearm unless it is old and faulty.
 
Bloody hell the dealer tightened the arm bearings 'quite rigorously'?? If there had been a suggestion of play I would have wanted a different arm not a guy in a shop tightening them up. If you paid for a new one tell him to replace it! This sounds out of order. That arm works beautifully and you have been sold a dud.
 
Problem is it was a birthday gift, and was also bought in another country.
Pro-Ject just refer my questions to the local distributor but the local distributor is notoriously neglegent and unhelpful (I have experience with them from other brands they also import). So this is why I kind of have to figure this out myself if I can.

Last night I was trying it again and it seemed to be running smoothly now. Nothing is skipping!

The funny thing is, previously the record skipped in the same places. So maybe a weak spot...a tendency to skip if the tonearm is adjusted slightly off. Because now with the screws eased up ever so slightly (but not slack) it does not skip. Also it was only brand new records that skipped, and old Sinatra ones did not. I'm thinking the grooves are a bit finer on the new ones.

Please don't recoil in horror =) I'm not torturing it =))))))) just trying to figure this thing out.
 
no one should touch bearing unless on a jig. try checking the cable dressing at bearing end. check and adjust cartridge leads that go into the arm so there is no tension

take it back to dealer and get it back to henly design , phono henley up the are helpful
 
OK I just followed the procedure that Rudi mentioned in that link.... and ya know what? the ONE remaining problem I had (one record caused the tonearm to launch backward when it got to the very end) does not happen any more.

The guy in the shop had loaded it up with too much tension and the arm wasn't moving freely enough. Now I can blow on it and it glides across without any resistance. All is perfect now...so far =))))))
 
Project do sell a tool for adjusting the arm bearings, so they do clearly think that it's something that they are happy to be adjusted by others. Like many of you I am not keen on this, but this is the reality.

I would suggest that as long as there's not too much play (rattle), but the arm still moves completely freely both horizonally and vertically when touched with paper (or blown) without tracking force applied, then realistically you've done as much as you can do.
 
cut a strip of paper, 5mm wide and about 40mm long, that should be enough to deflect the arm in all directions when at balance without bending more than a couple of mm. (its about 20mg of force)
 
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