advertisement


Garrard 401 mains cable help please

M

Mickj7

pfm Member
I've taken a chance on a Garrard 401, because I love my bass and I've heard the bass on them is great. Doesn't look like it's been used for many years.
I haven't even got it yet because my brother collected it for me, and won't be delivering it for a few weeks.

The seller told me a mains cable was connected to it.

I'm just wondering, a UK mains cable has three wires in it, positive, negative and earth, but all of the photographs I've seen show two wires coming out of a small junction box.

Do I just leave the earth unconnected?
How do I connect the earth wire from the plug?

Also does it matter which wire goes in which hole in the junction box? Does live go in on the left ot right and neutral in the opposite one or doesn't it matter?

Thanks
 
Thank you Beobloke, that's great.

The picture on page 12 shows the earthing tag with a cable already attached.
So I would attach two wires on the mains cable to the power supply connecting block and the third wire (earth) in the mains cable to the earthing tag?
So there would be two cables connected to the earthing tag? The one from the bottom part of the turntable and the other from the mains cable?

I'll just get the missus to turn it on and off for the first weeks just in case ;)
 
Really you can take the mains earth to any convenient point on the chassis, just check it for continuity if possible. It is obviously a safety thing, but also helps with static etc. The manual is vague as back in the ‘60s a lot of kit shipped with just a two-core bell-wire mains lead, which wouldn’t get through current safety regs. I just crimp or solder an eyelet to the mains earth lead and then attach that to the nearest suitable bolt.
 
Thanks Tony. Much appreciated. I'll be crimping as much as possible.

The oiling the motor is the biggest dread after being electrocution.
I'd get it done professionally but not willing to pay £600.

thanks again.
 
If you earth the chassis and only work on the underside of the deck with the mains plug out of the wall socket it can’t bite you!

When working on vintage Garrards be respectful of the pressed steel linkages as they are cadmium plated and this is a toxic material.Wash your hands after touching, adjusting, don’t lick it, don’t sand, file or inhale it. No need to be totally paranoid, just be aware of its existence.

Cleaning and oiling the motor is a bit of a chore, but I suspect there will be YouTube videos showing that process by now. The main bearing is simple to disassemble, clean and relube. Don’t be tempted by any audiophool “upgrades” to the main bearing, all the single point ones misunderstand the Garrard design to my mind and the ones with ceramic balls actually do damage to the spindle.
 
Cheers Tony.
I've been reading up a bit and read about the damage some upgrades have done.

I'll keep searching for the relevant videos.
 
Tony L said:
When working on vintage Garrards be respectful of the pressed steel linkages as they are cadmium plated and this is a toxic material.Wash your hands after touching, adjusting, don’t lick it, don’t sand, file or inhale it. No need to be totally paranoid, just be aware of its existence.
Click to expand...

To clarify that is only the Garrard 301 - no issues with the 401.
 
Tony L said:
Didn’t realise that. Feel free to lick your 401 in perfect safety!
Click to expand...

Ha ha, when the government start clawing back the money they've spent this last year I might have to. Not sure how much nutritional value it'll have though.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top