My TD124 Mk1 restoration ...

[killie99]

After many false starts and lots of almosts, I finally bought a TD124 Mk1. Serial number 42154 which I think suggests it was made in around 63/64 - if anyone knows a more accurate date please let me know.

As well as the 124, it came with a nice plinth, acrylic cover, SME309 and a Dynavector Karat 17D3.

On the outside it looks ok. The paint is actually in very good condition with hardly a blemish on it apart from 60 years of grime.

The top platter has been painted black, it doesn't have the iron platter but other than that, from above, it looked reasonably ok.

On power up it didn't sound great, some grinding and gnawing and was nowhere near running at the correct speed. Best not to run it again until it's been lubed ...

Took the platters off to see what was lurking underneath ...

It's a bit grubby but what do you expect from something that's been lurking around for 60 years?

Getting the TD124 out of it's plinth and turning it over was a little bit of a 'yikes' moment.

Hmm, a few bits of rust on the main bearing end cap and the motor casing and lots of hardened grease and oil.
I'm thinking the worst, the main bearing might be trashed and the motor might be trashed depending on where the rust has extended too.

Not a lot I can do about it now, just need to see what I can salvage.

I then took the whole table apart. Tried to photograph as much as I could to help me with the re-assembly and to give me an idea of how well I'll manage to clean it.

Fortunately I have an ultrasonic cleaning bath so most of the metal parts were popped in there in an attempt to clean the 60 years of oil/grease/grime. I disassembled everything prior to going in the bath and here's a before and after of the idler mechanism. Turned out quite well!

To be continued .....

 

[killie99]

The ultrasonic cleaner was a godsend, heavens knows how long it would have taken me to clean all the parts, I'd probably still be at it.

After cleaning all the parts I had to decide what I was going to replace. The list included:

Mike P Blue Belt
Mike P Motor suspension springs
Mike P Replacement idler wheel washer in uprated material.
Small bottle of very high quality fully synthetic oil in the correct grade viscosity and spec
Replacement ball bearing for the bottom of the motor shaft
Replacement ball bearing for the bottom of the main bearing
Much brighter LED replacement strobe bulb
Replacement spark suppressor capacitor for the switch
Various cheese head screws
New stainless steel levelling posts
Sintered bronze motor bushes
Bronze bearing end cap and thrust plate
Mk2 motor mounting rods
Screws/nuts/washers for the motor bearing plates

Parts all ordered and received in a matter of days and now on to the small matter of re-assembling everything.

Hang on, not quite. Need to strip the motor and overhaul it.
It's grubby ....

A bit of spit and polish and before you know it, Robert's your mother's brother.
The bushes were re-loaded with oil using the 'syringe vacuum' method.

Motor rebuild, twiddled with and refitted to the chassis along with the majority of parts.

To be continued ....

 

[wulbert]

Excellent work! Lovely, clear pictures too. I'm off now to look at "Ultrasonic Cleaning Baths" got to get me one of those.

 

[Tony L]

This makes me really want an ultrasonic cleaner. Just amazing results. The problem is I’d want a big one, big enough to do computer mainboards, and I have nowhere to put it!

 

[killie99]

The ultrasonic bath is my Velvet Vortex record cleaning machine - and it's been thoroughly cleaned after this before any more records are put through it!
The actual bath is very similar to this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C3VT2H6Y/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

 

[awl]

Could I ask what liquid / detergent / solvents you used in the ultrasonic cleaning bath when doing the turntable parts?

 

[killie99]

80% de-ionised water, 20% IPA and a squirt of fairy liquid but not too much as to create a foam party.

 

[guydarryl]

Bloody hell, absolutely brilliant work

 

[chiily]

Fabulous work. I'm hankering after a TD124 now.

 

[killie99]

All back together and sounding sweet. Not sure if I'll keep the 309 on the 124, I have a 3009 which I'm going to give a go and see how that sounds.

The motor really is super quiet, I was expecting to be able to hear it from a few feet away but it is sooo quiet.

Is it better than my 401/Jelco 750/2M Black ? To be honest I don't think there is a great deal in it and I could happily live with either.

 

[chiily]

That looks fabulous. Wonderful restore.

 

[chartz]

Lovely setup. Idlers can be very silent when properly restored. Even humble Duals are and also sound great. I’m pretty damn certain wow could be a little better.

 

[killie99]

Lovely setup. Idlers can be very silent when properly restored. Even humble Duals are and also sound great. I’m pretty damn certain wow could be a little better.

Where should I be looking at to better the wow?

 

[chartz]

Don’t worry about it. Only a new idler could (perhaps) improve matters.

 

[jan tomczak]

All back together and sounding sweet. Not sure if I'll keep the 309 on the 124, I have a 3009 which I'm going to give a go and see how that sounds.

The motor really is super quiet, I was expecting to be able to hear it from a few feet away but it is sooo quiet.

Is it better than my 401/Jelco 750/2M Black ? To be honest I don't think there is a great deal in it and I could happily live with either.

Love the armboard...just ordered one myself! Aesthetically, imo the 3009 looks a little better suited. Great end result btw.

 

[Craig B]

Where should I be looking at to better the wow?

Possibly not so much 'wow', but 'flutter' might possibly be improved upon by making sure that the black set screw on the motor pulley is fully home before the nickel plated screw is tightened down. This is mentioned in the manual as having to do with the pulley being perfectly balanced during manufacture in relation to the black set screw being in the fully home position. Of course, whether or not flutter can be aurally detected when we consider the speed of a 4-pole motor combined with the amount of step down necessary with a belt driven secondary pulley driving an idler, is another question entirely.

EDIT: This point is easily missed, as it is mentioned in the owner's manual but not (IIRC) in the service one. Most users will not have noticed unless they had referenced converting their own deck for use on an alternative mains frequency.

"IMPORTANT NOTICE: The motor pulley has been dynamically balanced to very close tolerances at the factory. When reassembling it, first tighten the black screw and then the nickel plated one."​

 

[killie99]

Thanks for that snippet of information.
There is of course the assumption that someone hasn’t taken both set screws out and then randomly fitted back in!
I shall try it both ways and see if it makes any difference and report back.

 

[Craig B]

Thanks for that snippet of information.
There is of course the assumption that someone hasn’t taken both set screws out and then randomly fitted back in!
I shall try it both ways and see if it makes any difference and report back.

Chances are that you'll be able to feel any difference if you lightly apply finger pressure to the running surface with belt off.

You will want to have a nice dry finger (talcum powder?), and, as they say in the tube, mind the gap.

 

[Mike P]

Are you using the zinc alloy or iron platter?

 

[Tony L]

Possibly not so much 'wow', but 'flutter' might possibly be improved upon by making sure that the black set screw on the motor pulley is fully home before the nickel plated screw is tightened down. This is mentioned in the manual as having to do with the pulley being perfectly balanced during manufacture in relation to the black set screw being in the fully home position. Of course, whether or not flutter can be aurally detected when we consider the speed of a 4-pole motor combined with the amount of step down necessary with a belt driven secondary pulley driving an idler, is another question entirely.

It is way too high frequency to impact flutter, the motor speed is 1440 rpm IIRC, so potential for some vibration or even noise at 1.4kHz. My 124 had the screws well chimped by a previous owner (I was lucky to get them out!) so I had to replace them (I used nice stainless steel allen bolts, as I have elsewhere on the deck e.g. securing the main bearing). I tried both tightening options multiple times feeling for vibration and measuring unloaded spin-down time and I could tell no difference, and no difference in vibration between the pulley fitted and not. It just doesn’t seem to be a significant factor on my deck. I kept an eye out for another spindle for a while, but as suggested above there is no guarantee the screws are where they should be, or even original. To be honest I hate flat head screws with a passion so was not too disappointed to replace them with something nicer!