She is cream, she is greasy, and she is very dirty. (Under normal circumstances if I heard this I would interpret it as: She is an ill lass, with poor body hygiene and whose hair knows only grease and not shampoo) However this description in the weird and wonderful world of audio means that it is a later cream Garrard, but with the original GB.
At first glance, it makes one think why you would swop for a Linn? But one day, we'll get there.
Right now first things first; before I allow myself to touch any further her she is getting a serious clean. I do not know what has grown down there in the sub platter area, but whatever it is do not think sunlight is going to clean it off. After many hours with a very light "all purpose cleaner" it is beginning to look more tangible.
Because I wish for this to serve as a reference thread for other people considering a Garrard restoration I shall structure it as a process.
First: before you can take your new acquisition home you need to tighten the transport clamps. In order to do this you need to remove the platter. To remove give it a gentle (yet persuasive) hit with the back of a screwdriver.
With the same screwdriver now tighten the two screws which appear on the right and left of the motor.
When you are home these must be untightened before you can turn the motor on.
At this stagge you can go straight into making a plinth for her although I have started by servicing the unit first.
Although I have owned her for more than two weeks now I still haven't seen her turn. The lack of a plug is the easy part of the fix. A wire travelling from the spark suppresser to the "on-off" block is bracken. I thought considering I needed to replace the wire I should investigate the condition of the spark suppresser at the same time. I removed the suppresser and not to my surprise it was totally blown.
On the block housing the suppresser it states 0.05 uf and .220 ohm. This I hope indicates what is inside the "black box". What does worry me is that it also says 4KV T. Which presumably means tested for 4 KV. The motor is also tested for 1500V so I guess the 4 KV does not seem too unreasonable.
I have a 0.05 uf 1000V cap lying around. (It says 503K on it and I seem to remember that that was a 0.05 uf cap. I know it isn't a resistor) I still need to find the resistor. Any recommendations for the wattage? I take it that these components are wired in series?
I have also removed the GB and cleaned it using a new rag that I pulled through the bearing removed all the grease. I’ve also used ear buds to clean out the cap and the grease inject shaft. Now what type of grease to use?
My largest complaint thought is the remnants of a dustbug which has become the bain of my life. I still have not been able to remove it. I'm working on it though.
