Some time ago, our very own Katie Bush acquired a Bush SRP31 via eBay, but it came with a big problem: the arm was busted clean off! Add to that not just the wrong, but with an utterly defective Sonotone 9TA/HC cartridge fitted to it (absolutely the wrong cartridge for the job) things didn't look too promising at first.
Whilst this poor thing was in my custody, we wondered if the arm bracket from a UA14 - a deck which I have surplus of in spades - could be made to fit. An initial examination suggested they were the same item, but a closer examination revealed a bit of a problem: they aren't! It turns out the peg that carries the spring anchor is offset to the right on the UA16 to clear the height adjustment plate, and the centrally-mounted peg on the UA14 fouls it. Naturally!
[attachment=4][UA16 arm bracket.jpg[/attachment]
So this means only one thing: something has to go! Logic says the best thing to attack is the height adjuster plate: that way I'm not weakening a mazak casting. This involved getting the files and the vice out, and with a few trial fittings we had an operational pickup again. 
The story doesn't end there though, because now we have the bane of any record player restorer's life to deal with: ancient [strk]Greece[/strk] grease. Although the grease on this BSR was nowhere near as bad as that on a contemporary Garrard would have been (that'd have turned to concrete by now and this stuff still vaguely moved! 
) the time came to break out the can of Jizer from the garage.
I don't use the environmentally-friendly Jizer, I use the traditional red stuff and it is very effective on this stuff.
A couple of hours later, a quantity of Castrol LM, some light oil and some Rubber Roller Restorer (for the idler wheel) and we have...
The arm has been rewired ready to accept the Sonotone 8T4 cartridge I have for it (the correct cartridge for this record player) and I have a brand new LP/78 stylus ready to go in it. So that'll be the next job...
"A couple of hours later, a quantity of Castrol LM, some light oil and some Rubber Roller Restorer (for the idler wheel) and we have..."
A new record deck.
Mike
Hi Mike,
..... and two hours later....... "Like, WOW, Scoob"... Incredible!!
Many thanks indeed Mike. 
I know I said "If you fancy having a go with it....." but, but, but.... It looks like you really went to town on it! That's a total transformation - are you sure it's the same deck?
Now... A little secret coming out...
I have a problem with very shaky hands at the moment - side effect of one of my many meds I'm afraid, and Mike offered to do the fiddly bits, the bits that could/would have been a major challenge for me currently.. Naturally, I accepted, but Mike has greatly surpassed anything I'd reasonably expected with this.
The problem? - Give me a pen (or soldering iron, screwdriver or other lengthy implement to work with) and the tip will dither about like an enraged woodpecker.. Sometimes, anyone could be forgiven for thinking I had Parkinson's Disease, it can really be that bad.
So, I owe yet another debt of gratitude to yet another forum member, and it is without word of a lie, I sometimes feel that this forum keeps throwing me a (very welcome) lifeline.
(A rather humbled) Marion
Yes Marion, it really is the same deck. 
My Dad always said "there's no point in doing half a job". Sure, I could have just done the arm, but then it would have nagged at me and there's a certain masochistic streak in me that loves the mechanical jigsaw puzzle that is an autochanger. Which explains why I have a collection of them going back to 1932 and love autograms; hence that HMV 524.
I'll leave you to do the electronics; you'll be fine 
Unless that gets the better of me too...
Excellent work
I've used WD40 for removing old grease. Then rinse it off with oil and re-grease.
Jizer just rinses off with water. I used to watch Dad at work hosing down engine blocks after a good Jizing. Then blowing off thewater with compressed air.
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Hi all,
Today I've had a chance to examine Mike's labours, and what a cracking job he's done. I would never have thought a fifty year old record deck could be made to look almost like new.. The rubber turntable mat is bright white, so you need snow goggles if you want to look at it for more than a few seconds.
The restoration of the tone arm pivot is absolutely top drawer and looks perfect, especially in view of the Sonotone 8T4A cartridge that Mike so kindly donated to the cause.
Many thanks to Mike for such a generous offer to restore the deck for me, and for such a brilliant end product... I'm well chuffed.
Now I haven't actually tried playing any records, yet, because I can't actually lift the player off the floor because of my infernal back, and because I need to find a record that would do justice to Mike's efforts - but that won't be long..... Probably a recording of "The Edinburgh Military Tattoo of 1968" or possible '67, since these have personal significance to me, not least of which, I still have my ticket stub from the 1967 performance. 
Marion
I'm happy you're happy, Marion. Enjoy
Jizer just rinses off with water. I used to watch Dad at work hosing down engine blocks after a good Jizing. Then blowing off thewater with compressed air.
That's just what I do, minus the compressed air. Absolutely brilliant stuff.
I'm happy you're happy, Marion. Enjoy
Hi Mike,
Indeed I shall, and will endeavour to do justice to your efforts by refreshing the cabinet and giving the amp a look at.. As I recall, you say the HT metal rectifier will probably need replacing? Then I guess there will be one or two wax caps that would do well to be changed?
Marion
Marion,
It certainly made enough of a racket when I tried it, implying all was well! Not sure about wax caps, it might be a bit late for those but still worth having a peek.
The rectifier, if it proves to be lacking, I found is best replaced with a 1N4007 and about 390 Ohms (wirewound) in series.
Hi Mike,
Could it be that I'm thinking of the early SRP31C - wax caps specifically?
If the reccy is good, then I'll leave it alone, unless there is any compelling good reason to change it?
Marion
I think the main motivator for changing the contact cooled rectifier is because it will eventually fail. Do you have the manual for the "D" version?
There will probably be two versions of the 'D manual. Early versions used ECL83s. My old player was purchased around Sept/Oct 64 and it had 2xECL86. I wish I had not taken that player to the skip back in 1991 when we broke up my parents house.
Al
Hi Mike,
Would I be correct in thinking there are no disastrous consequences of a rectifier failure?
I don't have any service data, or at least, nothing original.. I may have the R&TS for that year, but would need to check, even to be sure of that.
Marion
Hi Al,
Was that definitely the 'D' version? - I know there were two versions of 'C' and always thought that that was the one with the 'either/or' amp? Certainly, the deck and pick up changed in the 'C' version, which as I understood it, prompted the higher gain amp.
Marion
Yep. I am almost certain. Ours had the UA16 turntable and that was only introduced on the 'D. Perhaps it was the 31C that could have had the 2 different amp versions. I am not so sure of my original statement now.
Al
Hi Mike,
Would I be correct in thinking there are no disastrous consequences of a rectifier failure?
I don't have any service data, or at least, nothing original.. I may have the R&TS for that year, but would need to check, even to be sure of that.
Marion
If it fails open, as they usually do... then it's "The Sound Of Silence".
If it fails short, it's aluminium confetti time and then try to find a 6V 500mA bulb.
I'll have a look in my surplus Bush manuals in the store tomorrow, all being well.
The metal rectifiers in these are faulty in that they go high resistance causing the HT voltage to drop to 50 volts or even less in some cases virtually 100% of the time.
The unusual thing about these players is that there's not usually any capacitors to change. The two grid coupling capacitors are usually of a very high quality and will probably be as good or even better than modern replacements. However, it's always best to do the usual checks for leakage as regards to positive volts on the control grids just to be on the safe side - you never know, someone could have changed them in the past with poor quality replacements, or the factory ran out of the usual stock and fitted a couple of 'Hunts'!
The metal rectifiers in these are faulty in that they go high resistance causing the HT voltage to drop to 50 volts or even less in some cases virtually 100% of the time.
Yes, these rectangular potted contact cooled rectifiers were also used in numerous Bush radios and suffered a similar fate. From memory they were of Siemens origin.
As I've said before, I left the Retail Trade in late '69 and I don't recall ever seeing an SRP31 with a BSR deck - they were always Garrard.
It is possible that I never saw an SRP31d as we became somewhat disillusioned with Bush after the takeover of Murphy. On the other hand, I don't recall any other record player that we sold and the distinctive appearance of the SRP31d - compared with the SRP31c - is not unfamiliar to me. Perhaps they only started putingt in an appearance in the Service Dept. after I left ...
When all else fails, read the instructions
Impressive that some of those cheapo BSR autochangers, which so many of us rather despised at the time, seem to have survived the subsequent half-century rather better than the 'superior' Garrards.
And I've never found a working GC8 cartridge recently either. Its GC2 predecessor endures much better in my experience, but it's pretty peaky in the high frequencies!
Martin
BVWS Member
