Collaro RC54 turntable

What do you mean by "the record sticks", Norman? As in the arm cannot move and so it just keeps repeating a groove continuously? That sounds like something has excessive friction.

As you rightly deduce, the trip lever is moved by frictional contact with the pick-up arm but it should be gently tapped back by the trip pawl under normal playing, until it reaches the run-out groove at which point the velocity of the pick-up arm will carry the trip lever into the path of the trip pawl which will then strike it and start the change cycle. So there is friction, but not a terrific amount. The whole trip arrangement should operate with fingertip pressure.

Sadly I don't have my Collaro manuals to hand, nor a suitable machine to photograph for you: however, Crackle is about to embark on overhauling an RC54 for his KB LG40...

Hi, The record sticks as in the arm cannot move, it's the trip pawl that's the problem. If you move the pickup arm in manually you can feel the arm being gripped/stopped. The friction between the two parts of the trip pawl grip and comes in too quick and it feels as though the two pieces are stuck together. I have had them off and cleaned them and lubricated the spindles they pivot on. I know it's hard to explain without a picture or exploded view. I may take some pictures tomorrow for the benefit of anyone else looking at this. I realise from your reply you are well aware of how this one operates. I have repaired many turntables in the past but this is a new one on me. I have the thing suspended so I can watch it working from underneath but can't resolve this yet. I have checked for bent arms etc as I am not the first to look at this. Norman

Here is a drawing of the underside of the deck, does that help, or is it above the deck.

Mike

Hi Mike, Thanks for that, It looks like the friction between part 46 and 49 isn't right. Item 49 looks as though it has a slot in it but is in fact a pressing and it's the friction between that and item 46 I can't get right. My head is buzzing from looking at this for too long today. The deck has been badly stored as it has some rust on it. I even thought the parts were magnetised but I'm not sure whether these parts are alloy or not. I will have another look tomorrow and report back. Many thanks for the replies. Norman

I realise from your reply you are well aware of how this one operates. I have repaired many turntables in the past but this is a new one on me.

Hi Norman,

you could say that - I've done a lot of Collaro machines in the past, predominantly Conquests and Challengers - but in all honesty I've not encountered any RC54s for decades now; the machines I've worked on are from either end of the 50s! Staring at the diagram I'm trying to work out where the pick-up arm gets involved: IIRC part 49 is called the feeder arm, 46 the trip lever.

If you take the turntable off you should be able to see the trip lever poking through the casting for the turntable bearing boss: that should move at the touch of a finger and in turn, it'll get in the way of the trip pawl on the bearing when pushed into place by the pick-up arm.

There is something mentioned about that in the notes.

Edit
I wish I knew why it added some images like that.

Hi Folks, I had another go at this today and it's working much better now. I found the part numbered 49 to be quite rusty. I took items 46 and 49 off and cleaned then polished them and it seems to have done the trick. The problem I have now is intermittent start of playing the record,. When you try to play a record it drops one from the stack then the pickup arm lifts up then goes back down and the deck switches off. It will work if you persevere with it, also when it does work it drops the arm a few seconds into the record but it wasn't doing that before. I think I will need to carefully strip more of this down and clean and lubricate as I go. I may well have disturbed something when I was at it today. Many thanks for the advice thus far. Norman

When you try to play a record it drops one from the stack then the pickup arm lifts up then goes back down and the deck switches off.

What this means is that the mechanism isn't sensing that the record steady arm is in the raised position: it thinks it has played all its records/there are no records to play.

I think you will need to look in the vicinity of part № 52 to see that it is free to move when the record steady arm is raised: it should move up when the arm is lifted, and I'll have a quiet shilling on rust or hardened grease not allowing it to move freely - which it will eventually do, as you noted!

Hi, Yes I will have a close look at it tomorrow, as I said previously someone else has had a go at it. There was black lithium grease all over the place which I have cleaned off, some of the pivots that the mech is fixed to are rusty. I will have a proper look tomorrow and report back. Many thanks, Norman

Hi Folks, I am pleased to say this is now working fine. I have cleaned and lubricated many pivots. I would like to say thanks for the help and encouragement you guys have given me. I won't feel so lost the next time I meet one of these. Best regards, Norman

That's what we're here for, Norman - glad it's back in the land of the living

(from a self-confessed Collaro nut )

Norman, I hope you dont mind me continuing with your thread.
I have got the record deck from my KB LG40 on the bench to check over and service it.
I have, I think, managed to free up everything so the auto mechanism is running easily. But what ever I do it always seems to continuous play, i.e. wont turn itself off.

It looks like a lever, labelled as 54 on the diagram above, (green arrow on photo) does not go forward enough so that it engages in the pawl that drops down, I think labelled 53. It also looks like there is a little lip (red arrow on photo) on the corner of the pawl 53 that is preventing the lever 54 from disengaging when the pawl 53 is raised. I cant see that this lip could be wear, so I am assuming it is intended to be there, but it does seem to prevent the leaver from coming out when it is supposed to.
The second photo shows the lever 54 in its most forward position.

Can anyone advise what I can do, is the tiny lip supposed to be there, can I file the pawl slot so that the lever 54 can enter the pawl.

Mike

Hi Mike,

just to clarify: by 'continuous play' you mean the changer repeatedly plays a record, goes through the change cycle and does not detect that the final record has played thus allowing the changer to shut off?

If this is the case you need to be looking at a lever that is operated by the record over arm reaching its lowest level. Sadly I don't have a 54 or 456/457 to hand at the moment as the way these decks detect the last record being played is rather more conventional than how a Conquest/Challenger/Studio does.

You seem to have the opposite problem to Norman: again, looking at part 52 may help. I might pop over to the remote store to replace an early Collaro later, and find the renovated 456 to study.

When I turn the control to "Stop" it does exactly the same thing.
I am convinced the problem lies in the fact that the lever 54 does not go far enough forward to allow the pawl 53, as I called it, to drop and hence activate the stop sequence.

Update
I have fixed it, I made an adjustment to the spigot (red arrow) on the lever which attaches to arm 42 on the drawing. Basically I inserted a screwdriver and levered against another solid post so the spigot / arm was twisted back over slightly, so it now pushes the lever 54 over slightly further (green arrow) so things engage correctly.
It is now starting, playing and stopping, but when the record drops it sometimes catches on the size detect arm and needs a little assistance to push the record down.

Mike

I am having a lot of problems getting the setdown position correct. If I adjust it for the start of the music on a 45 it misses the edge of the record on an L, the instructions say the adjustment is the same for all sizes.
Any ideas.

Mike

From memory, the stylus should set down at the edge of a circle 9⅝" in diameter, so the adjustment is made on a 10" record.