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Forum 135

Audio & Hi-Fi Fixing a Pepito....

Audio & Hi-Fi

Last Post by slidertogrid 9 months ago

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slidertogrid

(@slidertogrid)

Posts: 1236

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A good friend of mine bought this when on holiday in Italy from a retro/junk shop. He has a few vintage items and a fair record collection and just liked the look of this.

He asked me some time ago to take a look which I did. The conclusion I came to was that it was in a bit of a state! The battery compartment contacts and springs were rusty. The case was hanging off as three of the four mountings were broken. The mechanism was seized up. The belt was off, the motor very loose, flopping around. The cartridge was very grotty the stylus bent. The whole thing was a bit mucky. I came to the conclusion that it had been used to the point that it wouldn't go anymore and then left to rust somewhere a bit damp... What wasn't broken was seized.

A few days ago having fixed a radio for him I decided it was time to see what could be done if anything! I took battery contacts and springs out which was a right game as they were pushed into the plastic and then melted into position! after a lot of careful jiggling and warming I managed to get the contacts and springs out. I cleaned them up and shoved them back together. I took the mechanism out took it apart and freed it off giving it a little dab of oil where needed. There was lots of patience required to get it back together and the springs back on.

I secured the motor put the belt back on which surprisingly was useable. I had little hope for the cartridge but I gave it a clean and replaced the stylus which was very simple and similar to the ones used in Philips car record players luckily I had one in stock that fitted with slight modification.

The clamshell mech seemed to work and pounced on the record when one was inserted the arm landing on the edge of the record. Not very sophisticated but it seemed to work, I cleaned the contacts on the stop - start switch and installed some 'C' Cells and shoved in a record...

It works! I was quite surprised to say the least! I had to clean the speed control pot and adjust the motor speed but other than that away it went. And considering it is little better than a toy it sounds pretty good for what it is! By that I mean there is no Motor 'patter' through the speaker as there often is with crappo-battery-players. The speed is constant and it has a fair amount of volume. I couldn't believe that cartridge worked!

I lubricated the eject button mech, repaired the flimsy case mountings and gave it a clean. That was easier than I had first thought! I hope "Pepito" likes it's new home in England!