I won an old record player off Ebay. The seller assured me that it works, but when I put a record on all I heard was a loud buzzing sound, no music at all. The needle looks fine if a little rusty, and since the buzzing comes whenever I turn it on and not just when the needle is on the record I don’t think that’s the problem. The turntable and volume controls work also (well, the volume control just makes the buzzing louder or softer), and there doesn’t appear to be anything wrong on the outside. I’ve contacted the seller, who I haven’t heard from yet but I can’t send it back anyway because it would cost too much. Does anyone know what might be wrong? Is there any way I can fix this myself? Or, alternatively, how much would it cost to fix this? I only payed around $20 for the player including shipping, and I’d rather not spend any more than that on repairs. The model is an “Air Line” model 1012B, which was apparently made for Montgomery Ward’s according to the auction info.
I don’t have a suggestion for the buzzing other than the probability of some old electronic component in the amp section going out of spec. If the player has a ground wire connection on the back you could try attaching that an outlet grounding screw and see if it helps.
Beyond that I wouldn’t suggest playing any valuable LPs on that player as it is likely to beat the grooves to death.
I just asked our esteemed broadcast engineer what the problem might be, and he suggested that the capacitors have dried out and stopped doing their job of filtering AC hum out of the system. It’s not the transformer, or the whole thing wouldn’t work. You may need to get a whole new power supply for it. Or a better record player. That’d probably be cheaper!
Yeah, I knew there might be some buzzing, but he also said that “it works and I played the record included.” That was the first record I tried, and it sure didn’t play for me. Which leads me to a corollary question–how should I deal with this considering that it’s impractical to send the item back for refund?
Record players are a bitch to ship as all kinds of mechanical adjustments can go haywire. Re playing the record Does the platter rotate?
Well … I’d suggest asking the seller for a refund as the unit is completely non-functional. If he won’t cooperate with some adjustment leave bad feedback and move on. You’re actually kind of lucky that the thing won’t work as it would probably beat your records to death, and is pretty much a POS from a decent fidelity perspective.
Without a proper investigation it is difficult to analyse the problem properly but I would go for the suggestion that there is an earth loop, make sure that the earthing lead on the unit - Note, NOT the earth lead for the power cord - is intact and attached to a suitable point on your amplifier - should be a marked screw on the back somewhere.
If the unit has internal amplification, it sounds more like a rectifier problem, as also stated above, failed capacitors or diode(s). Probably a fairly cheap fix to replace dud components but even more likely cheaper to sling it and fit a new rectifier.
I realize it may be quite difficult to convince the seller to accept responsibility for the failed model, but you could try. Your shipping costs should equal zero, if the solution is to be acceptable.
Your options:
(a) File an insurance claim with the packing company. Not likely satisfactory, since you will likely need the cooperation of the seller, the potential for fraud is high if the seller decides to keep the reimbursement, and the packing company may decline to pay, or significantly delay payment.
(b) File a claim of fraud with Ebay and/or Paypal. Not likely to succeed.
(c) If mailed through the USPS, submit a claim of mail fraud. Take the seller to small claims court, suing for the cost of the machine, all shipping costs, and all court costs.
(d) If paid through a credit card, initiate a chargeback. If you used PayPal, this will mean you must violate PayPal’s agreement by failing to use their “mediation” program, but you will almost certainly get your money back. Withdraw all PayPal money from your accounts prior to this action.
(e) Leave negative feedback. If the seller is like most, he or she will not have left feedback, even though you’ve filled your end of the deal and are a perfect buyer, and will leave negative feedback on your ebay account in retaliation.
Basically, you lose under most scenarios, unless the seller is honest. You’re not going to get your money back. That sucks, but so does E-Bay.
The problem sounds like a filter capacitor is bad.
No big deal replacing it. Finding a new one might be.
Its a common problem with old equipment.
If its a can type cap it sometimes has electrolytic leaking from it. Sometimes a single cap can be patched in if the bad one is a ganged capacitor.
Know an old electronics person?A ham radio operator?
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Record players are a bitch to ship as all kinds of mechanical adjustments can go haywire. Re playing the record Does the platter rotate?
Ask the seller to please lock down the turn table.
Thats done by screwing down the 2 phillips head screws on either side of the turntable and wire down the tone arm.
To play make sure the screws are loosened.
Yeah, I will probably do this, unless I can get ahold of the seller. They didn’t return the email I sent a few days ago yet, and probably won’t ever. I am not too concerned about negative feedback since you can leave your own comments on it so I can just say it was retaliatory. I am just glad it’s only twenty dollars I lost. If I can’t get this fixed, I’ll probably ask for a new turntable for Xmas.
I will be taking the player to a place in Pittsburgh and I’ll ask about the filter capacitor and the other things that were mentioned. Thanks everyone!
Electric phonographs also don’t have a dedicated hobby cadre, the way radios and acoustic phonographs do. Most of those hobbyists don’t know or care about each other’s technology –they’re into it for the fixing and collecting, not the playing and using.