Acos Lustre GST-801: TONEARM LIFT FIXED (early model).

Acos Lustre GST-801: TONEARM LIFT FIXED (early model).

I read that many have problems with the 801 lift, so I am posting this separately.

I screwed up my tonearm lift, figured it out, FIXED it. Love the arm, love the lift.

I assumed the fluid was bad, but no, it was me who messed with the physics of the thing.
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chackster tells us: " It was an earlier version of the armlift construction, Lustre completely changed it in the later version to conventional armlift without that long thin strip of metal."
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A suggestion on AudioKarma mentioned looking underneath, verifying a set screw was snug. That may be the simple problem for other’s.
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I found my problem, and suspect/hope it could be a common problem for others, as it is easily fixed. I had my arm un-installed, see the bottom easily, but, with a mirror, it could be seen/fixed while mounted, perhaps easier when steady.

1. Lever flexes a long thin strip of metal (visible when upside down). The end of the metal activates the rise/lower action when flexed by the lever.

2. The lift raises/lowers ’by itself’ after you ’start’ it, by moving the lever up or down. (IOW, once started, the action is not controlled by the lever, it’s controlled by fluid moving). It starts up and continues to rise like a cake.

3. There is a small gap at the end of the metal strip below the cylinder. There is a small projecting rod/pin on the bottom of the cylinder. The cylinder has to be rotated so that the pin moves out of sight, above the end of the flexible metal strip.

4. My cylinder had been rotated (by me), the rod/pin was in that gap, no metal strip below it. So, when the metal strip flexed, it did not contact the pin. I simply rotated the cylinder so that the pin moved out of sight, now above the metal strip.

Fixed, but not height adjusted.

5. The top curved rail rotates, for proper positioning for the full sweep of the tonearm. The curved rail has it’s own set screw. Loosen set screw, position/rotate the curved rail for full arm sweep, tighten.

6. I think mine, and probably others, people loosen the cylinder set screw and like me, rotate the cylinder to position the attached curved rail. Inadvertently moving the cylinder’s lower pin to the gap where there is no contact with the flexible metal strip, thus no action.
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My re-assembly procedure.

First, get arm height, arm balance, general VTA angle set. Adjusting the height/clearance of the lift’s top curved rail (below the tonearm when playing) is relative to the tonearm’s downward angle.

1. loosen and lightly snug both set screws (cylinder and top curved rail) (so no real force needed when making final adjustment, avoiding one part moving the other).

2. loosen cylinder’s set screw and rotate cylinder (view from bottom) so the pin is out of sight above the metal strip. slight tighten.

**** Note: never rotate the cylinder later when adjusting it’s height, or positioning the top curved rail ****

3. loosen cylinder’s set screw, make general height adjustment, slight tighten. (to get the top curved rail close to the bottom of the tonearm prior to next step).

4. loosen top curved rail’s set screw, rotate to position it for the full sweep of the tonearm, tighten. it’s done.

5. final height of cylinder will need to be coordinated with arm height. Patience, adjust bit by bit, avoiding rotating it, to keep it’s lower pin above the flexible metal strip.

Elliott