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RB300 binding in horizontal movement

I've had my used Planar 3 for a few years now with a tweaked RB300. It was rewired with the incognito wiring kit and the expressimo counter weight and stub. About a month ago the tonearm started to bind during it's horizontal movement. It's as if the anti-skate has been set to 1 pound. If I move the tonearm about half way across the platter I hear a slight click and feel the binding give way. After that all works well and there is no resistance (other than the anti-skate setting) at all. The next day, it all starts over. I haven't done anything to the tonearm and it just started without any warning. Any ideas what is causing this and more importantly, any solutions to this problem?

Thanks.
maktheknife

Showing 1 response by dougdeacon

dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Some possible causes that come to mind:

Tonearm wire dressing
Check that the wire leading from the arm is not kinked or catching on anything.

Antiskate mechanism malfunctioning
Try moving the A/S adjustment back and forth through its full range a bunch of times. Also, try setting it to "zero" and test the arm's behavior for a few days. I don't know how that mechanism works, but I suppose something in it might be "sticking".

Bearings dirty, worn, damaged or out of adjustment
Repairing this would probably be a job for a pro. Try holding a stethoscope against the bearings and move the arm through stickiness until it frees up. You might be able to hear where the problem is.

Duh #1
Make sure the end stub isn't snagging on a dust cover or any other object (the cat?) that might be in the way.

Duh #2
Make sure the arm's cueing support bar and the underside of the arm tube are clean. You can use a little alchohol on a Q-tip.

If the cause is something like the last two you're allowed to make something up rather than confess in public! ;-)

Others will have other ideas I'm sure. Good luck!
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