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SME 312S arm pulling into the center too much.

I have an SME 201/12 with 312S arm.
It has been a great system for several years.
Recently I did not use it for over a year and when I did get back to it I have found that the arm is pulling to the center way too much.
Even when i set anti skating at maximum it still sends the arm to the middle way too fast on a blank record.
Obviously the sound is out of balance to the right.
I called SME England the the guy told me that the groove forces would send the arm outwards and that the anti skate acted in the opposite direction!!!!
I was stunned to say the least.

It is made worse by the fact that the new US distributors do not even publish a phone number let alone answering it when you call.

Before i pack up the arm and return it to the UK just wondered if anyone had similar experience with SME anti skating.

Aloha!
mauidj

Showing 5 responses by mauidj

mauidj OP
127 posts
 
Many thanks mate.
I felt that i had a handle on the problem but wanted confirmation after the guy I spoke to sent my head spinning.
Yes...I would never use a blank to set it up but wanted to see if in fact the anti skate was doing anything at all.
So, is there anyone out there ever fixed one of these things?
mauidj OP
127 posts
 
Williams????...have you not been watching F1 lately 😉
But please don't get down on us Brits. Not fair or accurate.
I have heard way worse turntable stories than this from some big guns in other countries too.

mauidj OP
127 posts
 
@rauliruegas Many thanks.
It floats perfectly in any position I place it.  
OK so further messing has revealed that when i rotate the output plug at the extreme anti clockwise of the travel  (it rotates 270 degrees) the arm is virtually stationary when running a blank disk with the anti set at max. So it appears like there is an internal issue with wire dressing and or the anti skate mechanism.
But at least i can now play a record and it sounds pretty decent with no distortion :-)
Now if only I could find someone in the SME organization that knows what is what so i can get it permanently fixed!!!!
mauidj OP
127 posts
 
@trytone
I guess living out in the middle of the Pacific makes these things bit more stressful when there is no one around to chat with or get help from. SME and their importers are not as helpful as I would have hoped for.
I have done some searching but cannot find anything very specific about the issue, so @mikemillercarbon if you could point me at those examples i would be most appreciative.
Thanks for all your suggestions.
mauidj OP
127 posts
 
Big thanks to everyone for the input.
I am going to try adjusting the anti skate mechanism according to SME and see where that gets me.They think the filament might have stretched so there is a way of increasing the anti skate to see if this is the case.
I will report back.
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