Stylus stuck in groove

@rvpiano,

’How does it even happen?’

I’ve never experienced a stylus to get stuck in a groove but there were a few (no more than 4/5) occasions when it would skip badly. Usually on records that were borrowed from a public library.

Strangely enough, upon closer inspection I found on a couple of occasions that the offending groove was clogged up with a speck of what looked like a dried up and and hardened white correction fluid (Tippex?).

It was easy enough to remove by scraping it off carefully with my fingernail so that it came off in one piece. The remaining residue could then simply be blown off afterwards.

How it got there I don’t know. Quality control would have to be pretty bad for it to have left the factory like that, but who knows?

It’s possible but unlikely that a previous borrower caused it. It’s more likely that a previous borrower didn’t even care to find out what the blemish was.

Only we audiophiles tend to obsess over such ’trivial’ details.

In your particular case I’d get someone to check your stylus because other than a contaminant somehow falling onto the disc (or getting into the sleeve) it’s difficult to say why this is happening.

It must be really frustrating, especially when your eyes can’t make out the fine details.

@mijostyn,

I wondered whether the OP might have some loose plaster or paint directly above his turntable. Not always easy to see on a high ceiling.

Assuming that he’s using it without any lid.

The bit about the vinyl being ok one day and not the next is indeed strange.

Could the sleeves be responsible in some way? Vinyl inner sleeves always did seem to vary quite a bit in quality.

I’ve even seen some bad plastic ones for CD audiobooks, where it’s almost impossible to remove and return discs without a fair bit of unnecessary friction.