Turntable issue

oh happy day!!!

Was there no owners manual available?

Mystery solved! By removing the bearing spindle assembly, you can access two set screws which allows you to adjust the spindle height. One of the set screws was missing, so more than likely, the vibrations during shipping lowered the spindle, causing the drag. Replacing the set screw and raising the spindle solved the problem

I brought it to my local store and they are taking a look at it during the week. At first glance, it seems like the bearing spindle has been pushed down, which would account for the lack of clearance under stand platter, causing the drag.

I'll post a followup as soon as I get confirmation from the technician.

@elliottbnewcombjr; I can't of course know for sure, but the seller did send me a video of the turntable playing and it seemed to work fine. The seller has been more than accommodating and I have no concern that he would take it back if it's not repairable (which he has offered to pay for).

I've got the maglev in my sota.  If the table is totally level, the platter will spin dead silent and freely with the belt off.  These are very precise installations and any deviations will ruin this.  My platter actually floats and has a bit of spring when pushed down.
If you are getting any dragging or grinding sound I would first check for dirt and make sure the spindle is lubed.  My platter did have the tiniest bit of noise when I first got it.  A friend who is an engineer suggested cleaning the spindle and bearing, re-lubing and running for a couple hours.  The noise went away and never came back.  The factory hadn't put this through a break-in period before shipping.

to examine the negative,

how do you personally know for sure it was working fine before shipping?

if fine there, but not now here, it was received 'damaged', the selller/shipper is responsible.

Is there a return/refund period?  I would be very firm, in writing, to seller about the fact that it was received damaged, and if not quickly solved a full refund will be needed,

shipping insurance? insurance purchased by whom? if it comes to that, it is best to return to seller, let seller give you a full refund, let seller deal with shipping insurance, very often un-successful.

best of luck,

sometimes we let keeping a supposedly 'great deal' influence our decisions, what would you do if it was new, or full price?

My suggestion which I'm guessing you've already done is to check your horizontal levels.Is the platter perfectly level?

@millercarbon, it was shipped in the original box with all the original packing material. Platter was taken off. There was no visible damage to the box or compression of the packing material, it all looked reasonably good (in other words, as expected when USPS has handled the box across the country).

I've checked the ceramic ball and that is indeed still on the spindle. Next, I will check the angularity of the spindle to make sure it's perfectly vertical.

The platter does "sink" all the way down when you put it on the spindle, but not the entire bottom side is dragging, so maybe the magnets are doing what they are supposed to and this is unrelated to that.

I'll continue to investigate. I appreciate all the suggestions so far and please keep them coming. This should be a solvable problem.

Was this thing shipped in all original factory packaging? Because this is exactly the kind of damage I would expect if someone put the table in a box with the platter still in place in the table. Which is the very last thing anyone should ever do. But hard to think of any other way this happened.

Platter is massive, shipping damaged the bearing and/or plinth, now you have a real problem. Or a return. Because there’s just about no other way a perfectly operating turntable went into a box and came out like this. You take em apart, box each piece individually, put it back together. If there was damage you would notice it immediately while putting it together. You don’t mention anything like that. So I’m thinking it was packaged wrong. So how was it shipped? And how do the bearing, platter, and plinth look?

Make sure the bearing is perfectly vertical in the plinth.  If it has become loose or somehow angled there could be a small tilt allowing the edge of the turntable to touch.  This would be seen as the touching always in the same spot on the plinth.  If the platter is damaged in  its bearing attachment the contact could rotate around the plinth with the same spot of the platter being low and in contact or dragging.  

Audiojan, is this a used truntable.? The bearing usually has a ball it rotates on. If the ball fell out the platter will drag.

sumiko is known to be poor at being responsive to end users ... one of the worst customer service outfits in the biz

try the retailer instead... or any big project retailer... there are many, and one who knows the product may kindly help you