VPI MOTOR PULLEY ??

You would have to be nuts to pay what BOB's charges for VPI parts.....This is the way the whole VPI parts system is totally out to lunch.........Tone are base (1000.00) are you crazy ??   autospec

Harry's son is in charge of VPI.....his name is Matt, and seems to built from the same material as Harry....nice guy.

autospec -  Sorry, but if you did some of the basic things one normally does to get support these days, you would have been able to get your pulley. If you simply sent an email to the support email address they probably would have helped you find one. Marc from VPI reached out to you directly and you basically blew him off. I get it - you do not like the current VPI support model. But that does not mean you cannot get a part if you try. You did not want to try. That was your choice.

I also wonder why you needed the pulley. Did your break one? Or buy a motor second hand and not get the pulley? Or did you figure out who makes the motor (not hard to do) and buy it from someone other than VPI?

Sorry, but the negativity is tiring.

Harry was always fun to deal with, He is why VPI is what it is, the kids couldn't pull that success by themselves..... If WNTRMUTE2 doesn't believe me about the lathe and the brass rod, send me your e-mail address and I'll send you some pictures and while I am at it I'll send some pictures of my more than (15) VPI turntables.......So I have invested plenty in VPI.........

Marc:    If it matters, I could make one before I could find anyone to sell me one....Do you have any idea how simple it would have been for me to call you and order one.....It could have been done in less than five minutes....One more happy customer....Keep up the good customer relations......Thanks for taking the time for the e-mail.......autospec

Hello Everyone,

I would be more than happy to help you out with locating a new pulley for your turntable. We no longer offer direct sales to customers. You would be able to reach out to any of our dealerships and they would be able to send you the 300RPM pulley and any other parts you may need. Here is the direct link to our dealership page for our website.
 http://www.vpiindustries.com/dealership.html.

There is no log in required on our website. If there is not a local dealer in your area we offer several online dealers such as Soundstagedirect.com, Musicdirect.com, Elusivedisc.com and more. You would be able to give them a call and order the part if you prefer. 

We are more than happy to answer any questions about our tables. We answered an all time record of over 18,000 emails in the past year alone. Please feel free to email us at info@vpiindustries.com or email me directly at marc@vpiindustries.com if you have any questions or concerns.  

Sincerely,
Marc
VPI Customer Service Director

Looking your responses, does someone knows how to adjust pulley belt, noticed it was a little loose but trying to adjust makes the pulley unstable.Can someone knows a trick to adjust perfectly this one?

I think the problem is that Matt no longer wants to deal with customers directly. It takes too much time in his opinion.

They set up a forum on their site to stop the constant Emails that need to be answered, thus eliminating an employee, for "supposed" cost and time savings.

In my opinion good customer service used to be a VPI trade mark, but no longer. Word will get out, and they will either go back, as before, or lose customers.

I just hope my TNT Mk III holds up, and does not need repair or parts. I want service for old VPI turntables and arms.

I would like Matt at VPI to show up on this thread!

Two years ago I dealt with Matt and he was very helpful with an old motor repair.

I can tell you what I think....They should hire someone (like Audio Research's Calvin) and pay them out there huge profits to take calls and get small things handled for there good customers, but not to even try and handle things and fudge the people like myself off  because they just don't have time.........I could make a pulley faster than I could even find anyone to sell me one......So I did....I'm kind of like a YUGO dealer, I just move the parts from turntable to another.........

That's what is wrong with so many people that they can't understand how someone can make a simple pulley.....And buy a lathe to make record clams and knobs or whatever ???    Next time one of you ask me about my VPI dealer, take a minute and look on a map for Lewiston, Idaho and point out where my VPI dealer might be ??  There is not one person on this forum that has half as many VPI turntables as I do , and I used to call Harry and he would look around and send me a used tonearm base or mounting base....All by what I would describe , now the only way I can get a belt is on E-bay and hope it not made in China.....But I have so much VPI that I can just borrow a part off another one......Lucky most VPI parts are interchangeable........autospec

Harry seems sharp as a tack from his posts on the VPI forum.  He posts there regularly.  His son Matt also posts and answers questions multiple times a week.  Marc, seems to be a technician at VPI, and is always answering questions as well as giving advice.  Harry is doing "cutting edge" stuff in his basement as well and posts his thoughts and creations on Facebook.  VPI is defiantly NOT slowing down it seems.  You just have to let the memory of Shelia answering the phone, waiting for you to send a check before sending parts out go by the wayside.  I too miss that but VPI is still a real force in the industry.

Basis also makes good tables. I would go used as tables seem to depricate more than most. Service on tables has never been good. In  1970 I wanted a arm board for a current Sony belt drive. I could not fine one and I was living in NYC then I went out to Sony headquarters in Long Island City. After an extended search of their wear house they found ONE. I ask them how much it was and they didn't know and they gave me that one for nothing saying that they wound never get another anyway.

I always talked to Mrs Harry [Sheila?] but she has been gone for some years. My memory for names is not good since my surgery. Harry was always helpful but he must be getting up there as he is about my age, 75 He can correct me on this, their son was also good. His name is gone.

^  Did you ask remind Bes that you have had no answer?  Not saying you "should" have to but a follow up reminder to the dealer may have benefited you.

By the way, I sent in a question to Bes at Music Direct several months ago regarding the internal construction of the VTA tower on my Classic 3 Sig SE, w/ printed arm, received a message from him that he sent my question to VPI. Eight months later, no answer. ( Why he, a dealer, could not answer this is suspect?)

So I spent around $5K on a new TT, had one question. I went through channels. My dealer who went to the source. No answer. This, from a 40 year old company.

I can already hear from people who will say, I should have done this or that. NO! I did the right thing by going through the appropriate channels.

How much does one have to spend on a boutique audio product before they can get an answer to a basic question that, in all honesty, should have been laid out in the manual? Don't even get me started on the manual!

autospec, While I don't know the complete story, I certainly understand the motivation that one uses to just "do it themselves"!

I have had varying results with VPI in the past. The main phrase, "varying results", is something that really should not be an issue from a 40 year old company.

They are NOT proactive when any sort of issue comes up regarding a product that has, for one reason or another, had a manufacturing issue or has been discontinued after 6 months in production......They should have some sort of database in place that can email folks that have "registered products" to automatically inform them of an issue. This is the least they should do. Instead, they rely on the loyal customers to email their own stories into their website.

I wish I could run a business this way and feel good about it!

Bob posted his phone number.  No interweb needed.  Glad the 6 foot lathe was less of a bother than the telephone or a couple of website clicks.  You have to forgive me for being a bit skeptical of your story.  I'd rather buy a 6' metal working lathe, move it into position and the bed it in properly, source the brass rod, source the cutting bits and cutting fluids, machine it, drill and tap for two setscrews, measure and machine the radius for a round belt.  You are willing to do that rather than pick up the telephone?

I hear what you are saying but just a little hard for us mere mortals to wrap our minds around that claim.  

I'm not tired of you guys, I get a lot of good ideas from you all.....I just wish that parts were a call away and not requiring me to go on the inter-net and do business......I'm not real good with computers so sometime my results aren't good......I did make some working pulleys and I'm making some knobs for one of the tube amps I build.....The pulley was quite easy to make out of a 1'' piece of brass rod.....My little lathe is quite small (6') but is quite accurate.....Its easy to tune the pulley in if you make it a little large and trim it ever so fine .....and keep checking the speed......Autospec

I share the same thoughts about location bob,
I was born in climate similar to Green Bay WI.

Hey Bob,

Did not realize that you had moved from Wilmington.  Hope things are going well for you in Montana.

yeah, i used to live in Wilmington, NC but got tired of the heat and humidity.  Moved the family and the company to Montana.  Back on topic, I never got an email from autospec.  He must have been talking about someone else.

I guess Autospec has been busy at his lathe or grew tired of us.

Bob,
Your area code though looked very close to where I dwell in North Carolina...

I am in Billings, MT and have a shop that is by appointment only.  I mostly do mail order and audio shows.

Hi Bob,
Are you only mail-order dealer or have a store or warehouse in NC?

Hi there,

I broke the belt on my VPI Aries.
I found a dealer in Dallas that had them in stock.
He has a store front and was very helpful.
He may be able to locate the pulley for you.

Name is John Fort and website is
http://johnfortav.com/
Very likable person and a true audiophile.

Hope this helps
Andre

and you don't even have to log in.  you can email bob@bobsdevices.com or call at 910-612-8666.   I will just need a photo of your pulley.

Autopsec, let me see if I have this right.  You went out a bought a lathe and are going to machine your own because you don't want to or have time to sign into a website like Bob's Devices?

I was referring to "old" Mike who was extremely helpful when I had VPI TNT 5 table. It was about 7 years ago if I remember correctly. Too bad he is not there now.

Making the wheel:  First I have the pulley on my Scout Master for basic measurements and I intend on cutting 3-4 different sizes for three different speeds.......As long as the are over speed I can fine tune the speed by removing some of the diameter of the pulley.....It will take a lot less time than trying to get one from a VPI dealer  in Seattle.......Will 

Perhaps VPI new policy of not selling parts direct  is part of their streamlining of the business.

I can surely appreciate the math and machine tooling skill that's required to make this pulley. Kudos to you all!

I'm must be a lazy audiophile - I'd rather call my VPI dealer and order the proper part from the factory. Why bother to reinvent the wheel?

Purchasing lathe (gotta be kiddin' right?) that can cut with proper precision pulleys will worth a descent high-performance car such as Bentley Continental Azure Coupe(yea somewhere in few hundred k), but going just to trivial automotive machine shop with proper engineering drafts will solve your problem for a lot cheaper. 
Brass by far isn't best material. The best one would be rhodium.

Barrel shape of pulley is optional, but important at the same time.
Belt can travel over the straight cut pulleys and stays still over the barrel shape pulleys.

For the round-cut belt the pulley should have radial cut of slightly larger by .015mm to ensure easy fit without much traveling up-down. Please note that if radial cut radius is smaller than belt, the belt will wrap larger radius of pulley resulting higher platter rotation.

For my Sansui FR 1080 I've ordered 3 pulleys. one larger by few mcm, one exact and one smaller. I did not change the radius of the barrel. I only paid $19.xx for such endeavor.

My math had worked for me the following way:

1. Deriving the radius of a pulley.
Platter pulley with diameter D must rotate at 33.333... rpm and 45rpm
Motor pulley with diameter d must rotate at (as in your case) 300rpm
and ratio: 

D*s = d*S

where D is your large diameter of platter and s is your platter rpm and 
d is your motor diameter with S is motor RPM. (4th grade math?)

2. Deriving a radius of the barrel shape pulley.

Measure smallest dimeter d, height of any available turntable barrel shape pulley H and largest diameter D; divide both diameters by 2 to get radiuses r and R respectively; draw horizontal axis on your sheet of paper and plot 3 actual size vertical axis, originating from any arbitrary point of the horizontal axis -- 2 of size r and 1 of size R with R sized axis staying EXACTLY in the middle of 2 r sized axis giving you exactly 3 plotting points. As you know geometrically you can draw a circle via any 3 arbitrary points and that's how you define radius.
Graphically plot another horizontal axis via tops of r-sized vertical axis; continue to plot the straight lines of any reasonable size on both sides. Where straight line and curved line meet, plot a tangent lines going towards center till they meet and... BINGO you've found the barrel curve radius!

You can also refer  to http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/213658/get-the-equation-of-a-circle-when-given-3-points
if you prefer to solve series of quadratic equations instead.

And don’t forget the pulley will need to be bored for an "interference fit" on the motor shaft: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interference_fit) If it won’t go on the shaft, or falls off it, it won’t matter how accurate the OD of the grooves are.

pmotz,
it's not biggie, but you gotta be very good with numbers and math.
all you need is the brass rod, good mirror scale caliper, micrometer and calculator(optional) and cut at least a few pulleys with various curve radius and barrel size +- few micrometers to ensure proper speed.
if going automotive machine shop, request also to manufacture few sizes with provided engineering draft.
 

autospec, let us know how that exercise turns out.  Seems a bit extreme to go that far.  Sure hope you have experience on a lathe, not an easy task for the uninitiated.

I went out today and bought a metal turning lathe so I can make my own pulley.......It seem that if you don't want to spend your life trying to contact somebody that doesn't want to be contacted, then you might figure out how to do it yourself.....Its given me another viewpoint on some businesses like VPI and PRO-AC ......Its OK to buy a 1000.00 turntable but don't trouble them with the small stuff.......I will make my own out of brass and skip the plastic VPI ones......  Will

info@vpiindustries.com

Forgot to add that Mat has said they don't offer parts direct anymore since it would compete with the dealers.  Not sure if this is a perceived problem or one that the dealers complained about.  Contacting VPI can be a bit of challenge, they do answer the phone but only on select days, I believe it is Tuesday, Wednesday, and  Thursday.  E-mail can also be a challenge, they do answer but are a bit irregular.  The forum is the best bet.  VPI has been very successful the last few years and the extra work makes it harder to get ahold of them.

HI This is Bob from Bob's Devices.  I don't remember getting an email recently about a pulley, but typically I only need a photo to make sure you get the right part.  VPI is not standard on their parts, even on the same table.  If someone emails or calls, I try to be as responsive as possible.

I don't believe the Mike everyone refers to is the same Mike that is there now.  The "new" Mike is Mike Bettinger who is an EE, but just recently joined the company.  My understanding is the "old" Mike left several years ago (not sure I ever knew his last name, he never used it in e-mail).  As for company ownership, Harry retired a couple of years ago and the company is run by his son Mat.  Mat has been doing a good job and is responsible for the Prime and other new products.  Harry is still active and has HW's Workshop for one off products.  If you want to read a lot more about VPI products check out their forum, lots of good info.

autospec

" ... Well I went to the VPI information website and they wouldn't let me in untel I logged in .......But I can't because I don't have a pass word ??? I wonder why they need a pass word for me to ask a question ???   The best way to handle this is to sell all of this fine American technology and get some Chinese stuff and when it breaks, throw it in the junk pile where this fine VPI stuff belongs ..."

You're just being silly. VPI manufactures outstanding products backed up with excellent service. Have you actually tried to call them? I have always found them very responsive: 732-583-6895. Mike is the company's EE, so there's no point in asking for him. Just ask for parts info and I'm sure they'll help you.

You might also try asking your dealer. That's what he's there for!

Well I went to the VPI information website and they wouldn't let me in untel I logged in .......But I can't because I don't have a pass word ???  I wonder why they need a pass word for me to ask a question ???   The best way to handle this is to sell all of this fine American technology and get some Chinese stuff and when it breaks, throw it in the junk pile where this fine VPI stuff belongs......and listen to my tuner or CD player.....At least when my Audio Research stuff breaks I can make one phone call and the part comes in several days........Harry didn't build his company on this kind of service.......And he left it for Mike to run in the ground......If you want any VPI stuff , I will be selling some, and then I won't need the pulley.....And I won't need a pass-word........Will

Bob's Devices not a problem for me. Recently bought a new pulley and belts through him. Soundstage Direct is also terrific on VPI as is Music Direct.

Well, thanks to everyone who tried to answer my question. I hope autospec finds the pulley he needs at a price that is reasonable.

What about Email at info@vpiindustries.com.

Does VPI no longer answer Email?

Mike doesn't take calls, infact nobody at VPI takes calls....It would be great if I could just call someone and order this part, pay for it and expect to get it sometime in the future......I have a Aires VPI that needed some work on the plinth, it took over a year to get it repaired, I bought a Scout-Master to use while I was waiting....I now own (1) Aires (1) Scoutmaster,(4) Scouts (4-5) HW19, mk1,mk4....and a VPI 16.5 cleaner..........So I've paid my dues.....Where's Harry when I need him ???   He's out here in Idaho fishing........Will

I used to have VPI TNT MK 5 turntable and always called VPI directly. Mike from VPI has always been very helpful with excellent service and price.

When I needed a new cuing lever for my VPI Scout last year, I contacted Matt via Facebook and received the part within 2 days.