Records Skipping on Outer Grooves on Sansui SR-313

Hello,

Just recently I've noticed that several of my records have started skipping right at the beginning. Some make it into the first grooves of music, others skip on the lead-in grove. These are records I've owned and played for years without issues. My turntable is a Sansui SR-313 with an Audio Technical AT440MLA cartridge.

I bought this table used and had it serviced by a reputable shop in NYC about a year ago. One thing I only noticed now after looking at a few YouTube videos of this table is that I am missing a weight (may or may not be a separate issue). This model has your typical cord-suspended counterweight on the right of the arm, but it is supposed to have another weight hanging off the left side of the arm, as shown here:



So my question is, is this a general problem people have experienced in the past? Would this be related to the missing weight, and if so, what could I do about it assuming I'll never find that exact weight?

Thank you!

 

My automatic Technics SL-Q3 was "jumping ahead" a bit. I was starting to get worried a bit, like my anti-skate had stopped working or something. I think the problem was that the manually set "touchdown" position was set a bit far outside, so some records it would hit dead wax making the needle jump ahead a couple grooves. I've since reset the landing zone 1mm closer and it's fine.

I would look into that missing part though. Doubt they put it there purely for aesthetics.

 

Thanks, yeah I agree. It's strange that the issue just started happening now. Maybe the shop configured the table to the best of their ability despite the missing weight, but they didn't mention anything to me about any trouble they had. It would be ambitious for me to try to work on this table myself.

 

The weight is for pre-loading the bearings and it makes the arm stable for out of level conditions. I would try to get the table perfectly level if it isn't.

The antiskate could affect it too. Get a good light and magnification and adjust so the cantilever stays in the same spot and doesn't deflect to either side as you drop the needle in the second track or so.

 

Ijust bought aSR313 full weight side.
I weigh and measure my if needed so that you can rebuild.
my turntable but lacks the antiskating weight
I know how much does yours?
thanks roberto