Fluctuating speed on a Technics SL - D2 turntable

Heya, just like it says...

Some days it just takes one adjustment at the beginning, other days I'll hear it slow down in the middle of a side. This evening, it happened a couple of times in the space of a few minutes... I can see it fluctuate back and forth on the strobe. Speed it up to the right speed, it's fine for about ten seconds, then it speeds up further. Slow it down manually, ten seconds later, it's too slow.

Normally, it stabilizes after a couple of minutes, but not tonight.

A friend thought it might be a dirty fine-tune speed adjustment. I've heard horror stories about how long repairs can take in these parts. I could take it apart for a cleaning, but I don't really trust myself. Electronic spray didn't do much. Ideas?

 

The most common problem is the pitch control potentiometer. You'll need to go inside the TT (unplug it) and just a quick blip of electronics spray should fix it. Immediately rotate the speed control several times from - to +, not too rapidly.. IMO too many techs tend to get too violent with the turns which can damage the trace in the pot. I do not recommend deoxit. (miserable stuff) It wouldn't hurt to spray the speed switch also.

 

Gotcha, many thanks! So far as avoiding Deoxit, would plain old Radio Shack spray be OK?

 

Yes!

 

Awesome. Thanks

 

Subbing. I have the same tt but no issues yet.

 

Well, took the bottom off, which was uneventful. Sprayed both the wheel and the slide from the inside, as well as the anti-skating (which has also been fluctuating a bit, although that's obviously not as big a problem.) So far so good. We'll see.

Note: after you put it together and plug it in, put the cartridge back in the tonearm, raise the cue damping, and hit the return button. Let it turn itself off BEFORE you adjust the counterweight and anti-skating. I adjusted the screw in the anti-damping without realizing it was up. Fortunately, I could readjust the screw after a slight panic.

 

Yes, a good note to self for all TT owners, the arm has to cycle before doing anything. This applies also to a new turntable before setting it up, only models with an auto arm return.