Problem with my Clearaudio Concept

I took this into the shop about 4 months after purchase to have an adjustment made to the tone arm weight as I had goofed by setting it too light with a scale borrowed from the shop the day I had first brought it home.

When the fellow was finished he tested it by using a power cord that was handy, but not the one from Clearaudio as I did not bring that into the shop. I only bring this up because soon afterwards I had an issue where the platter did not turn at all. I unplugged and replugged and the problem seemed to go away.

But not that much later I would have issues where it really took a long time to get going when I went to turn it on. Sometimes it won't go at all and I have to use my finger to get the platter going. A pain, but the speed seemed fine once it got going.

Lately, I am noticing a slow down at one point per side of an LP. It will slow down and then correct itself. This doesn't happen all the time, but pretty often .

So I'm wondering if it is a belt or a motor issue. It is a little over 3 years old now. I can't imagine having a belt issue after 4 months. And if a belt was slipping, wouldn't the speed vaciliate a lot more often?

Does anyone have any advice? Or has anyone had this same issue with this turntable?

Thanks in advance for reading and for any advice you might have for me.

 

unplug the power from the table. operate the power switch 120 times. this should clean some deposits on the switch contacts.

 

I gave your suggestion a try. Not sure if it helped, but easy enough.

The more I think about it I am becoming convinced I have a motor issue. Even when I apply a dust brush with a light touch the platter seems to slow down way too much.

BTW, my belt looks fine and tight.

 

You're problem may not be quite the same, but it might be worth having a read of this. Turntable running fast, fluctuates

 

Thanks.

 

did you purchase it new ? If so, do a warranty claim on it.

 

Ok, could be. I had a similar issue with my VPI and it did turn out to be the switch.

 

I have a CC and I swear that I’ll never take it to anyone but an authorized dealer. There is something about this TT that most people just seem not to get.

 

Is the CC power chord the type that's connected to a wall wart PSU? If so and the dealer used the wrong one, then it may have caused some damage as you mentioned in your first post. At least that's what I suspect. That said, I know very little about electrics so won't be surprised if I'm wrong .

 

If this is what a Wall Wart looks like, which I am 99.999% sure it is, then the answer is yes. Until looking at some threads here regarding issues like to mine I never knew the term. I knew, in only the most cursory of senses, that this was responsible for converting AC to DC to drive the motor. In other words I never gave it a whole lot of thought outside of plugging it into the wall and turning on the table.




It was very soon after the man in the shop made the adjustment for me in regards to tone arm weight that the table did not operate at all and I had to unplug and replug to get it going. Since then I have witnessed a slow degradation in power at start up. The same man even noticed how slow it was going when he installed a new cartridge for me last February.

And just to repeat, in addition to it being so weak as to not allow me to even run a brush across a record without slowing the platter down to a stop, it is becoming almost the norm that I need to use my finger to get the platter moving. I let it go for awhile because once it gets going it seems to run at the proper speed and I have even verified this by playing songs and using a stopwatch to insure the song plays for the correct amount of time.

Since I rarely use these brushes anyway, due to finding them useless as dust removers, and since I have a RCM it did not seem to be the end of the world. If I did not have the RCM I would have been more motivated towards immediate action.

And I suppose I could still live with it other than the fact that I am noticing a slowdown of speed one time per side. But, again, the weird thing is it doesn't happen all the time. It comes and goes.

I think you are right and I'm glad I mentioned that up front in my first post.

Now I have another problem. The company I purchased this from, and who has serviced it, recently closed the location I always dealt with. And I'm not sure the man in question is still with the company and I was insured by him that they would make it right. It is a little over 3 years old, but he was aware that I had mentioned this problem well within the warranty period. I believe it is 2 years. But maybe the company has a more flexible timeline as a service to their customers.

I suppose my next step is to contact Musical Surroundings and get their opinion. The last time I mentioned it to the man at the shop I said "even though it is now a little over two years old it may have to be charged back to Clearaudio to make it right". He agreed. If this is the culprit, Musical Surroundings may have to charge it back to the company or split the cost associated with making it right. I like this man and he has become a friend due to my frequent visits to the now closed shop. And I certainly do not wish to condemn him or get him in any trouble for what may have been a very honest mistake that anyone could make. Perhaps Clearaudio and Musical Surroundings need to make this perfectly clear to those who sell their products.

Whatever the cause, I firmly believe I am in need of a new motor.

Ok, everyone else, Willboy has stated he doesn't know that much about electricity and obviously neither do I.

Based on what he and I are saying, do any of you with a greater knowledge of electricity and AC/DC converters vis a vis Wall Wart PSUs think this is plausible?

 

It is possible. There are other possibilities. Another possibility is your "wall wart" is malfunctioning. Even if the timing is suspicious, I would rule out your wall wart first.
On your original "wall wart" that came from Clearaudio, what does it say for these specification lines - it should say, for example, "INPUT: something" and "OUTPUT: 12V 1A" - exactly what does it say on the Input and Output lines? Does it have a brand name on it? Is it Made In China?

 

The slowdown with the brush sounds like a belt slipping. You can always take the belt off, rinse with warm water, clean it with a grease-cutting soap, dry, add a little talc. I also clean the pulley and subplatter surfaces with a little rubbing alcohol. That usually restores it. Any little oil that gets on the belt can cause issues. Note, I have a totally different table.

 

Great thinking, John. Wouldn't have ever considered the Wall Wart itself based on events and timings.

Input: 100-240V~ / 50-60Hz/ 150mA
Output : 12V (then there is a solid line with 3 dots underneath that line) / 450mA

Made in Germany

Other information:

On the top it says: TYPE: FW7650/12

In the lower left corner while looking at this information it states: 220-240V.

I can't remember if it came assembled with European blades, but I do remember having to slide American blades on to the unit for certain. It came with 3 types of blades.

On the other side it has a white sticker with the Clearaudio logo and a number. Not certain if it is a serial number tied to the actual unit but the number is 053 6033.

 

Here is a photo of the Wall Wart. For JohnO, or anyone else, that might find this useful.

 

My concept wood slows down uncomfortably so when I run a brush on it... but it doesn’t affect the sound once done brushing. I even use the heavy ProJect puck. Love the Concept Wood, have little to no desire to upgrade at the moment. I even considered getting the Performance DC, but the Concept Wood has a better tonearm (costs $2,000 on its own, essentially twice as much as verify) and no footfall issues

 

I'm glad to see it's Made In Germany, not china. I'm not glad to see it is a smallish 450mA output. It should be 1A or more, imho.
This is just a shot in the dark, but I would try a different power supply to rule the wall wart out as the problem. I see a fancy $250 stabilized power supply sold for the Clearaudios, but that's overkill and overpriced. (But it sure would not hurt.)
What also counts is the type of socket the turntable has for the wall wart cord.
If you have a full size Western Digital or Seagate external hard drive, its power supply wall wart probably will fit and work, (and they are interchangeable between those hard drive brands), and those are generally rated to give 12VDC at 1.2A. If you don't have one you probably know someone who does, and try to borrow it, just that wall wart, for a test.
Your turntable will only draw the current it needs from the wall wart, probably not the full 1.2A, but possibly it should have more than just 450mA.
This could be a fast and free test.

 

All my belt-driven TT's slow down when I apply too much pressure to carbon dust brush. Why wouldn't they?

 

If this pic of the converter that came with OP's turntable, then why on earth is anyone recommending trying a converter that outputs more amps?

 

As I wrote, the turntable will only draw the current it needs. There could be a problem with the original wall wart, or some problem in the house wiring, or other things. If the wall wart needs replacement, I would not even recommend a 450mA replacement, go right to a 1A or more wall wart. Even made in Germany, these things are cheap-cheap and sometimes just fade out and blow.

 

check the wal wart with a volt meter.

 

I think it's a simple matter of motor torque. For instance, when I had a CC and then on my MH 7.1, the motors aren't all that stout so any downward pressure on the platter produces a noticeable speed change. But on my Classic 2 and now on my PolyTable, you've got to *try* and slow it down and of course it will, it's just a belt, but more torque on those latter motors, the inertia of that huge platter on the Classic, and on the PolyTable, it's more of a tank tread than a belt, but the change in speed is much less noticeable and requires more force to impart it. Then I think of those three-motor AN tables and I'm thinking you'd have to put body weight on that platter to slow it down

 

+1

 

Just weighing in here, since after 7 years my Concept starting having a motor issue similar to the OP. I ordered a new belt, but was freaked by the fact that I was having speed issues as well as the motor not spinning at all except after a push.

I called Musical Surroundings, and they were immensely helpful. Mike at MS listened intently to my issue, and suggested I clean the motor pully with alcohol, and use the bearing oil that came with the table to lubricate both the platter bearing (which I already did) and the motor pully bearing by putting a drop or two of the oil in the space where the pully shaft goes into the motor.

Voila..issue fixed. It appears the motor bearings needed lubrication. The motor got super quiet, where before it made a slight hum when spinning. The speed returned to normal. Simple fix; I never knew you could use that same bearing oil that came with the table on the motor.

I had to be careful to only get the oil where it belonged. In addition cleaning the motor pully shaft removed a lot of rubber deposits from 7 years of the belt friction on the pulley. I believe that helped right the speed flucations I was having.

So RichC, if you are still having issues with your concept, and still have the bearing oil that came with the table, try lubricating the motor bearings by putting a drop or two of the oil in the space where the bottom extended portion of the pully meets the motor. Worked for me. I was actually thinking I needed a new motor until I took Musical Surroundings simple advice.

 

Great fix. Can I ask is there a need to remove any of the old oil from the platter bearing and if so how? How much of the fresh oil did you put into the platter bearing?
Thanks in advance

 

I'm not an expert, so I wouldn't know as far as removing old oil. I only put one drop of oil into the bearing platter well, and two drops of oil into the motor shaft bearing.