I recently had to buy a second Tru-Lift to replace my first one which I dropped on floor-duh!! I was removing it to drop the turntable off with my dealer to install a retipped cartridge. I had to reinstall the new Tru-Lift and I discovered a problem that can come up if you don't pay attention to the instructions. I reinstalled the Tru Lift in the same location as the first one. I had a few months of successful use. One day I didn't pay attention to keeping the lift platform perpendicular to the tonearm when I pushed the lift platform down to arm the device. I was playing a new audiophile LP with a lot of dynamic passages. One end of the lift platform was rotated so the lift platform was pointing more towards the tone arm pivot. Suddenly at the end of the second track the record started skipping and the tonearm would not advance. I checked the tracking force with two different tracking force gauges and it was right on. I tested the anti-skating and it was right on. I played the record again and it did the same thing. If I moved the arm a bit beyond the problem area, the record played without incident. I wrote this problem off to an LP that was mastered too hot. I went for another month and the same thing happened again, but this time it stuck and skipped on the last track. I tested again and everything was up to spec. This time the lift platform was pointed away from perpendicular but in the other direction (IE 10 edges plus vs. 10 degrees minus). The other end of the lift platform was pointing towards the tone arm pivot. This time I looked under the tone arm and at the Tru Lift from the side and I discovered the problem. There was a round head pan head screw projecting from the the tone arm where it transitioned from carbon fiber to aluminum for the pivot. This projecting screw was coming in contact with the side of the Tru Lift's lift platform explaining the skipping. When the lift platform was perpendicular to the tone arm the pivot of the arm missed the screw. That was just pure luck because I had never checked for this when I installed it. When the lift was crooked, the pivoting action of the tone arm would bring it into contact with the screw. Depending on which end of the lift platform was hitting the screw it would happen either at the beginning or the end of the record. So if you have installed the Tru Lit and it is working properly be careful you don't arm it and let the lift platform be off perfect perpendicular. If you are installing the Tru Lift for the first time, be sure to check under your tone arm to make sure the are no projecting pieces that will interfere with proper operation. When you arm the lifting platform be sure you don't let it twist out of position. The Tru Lift works well 99.9 percent of the time when you have installed it correctly and the trip lever is in the right place. Just look under your tone arm for any potential obstruction near your chosen location. This same thing would also hold true of other brands of lifts such as the Q-Up. Check that where you are installing it so that it won't run into any protruding objects on the underside of the tone arm.
