I’ve gotten the pulley off. Here’s a video of the shaft spinning. Seems like it’s the shaft that’s to blame. Is it just my eyes or is it a bit off?
Sorry, not sure what the issue is with my videos. Someone noted earlier that they open fine in another tab. I can see them playing within my message on my phone.
Just place a something stationary beside the pulley as its spinning. You should see any variation happening. Cheers, Doug
Really?? That is Obviously not right. How many thousandths is that run out? Easy to produce a motor and pulley that is true. If the weight of the platter can smooth things out nice but to me that is not accepable. To be fair I had a similar issue with a VPI pulley . I measured runout took a video and Vpi apologized and send a true pulley.
Topic caught my eye so I pulled my platters off both my P7 and P9. They were both smooth as silk. Wobble definitely doesn’t seem normal.
In the eighties and nineties I installed hundreds of Regas and never saw this with the old 110V motor: despite previously being rubbed band mounted, the spindle and pulley ran true. Sorry to disspoint, but Rega made extremely reliable products and were a joy to deal with
If it’s not fixed it will definitely have a negative impact on wow&flutter. I’m not sure if the shaft is bent or not by watching your video. It seems like it’s wobbling when you look at the top but when you look at sides it seems straight. Pulley might be the real problem. Shaft should be tightly fit in the pulley and there should be a set screw. If not then indentation the belt rides should be perfectly perpendicular to the shaft which requires utmost care when installing.
There are ways to replace the pulley. There are kits to replace them. You can get double belted ones. If the shaft is to blame, Rega sells kits to replace the motor. Not cheap, but I think they are fairly priced.
You guys made me look, so I’m coming around to your way of thinking. I checked my old RP6 and my newer P8. No pulley wobble.
That’s what I find so strange—looking at the top of the shaft, the shaft appears to be out of true, misaligned, but when you look at the shaft itself, from the side, it appears perfect. I’ve ordered a new Tango Spinner pulley. Soon I’ll know if I need to replace the whole motor.
sorry but a new pulley will not fix the wobble. there is no way to damage the pulley from contact that will cause it to wobble like that. the shaft is bent.
Four and only four things could have caused this totally unacceptable pulley wobble. damage to the motor shaft that got a pass from the manufacturer's QC before being shipped to Rega and another pass by Rega QC before being fitted with a pulley damage to the motor/pulley system that got a pass from Rega's QC before final assembly and packaging damage to the motor/pulley system while in the possession of the dealer damage to the motor/pulley system while in the possession of an end user I rule out 3 and 4 as highly unlikely and conclude that this wobble made it to an end user because of terrible QC on the part of either the motor manufacturer or Rega or (most likely) both.
Yea, the irregularly machined chamfer on the top edge of the shaft can't be used to judge runout, you have to either concentrate on the mark in the center of the shaft, or use a reference next to the shaft to gauge. But it doesn't look like it is obviously bent to the amount that would cause that much wobble on the pulley unless the pulley wasn't a tight fit. I still think the motor may be too loose on it's mount so wobbling about when belt is attached and spinning, but can't be sure from the video. You said that you can push it down, indicating a compliant mount (the motor shaft won't normally push down if the motor is solidly mounted, it will pull up some), how easily does it bend back and forth when you push sideways on the motor shaft? The belt is making a sudden jerk in the video too, it may have a bad spot on it, did you put a new belt on it? If it was in storage with the belt attached for a few years, it probably has a flat spot by now. For best performance, ie lowest wow and flutter, the belt and pulley need to rotate with no perceivable wobble or vibration, especially on a small subplatter system like the Rega, any imperfections are magnified.
From my experience of the motor, Rega's QC, UK Rega dealers, 1, 2 and 3 would be extremely unusual and I certainly saw nothing remotely close to it, or heard anything approaching that from other Rega dealers.
Everyone who has responded here who has a Rega has confirmed that their pulleys do not wobble like this, so...maybe not? You mean like on a U-turn, lower end Pro-Jects, and many other entry-level turntables? The answer is yes, at the lower end of Rega's range, you lift the platter off and move the belt on the pulley. Rega's mid-range and higher-end turntables come with PSUs that control speed, and have for years.
I can’t imagine I caused this. I’ve babied the turntable, which has been in storage for years. I bought it in Massachusetts around 2007; moved to New York City with it in 2008; and stored it (beginning around 2012) in a climate controlled room with the cover on, platter removed, and the entire deck upright, covered, and sitting on top of my AV shelf. Every time I had to transport it—moving a couple of times, maybe bringing it to the dealer once—I absolutely babied it. I mean, the deck rode shotgun with me on a pillow! After getting it out of storage, I noticed the subplatter spindle had warped, which led me down the GrooveTracer path. Looking at the pulley again, I’m surprised that it seems so used and abused. It almost looks pitted in certain spots.
I’m using a Rega NEO PSU MK2 to power the P5 and change speeds. Before the NEO, I had the mid-aughts PSU. So I’ve never regularly interacted with the pulley.
I don't know the whole history of the turntable, but it makes no sense to me for a Rega dealer to knowingly supply a sub-standard product. Delighted customers are their cheapest form of advertising!
I'm not suggesting for a minute that Rega or its dealer supplied a damaged product knowingly. I'm just suggesting that QC somewhere in the chain dropped the ball and let something slip through. I've worked in electronics QC myself (many moons ago) and also in publication proof reading (another kind of QC). It's amazing how easy it is to miss a bad solder joint or a misspelled word.
