Trouble with my new Selecta: turntable spinning too fast

[amrcg]

When I played some known records in my new Selecta, I noticed that they were being played too fast (I would expect the opposite for such an old machine). Today I printed a stroboscope and checked the turntable speed. I was right. Even when the regulator is at the min speed position, the speed is still slightly above 78 rpm.

Is this problem easy to solve? Anyone has experienced and solved this problem? My motor is a Garrard 11.

Regards,
António

[Lucius1958]

You could adjust the governor, either by moving the bearings, or moving the governor on its shaft, so the disc is slightly closer to the pad when at rest...

[gramophoneshane]

But it's important to ALWAYS let the motor run down completely before doing any adjustments, otherwise you can strip gears & fingers

I dont have a Garrard No.11, but I found the picture below on the British forum.
The arrow I've added points to the governor felt (sometimes made from leather), and in this case, the felt is mounted in a brass cup.
On some Garrard motors, this cup is threaded & can be revolved by inserting a nail in the hole in the cup, which alters the distance between the governor felt & the governor plate that it makes contact with when the governor is spinning.
If you move the felt closer to the plate while the motor is stationary, then the motor wont be able to go as fast.

I would first examine the steel band that holds the brass cup, as sometimes they have a small screw that locks the brass cup in place to prevent it moving.
If you see one, loosen it off first, and even if you cant see a screw, then insert a small nail into the hole of the brass cup & gently try to rotate the cup & felt. If it's threaded it will move in or out.
If it's not threaded, then the steel band is probably just crimped to hole the cup firmly.
In this case, you need to open the crimped steel band slightly, then push the cup & felt towards the governor plate a millimetre or two, then squeeze the crimped band back together so it holds the cup firmly again.
But again, dont try any of this unless you've allowed the motor to run down completely first.

[amrcg]

Thanks!
I'll try it after exploring a bit the "bowels" of the machine, since I've never opened one.

To make things worse, the screws on the soundbox have a very small slit (damn swiss screws!). I've bought a set of precision screw-drivers. But the screw-driver that fits the slit is not wide enough. On the other hand, the wider screw-drivers cannot penetrate the small slit. I've tried with a knife and it escaped the slit, making a small scratch on the mica. Fortunately it didn't crack. I hope that this scratch will not affect the frequency response of the diaphragm...

Gramophones are nice as long as you don't have to mess with their organs...

[kirtley2012]

They are not hard to mess around with when you get used to them, last night I almost completely dismanteled my edison fireside to grease the motor, that was the first time I had fully taken the motor apart and it wasn't hard and only took about a hour to take it apart, grease it and put it together again, phonograph motors are much more complicated than disc machines so you should be able to fiddle around, they are well made so you won't hurt it!

[amrcg]

They are not hard to mess around with when you get used to them, last night I almost completely dismanteled my edison fireside to grease the motor, that was the first time I had fully taken the motor apart and it wasn't hard and only took about a hour to take it apart, grease it and put it together again, phonograph motors are much more complicated than disc machines so you should be able to fiddle around, they are well made so you won't hurt it!

You may be right, but regarding the soundbox, I've made a decision: to buy another Selecta Deluxe soundbox to have one as a spare part and mess up with the other. As to the motor, I think that to try to adjust the governor does not seem to be a big deal, as far as I don't try to force it.

[kirtley2012]

if you post some pics of the old reproducer i may be able to rebuild it for you

[estott]

This may sound stupid (because I don't know Garrard motors) but is there a way you can just reset the pointer to point to 78? On some motors you just loosen a screw and move it.

[kirtley2012]

This may sound stupid (because I don't know Garrard motors) but is there a way you can just reset the pointer to point to 78? On some motors you just loosen a screw and move it.

that all depends on what speed controll your machine has, on most there is just a screw either ontop or underneith the motorboard that will adjust the lever for the govenor pad

[amrcg]

This may sound stupid (because I don't know Garrard motors) but is there a way you can just reset the pointer to point to 78? On some motors you just loosen a screw and move it.

Which pointer are you referring to? The speed control on the deck? I have already moved it to the slowest position and the speed is still above 78 rpm. By the way, the speed control has no "78" there. It has the "80". Then it has a scale labelled "slow" on one side and "fast" on the other. When it reaches the slowest position, it blocks. Does not let you move it on the same direction. Well, maybe if I open the case I can free it in order to continue to rotate... Must open it and see...

Regarding the soundbox, here it is. The scratch from yesterday is slightly visible on the right of the diaphragm. Anyway, I prefer not to touch it. I will rather buy an identical or at least compatible one and keep the original soundbox safe. any suggestions for a compatible soundbox?

Cheers,
António