Post by John-DelPost by Peter WieckJeff nailed it in one as a source for O-rings - but my habit is to turn down the Idler )---II---( like so. Then pop on a nice soft O-ring O)---II---(O like so. A dab of super-glue (make sure it spans the full 360) and you will be home-free. This can be done by chucking the idler in a drill or a Dremel, and just touching lightly it with a round file, at a moderate speed.
And, most old-fashioned hardware stores (we have one nearby) has a box of O-Rings of all sorts of sizes. And often faucet-repair kits will yield useful ones as well.
Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA
I don't have a lot of time to mess with this as it's not my main area of service (I do these things for prior customers) most particularly at this time of year. The flat belt retread fixed it and I'm inclined to ship it that way. If something goes wrong I'll consider an O-ring solution.
Good tip about the hardware store. There's one - one town away that I frequent just because it has been there over a hundred years and owned by the same family. Good chance they'd have a selection that might yield a suitable candidate.
If I could identify the correct size (I would actually prefer a square seal) and if I did these routinely I'd order a metric crap load of them from McMaster. I was hoping someone said "I do these all the time, use xx-xxx", just pops right in."
John
Wolcott, CT
Follow up: The retreaded idler works perfectly on this RP-205 changer. I took an old wide flat capstan belt and cut it about a quarter inch smaller than the circumference of the idler, glued the *carefully* cut ends together, and stretched it over the old idler. I ran a bead of cyano around the circumference to keep the new belt from "inchworming" along the outside of the tire. I chucked it into my drill and gave it a light buzz against an abrasive stone to smoothen the glue seam and minimize any high spots.
I also chucked up and spun the turrets to give the rubber tires (no cracks, fairly soft) some bite. Cleaned and degreased all the surface contact parts and reassembled everything with a bit of spindle oil.
The motor (Alliance) was running slow even with some fresh oil in it so I pulled it apart and soaked the bearings in carb cleaner, and let them dry. I refilled the bearing wick cups with spindle oil and reassembled. Runs immediately at speed and doesn't lose speed with the changer cycling. It also runs just slightly warm after a couple of records, but not hot.
I should have mentioned that the first issue I encountered was what was probably a few ounces worth of grip solution slathered on every rubber surface and the inside of the platter. Looked like a murder scene. It dissolved and cleaned up with acetone.
A friend had a new needle/cartridge (stupid powerpoint deal) so I bought that from him to replace the skating and dull LP needle. A tweak for the landing adjustment finished it.
They picked it up a few days ago and were thrilled with the way it played. Strangely, the amp looks all original and played nicely with no noises or hums anywhere. I suggested that it should be recapped in the near future. They may bring it back after Christmas.
John
Wolcott, CT