Garrard Zero 100SB cartridge wire disconnected from RCA port

[Gidkid]

Garrard Zero 100SB cartridge wire disconnected from RCA port. The light brown wire needs to be resoldered but the wire is so thin (like hair), I am uncertain how to solder it back on. Any tips or tricks?

 

[TLS Guy]

Garrard Zero 100SB cartridge wire disconnected from RCA port. The light brown wire needs to be resoldered but the wire is so thin (like hair), I am uncertain how to solder it back on. Any tips or tricks?

I need more information. Since it is an RCA port you are talking about, I assume this is inside a plinth, and not the cartridge end.
Pictures would be helpful so I don't give you incorrect advice.

 

[Gidkid]

I need more information. Since it is an RCA port you are talking about, I assume this is inside a plinth, and not the cartridge end.
Pictures would be helpful so I don't give you incorrect advice.

 

[TLS Guy]

That looks very straightforward. End the wire to be soldered with wire strippers.

For audio work these are my favored wire strippers.

Now you need a soldering iron, and high quality multicore solder.

Twist the end of the wire to be soldered and tin it with the hot iron and solder. Put a little solder on the iron, now apply it to the wire and apply more solder until it runs smoothly.

Now do the same to the connector.

Now apply the tinned wire to the RCA plug. Now let the tip of the soldering iron rest on top of the wire against the RCA plug. Leave it there until the solder runs smoothly. Now remove the iron, holding the wire in place, and blow on the junction until the solder is hard.

Now you are done.

 

[Gidkid]

Thank you! So a multicore solder not separate flux and solder. Got it. Sent a pic of my soldering tool.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thank you! So a multicore solder not separate flux and solder. Got it. Sent a pic of my soldering tool. View attachment 67493View attachment 67493

That soldering iron should get the job done for you.

Absolutely never you separate flux and solder when doing electrical work. That is for plumbers. The flx would eat though wiring in a hurry, and you would be back where you started.

 

[Gidkid]

That soldering iron should get the job done for you.

Absolutely never you separate flux and solder when doing electrical work. That is for plumbers. The flx would eat though wiring in a hurry, and you would be back where you started.

Well, I soldering the wire but still have no sound from the cartridge. The table was working well and sounding excellent before I decided to fix the speed mechanism (damaged during shipping). The table works perfect now except no sound. Could I have overheated the brown wire while tinning it?

 

[TLS Guy]

Well, I soldering the wire but still have no sound from the cartridge. The table was working well and sounding excellent before I decided to fix the speed mechanism (damaged during shipping). The table works perfect now except no sound. Could I have overheated the brown wire while tinning it? View attachment 67520

No

Do you have sound on the other channel? If you have no sound at all, then there is a different problem. What is it connected to? It needs to be connected to a high gain RIAA input.

What cartridge is in the turntable. Those turntables were made between 1970 and 1976. They were sold without cartridge. So the owner installed whatever cartridge he wanted. The turntable was made in response the the Thorens TD 150 turntable. At least it was made before Garrard was bought by Gradiente Brazil and really went downhill. The biggest problem with those turntables is those zero tracking PU arms. There have been various attempts by others over the years. However the added friction of the mechanism introduces far more problems than the tracking error. A classic case of the cure being worse than the disease.

However, now you are going to have to carefully fault trace from cartridge to speaker. The first thing to do, is to make sure the cartridge is compatible with what it is connected to.

 

[lovinthehd]

Might want to review how you came to the conclusion that original problem you asked about was THE problem?

 

[Gidkid]

The table came with a Shure 93E ellipitical cartridge. Fantastic sound before I fiddled with the broken speed control. I have it hooked up to the phono input on my Harmon Kardon HK505 amp. Chasing the wrong problem I think. What else could cause no signal from the cartridge? I will do a continuity test on the 4 wires from the cartridge to the RCA port. Not sure what else to try.

 

[isolar8001]

The table came with a Shure 93E ellipitical cartridge. Fantastic sound before I fiddled with the broken speed control. I have it hooked up to the phono input on my Harmon Kardon HK505 amp. Chasing the wrong problem I think. What else could cause no signal from the cartridge? I will do a continuity test on the 4 wires from the cartridge to the RCA port. Not sure what else to try.

Have you tried using the capacitance switch on the HK ? It is for the phono stage....a long shot, but best to try the easy things first.
By your posts, it's not clear if the turntable had sound with this amp before.

 

[Gidkid]

Ok. I will try the capacitance switch. Fantastic sound before I fiddled with the broken speed control.

 

[TLS Guy]

The table came with a Shure 93E ellipitical cartridge. Fantastic sound before I fiddled with the broken speed control. I have it hooked up to the phono input on my Harmon Kardon HK505 amp. Chasing the wrong problem I think. What else could cause no signal from the cartridge? I will do a continuity test on the 4 wires from the cartridge to the RCA port. Not sure what else to try.

Did you by any chance do a continuity test with a meter across the cartridge coils? If you did, then you have blown tha cartridge. The coils of PU cartridges are so fragile, that the power of doing a continuity test across cartridge coils will end the life of a cartridge instantly.

So, you need to disconnect the wires at the back of the cartridge.

Now test that there are no shorts in the wiring. So put your meter in resistance mode across the live pin and shell of each RCA plug that connects to your HK.
It should show infinite resistance.

Now connect one end of your meter to each live wire at the headshell in turn and check for continuity to each live RCA pin in turn. It should show zero resistance or close. Now do the same for each grounding wire.

If there is any loss of continuity then work your way from one end to the other to see where continuity is lost.

If there are no shorts or loss of continuity from the head shell wiring to each of the RCA plugs. Then you have blown the cartridge somehow and it needs replacing.

Also make sure your phono input actually works by connecting something to it at very low volume. Remember this is a high gain input.

 

[Gidkid]

Did you by any chance do a continuity test with a meter across the cartridge coils? If you did, then you have blown tha cartridge. The coils of PU cartridges are so fragile, that the power of doing a continuity test across cartridge coils will end the life of a cartridge instantly.

So, you need to disconnect the wires at the back of the cartridge.

Now test that there are no shorts in the wiring. So put your meter in resistance mode across the live pin and shell of each RCA plug that connects to your HK.
It should show infinite resistance.

Now connect one end of your meter to each live wire at the headshell in turn and check for continuity to each live RCA pin in turn. It should show zero resistance or close. Now do the same for each grounding wire.

If there is any loss of continuity then work your way from one end to the other to see where continuity is lost.

If there are no shorts or loss of continuity from the head shell wiring to each of the RCA plugs. Then you have blown the cartridge somehow and it needs replacing.

Also make sure your phono input actually works by connecting something to it at very low volume. Remember this is a high gain input.

 

[Gidkid]

Thank you so much I tested continuity with the cartridge removed. Headshell to RCA - 4 leads tested good. Tone arm RCA to amp RCA - 4 leads good. All work on the turntable was done with the cartridge removed. I will now test all leads/connections as you have outlined. Probably no way to test for a blown cartridge?
By the way, what is the 5th lead at the RCA port used for? This is the 5th lead that had fallen off and I resoldered back onto the RCA board.

 

[TLS Guy]

Thank you so much I tested continuity with the cartridge removed. Headshell to RCA - 4 leads tested good. Tone arm RCA to amp RCA - 4 leads good. All work on the turntable was done with the cartridge removed. I will now test all leads/connections as you have outlined. Probably no way to test for a blown cartridge?
By the way, what is the 5th lead at the RCA port used for? This is the 5th lead that had fallen off and I resoldered back onto the RCA board.

It sounds as if somehow you blew the cartridge most likely. Don't forget to test for shorts. If there is no short between positives and ground and there is continuity in all four connections from headshell to amp, then that cartridge is dud, and somehow you managed to put a voltage across it doing your repairs. Only you could have any insight as to how that could have happened.

 

[highfigh]

The table came with a Shure 93E ellipitical cartridge. Fantastic sound before I fiddled with the broken speed control. I have it hooked up to the phono input on my Harmon Kardon HK505 amp. Chasing the wrong problem I think. What else could cause no signal from the cartridge? I will do a continuity test on the 4 wires from the cartridge to the RCA port. Not sure what else to try.

First, don't test for continuity with the cartridge connected, especially if you only have an analog meter.

Second, you can test for continuity without a meter- set the input to Phono, turn the volume control to the lowest position and touch the tip of the red and white wires, separately at the underside (your photo of the wires inside show the RCA tips- touch them with your finger). If you hear hum when you touch the tips but nothing when the record plays, the cartridge has a problem. If you hear hum when you touch one tip but not the other, unplug the cables and reinsert the plugs- it could help. If you have sound from both channels, move to the cartridge end and while holding a straightened paperclip or other piece of wire, touch the clip on the red and white wires, one at a time. If you hear hum, the wires aren't the problem.

I don't remember exactly how, but the headshell should slide out from the end of the tonearm. Remove the stylus before starting, but once the headshell has been removed, look at the contacts at the rear end- if they're black and discolored, you can use a pencil eraser to burnish them and remove oxidation. You'll want to do the same to the contacts on the tonearm.

These contacts were usually silver and that tarnishes very easily. If it's oxidized, the sound can be interrupted.

You can test for hum before and after cleaning the contacts by repeating the second test by touching the red and white wires and clips.

Remember, don't turn the volume control up more than needed to hear a bit of hum.

If you turn the volume control up without playing an LP and you hear hum from one channel, it leans that a + wire isn't connected to the cartridge or anything else.

 

[Gidkid]

Thank you so much for your wisdom I will test and report back.

 

[Gidkid]

It sounds as if somehow you blew the cartridge most likely. Don't forget to test for shorts. If there is no short between positives and ground and there is continuity in all four connections from headshell to amp, then that cartridge is dud, and somehow you managed to put a voltage across it doing your repairs. Only you could have any insight as to how that could have happened.

Who knows what I did. Like a software issue, I will work on a solution not a history. My soap opera is not useful. I will move forward!

 

[Gidkid]

Well as Paul Harvey said, here is the rest of the story: After testing the HK505 amp phono leads for hum I found nothing. Dead. I have another HK505 so I plugged the Garrard Zero 100SB into the spare amp. Voila sound!! Only one channel but I can fix that I think….
Why the phono input is dead on my other HK505 amp is another issue. Any ideas?