Garrard 770M Turntable

[dkane360]

I just picked up a Garrard 770 turntable for a whopping $5, but it doesn't seem to be working. I was told that it worked, and that I could return it if I wanted. The platter is very stiff, but turns smoothly with a little force. I'm not sure if that's because its direct drive and not belt. The motor doesn't spin up at all. Any suggestions of where to start? I opened it up and there's nothing visibly broken.

It appears the speed selector is jammed, and for some reason that's stopping up the whole motor. I could hear the motor briefly when I tried to change the speed

 

[Adam]

Congrats on the find! I'm sure that one of the resident turntable experts will get you hooked up, but I'll throw this out. It sounds to me like either the motor has stopped functioning correctly or it's not getting enough juice. I'm guessing that the speed selector circuit is just a potentiometer (or set of them). Do you have a multimeter with which you can check resistances across the terminals of the switch?

Here is a site that shows how to clean those switches on a different turntable.

 

[highfigh]

I just picked up a Garrard 770 turntable for a whopping $5, but it doesn't seem to be working. I was told that it worked, and that I could return it if I wanted. The platter is very stiff, but turns smoothly with a little force. I'm not sure if that's because its direct drive and not belt. The motor doesn't spin up at all. Any suggestions of where to start? I opened it up and there's nothing visibly broken.

It appears the speed selector is jammed, and for some reason that's stopping up the whole motor. I could hear the motor briefly when I tried to change the speed

You shouldn't try to turn it on if the mechanism is jammed- assuming the motor works, the drive spindle will wear a divot into the rubber wheel and you'll end up hearing it when you get it to work. Lift the rubber mat off and remove the spindle at the center. Look for a C-ring and remove it. This will allow you to lift the platter off. Underneath, you'll probably see a pot metal piece with a toggling lever and possibly gear teeth. This will also have a C-ring holding it on. Remove the ring and lift the pot metal piece off for cleaning.

The lubrication hardens over time and causes the mechanism to stop working. You can use mineral spirits to clean the metal parts. The idler wheel is rubber and is probably very hard. If this is the case- it will never soften enough to be usable. Google the make and model to locate a source for the parts- MCM may have them.

I wouldn't go nuts spending a lot to get this to work- it wasn't very expensive when it was new.

Oh, yeah- unplug it and turn the platter using your hand. If it's in the middle of its cycle and the grease is hard, it will burn up the motor. Let it finish the cycle or disassemble it before powering it up again. You can/should power it up to check the motor while the platter is off, though.

 

[TLS Guy]

I just picked up a Garrard 770 turntable for a whopping $5, but it doesn't seem to be working. I was told that it worked, and that I could return it if I wanted. The platter is very stiff, but turns smoothly with a little force. I'm not sure if that's because its direct drive and not belt. The motor doesn't spin up at all. Any suggestions of where to start? I opened it up and there's nothing visibly broken.

It appears the speed selector is jammed, and for some reason that's stopping up the whole motor. I could hear the motor briefly when I tried to change the speed

Your Garrard 770 turntable uses the synchro lab motor and idler wheel drive.

First remove the platter. remove, or push aside the idler wheel and see of the motor works.

Take it from there.

In all honesty these Garrard turntables are not very good.

The only Garrard turntables that are any good are the 301 and the 401. These are very good.

Garrard where the Crown jewelers. The directors from the dawn of record reproduction set up Garrard turntables at Swindon Wiltshire.

They produced basically junk and one very high end product through out their history, until going broke from the Far Eastern onslaught.

They sold all 301 and 401s at a loss, subsidizing them from all the junk turntables. The whole approach was unashamedly cynical.

They were acquired by a Brazilian outfit who produced the lowest of the low before going broke.

Loricraft started refurbishing 301s and 401s and finally obtained the rights to the Garrard name. Now in addition to restoring and refurbishing 301s and 401s, they produce the Garrard 501.

As you can see from their website, they will have absolutely nothing to do with Garrard turntables other then the 301, 401 or 501. They will not even answer inquires about other models and do not supply parts fro them.

If you need an idler wheel there are places to have custom ones made. For other parts, other than striking it lucky on eBay, you will be out of luck.