Killed my record deck?

[joerobo1975]

Thanks for that!
No I disconnected the head unit on it and connected a new head to the wires, this allowed me to check to see if the cartridge was the problem..... fairly common way to check something if its not working, I couldn't fasten it on via the bolts so I just tacked it on temporarily to see if it worked and it did. When I disconnected the new head unit the wires must have touched each other which shouldn't have been a problem, but the tt was on, amp was off, pretty sure I haven't broken the wires as I was in no way being ham fisted haha but struggling to sus out why there is no signal anymore.

 

[joerobo1975]

Not sure what this means "Connected the new cartridge to the wires as you said to see if it was the problem but could not mount it properly so just ahem tacked it to the old one and hey presto had sound, so popped correct needle in my virtual basket". Can you explain more since you got sound somewhere in here?

So you've tried using both the tt's internal phono pre-amp and an external one on your amp (what is the amp?)? No sound either way? Did you do this before messing with the cartridge/stylus?

Did something particular happen before you messed around with the cartridge/stylus, i.e. when the problem first appeared?

Connected new head to the wires as I said. Used blu tack to connect it to the arm to see if it would play temporarily and it did,then removed it, put old head back on but hadn't noticed the tt was still switched on as I'd turned the amp off. Display is quite dull and working in a bright environment.

 

[lovinthehd]

Connected new head to the wires as I said. Used blu tack to connect it to the arm to see if it would play temporarily and it did,then removed it, put old head back on but hadn't noticed the tt was still switched on as I'd turned the amp off. Display is quite dull and working in a bright environment.

Okay, so since then sound was obtained from the cartridge (very creative way of attaching with the blu-tac, btw). It's not a head, it's a cartridge, although the cartridge is mounted in the arm's head shell. What about what "popped correct needle in virtual basket" means, though? Did you order a new cartridge with the correct 1/2" mount instead of a p-mount?

How old was the original cartridge? So far sounds that it may be the issue at this point with the info provided....

 

[TLS Guy]

Thanks for that!
No I disconnected the head unit on it and connected a new head to the wires, this allowed me to check to see if the cartridge was the problem..... fairly common way to check something if its not working, I couldn't fasten it on via the bolts so I just tacked it on temporarily to see if it worked and it did. When I disconnected the new head unit the wires must have touched each other which shouldn't have been a problem, but the tt was on, amp was off, pretty sure I haven't broken the wires as I was in no way being ham fisted haha but struggling to sus out why there is no signal anymore.

Touching the cartridge wires together will not blow anything. There is no voltage on those wires, and shorting the input of a preamp will not blow anything.

So it seems to me that you did break the delicate head shell wires, changing cartridges, or the preamp in the TT has been failing all along and now failed completely.

Now you can switch that turntable pre amp off. So switch it to off, and connect the turntable to an RIAA phono input. Then if you hear sound the preamp is dud. If you hear no sound, then the wiring is damaged or, the cartridge is bad.

 

[highfigh]

I am totally confused about what you did. How on earth did you attach a p-mount cartridge to a standard one? You had to have done something highly irregular.

So you need to get a multimeter and check the connectivity from the head-shell to the preamp input, as has been suggested.

Turntables are particularly fragile devices, and may not be your cup of tea, as you strike me as an unusually ham fisted gentleman.

Some P-mount cartridges come with an adapter to allow mounting on a headshell with 1/2" screw slots.

 

[lovinthehd]

Some P-mount cartridges come with an adapter to allow mounting on a headshell with 1/2" screw slots.

Or just use blu-tac

 

[Eppie]

Some P-mount cartridges come with an adapter to allow mounting on a headshell with 1/2" screw slots.

Yes, I have an adapter for my AT-152LP. Just been too lazy busy to replace the Ortofon Red. The blu-tac is a first but a nice harmless way to check if the p-mount worked.

 

[highfigh]

Or just use blu-tac

I'm partial to Goop. That stuff is tenacious.

 

[Eppie]

I'm partial to Goop. That stuff is tenacious.

I think the goal was to be able to take it off afterwards!

 

[lovinthehd]

I'm partial to Goop. That stuff is tenacious.

Well the blu-tac worked for the OP to test the "needle" kit he got. Pretty inventive. Altho if you prefer Gwenyth's scent....

 

[highfigh]

I think the goal was to be able to take it off afterwards!

I. Did. Not. Know. That.

 

[joerobo1975]

Ok so got correct needle for the cartridge that came with the deck, bought in 2019 so no old and had little use. Still very low output so conclusion is the cartridge is my problem? The other cartridge worked but count fit the headshell. Will give a new cartridge a try. Thanks for all the info folks, very kind of you to take an interested and to give up your time.

 

[Eppie]

Ok so got correct needle for the cartridge that came with the deck, bought in 2019 so no old and had little use. Still very low output so conclusion is the cartridge is my problem? The other cartridge worked but count fit the headshell. Will give a new cartridge a try. Thanks for all the info folks, very kind of you to take an interested and to give up your time.

If the other cartridge worked ok that is a fairly safe indicator that the old cartridge is the issue. Make sure to stick to a well know brand, like Audio Technica, and use the proper setup procedures for setting the balance and anti-skating.