Fixing the Phonograph Player

I mentioned in my last article how I got to visit my folks this past weekend; even hinted about having a good laugh when they asked me to fix a broken phonograph player which they have strategically located in their “Florida Room” in what used to be a fireplace.

I took a quick glance, checked to see if it was plugged in; knowing my folks as I do, something simple like having electricity might have been the problem; not so this time. The turn table wouldn’t turn and I don’t claim to be much of an electronics expert. I explained how it might be less expensive to replace it with a new one rather than sink any money into fixing an old phonograph player.

“Where can we find a new one?” Mom wanted to get on the solution so she could listen to her collection of records, something she had missed for almost a year since finding out the phonograph wouldn’t play. What I wasn’t told, at least not right away, was that this phonograph player had been purchased about a year ago and had never worked.

I drove her to the local Radio Shack; but they only stocked the kind of phonograph players that were designed to be integrated with a stereo component system; Mom wanted a stand alone unit that had its own speaker, just like the one she had at home.

Our next stop was the pubic library where I wanted to introduce Mom to the internet and show her how to shop for anything without having to go to individual stores; it would open up a wonderful chance to use the convenience of the internet and all she need do was show her library card.

The library was thirty minutes from closing time, hardly time to get too involved; but enough to show her that a replacement phonograph , better than the one she had at a very reasonable price, one that had AM/FM radio, tape player, CD player and phonograph all in one package as a stand alone unit complete with its own speaker. There were several others and I suggested she look into other units to get the best price later in the week; the library was shutting down and we had to leave.

Upon getting back to my folks house, Dad had the phonograph out of its nook in the fireplace and on a table ready to be worked on. They retrieved the original paper work, instructions on how to “get started”, information which they told me they had read; this is when I found out that the phonograph player was new, at least it was new a year ago and that it had never worked.

Some folks might have thought the unit was defective; I on the other hand had the sneaking suspicion that the “fault” might lie somewhere else, perhaps in my folks inability to tackle simple technology. I noticed something right off, the two anchor screws used to keep the turn table secure during shipping had never been turned down; that explained why the turn table wouldn’t spin properly, it was dragging against the base of the cabinet.

Once the packing screws were twisted, “How about that”, the rest of the packing material that was jammed under the turn table came out easily. “We’ve been tugging on that and it wouldn’t budge.” I shook my head and looked for other minor packing issues which may also have been over looked.

There was an old record which they had tried to play, one which seemed the logical choice to use, sitting where it had since the day they first tried to play it. I plugged the electrical cord in, the auto-play was activated, the swing arm with the record needle landed on the record; but only static came out of the speaker, something else was wrong.

I checked the module where the needle hooked up to the swing arm and it wasn’t in the correct position. The needle had been damaged, a plastic housing with the contact point bent out of alignment; gosh, I wonder how that could have happened?

“There are more of those in the box.” Mom handed me a tool designed to keep the surface of the record dust free; inside the “brush” were several more needle modules. It took a couple of attempts; but I finally figured out how it was supposed to fit the swing arm.

The “broken” record player had been repaired, music was coming out the speaker and I showed Mom and Dad how the various controls worked; what are the odds of them remembering how to work the thing after I’ve gone home? Mom wanted to listen to Eydie Gorme y Los Panchoswhile Dad wanted the Peter Gunn album ; they were happy I was so good with electronics; yea, right…