Pink Triangle PT1 - Original Wall wart DC transformer?

Pinkie

Wammer
Wammer
May 13, 2014
844
502
113
Granes - Pyrenees
AKA
Richard
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
There's not a huge amount to find inside. The main thing to be aware of is that there is a transit bolt which holds the sub-chassis tight to the suspension rails - which stabilises it for transit, and for cartridge / arm set up. Next you need to know how to fit the belt (if remotely serious, you are going to need a new one). First , free the suspension by loosening and removing the transit bolt. Fit the belt loose on the inner hub, with the bearing fitted in the platter. Loop a (pink) thread through the belt, and pull it taught so the belt with string through it touches the inner edge of the outer platter. Hold it secure while you fit the platter and bearing over the spindle, and try not to smash the saphire when you seat the bearing (its pretty robust really). Meantime pull the belt which you have been holding taught so it fits over the motor pulley, and then release the thread and pull it out of the belt. Level the suspension with a record on the platter, using the 2 side and one rear adjusters. The rear adjuster uses a screwdriver (pretty sure its a phillips head - I have a different custom arrangement on my modified subchassis with the motor mounted on it and vector pulleys so I can't easily check) and the side adjusters a hex socket - one of which would have been supplied with the deck originally. With the deck level, assuming you have an arm fitted, dress the cable to get a free vertical bounce when you tap the platter directly over the transit screw. This is best achieved by having as supple a cable as possible, and creating a soft loop which sits on the subchassis and then clamping the cable with the P clip.

If you struggle to level it, and/or get a smooth bounce, then check you have the correct weight at the armboard. The suspension is designed so that the centre of mass is at the centre of suspension. To achieve this, compensating for the different mass of arms (weight on the scales, not effective mass), armboards, in addition to being cut to the size of the arm mounts, are supplied with a lead weight fixed to the underside of the armboard with double sided sticky foam tape. With the suspension set up properly I can tap the record quite hard, and provoke a pretty substantial bounce, with a record playing, without causing any skip of jump from the record. If you tell me what arm you have, I can check the amount of lead you need. This is the thing so many people get wrong, and frustrated by. If you have the wrong mass at the armboard, no amount of stretching, pulling, or anchoring is going to have it work properly. One member of another forum ended up abandoning the suspension and screwing the deck rigid to the frame on his Anniversary - which completely defeats the whole concept of the turntable.

Just make sure the cable is loose and as far as possible not constraining the free bounce of the suspension. Any questions , please ask. It's a little gem if you can get it running properly

Many thanks again for the advice. makes me really want to keep the deck. I got really lucky with the courier and the fragile lid is still intact. Yes I watched a vid on how to site the belt using a ribbon. If you haven't guessed already I'm a tapehead but what better source than Vinyl so have an affection for the format too. I am okay with simple electronics issues and have serviced motors before. I have a longstanding Linn LP12 which I would sell if I got the PT1 working to my satisfaction. One thing great about the LP12 is the silent motor but its a pain to set up.

I will add a pic to this post shortly so you can see what arm I have.

kind regards
Ian
Looks like a Helius Aureus. Nice enough - a good match for the period. I'll check the mass and let you know what weight should be on there. I would ditch the mat. The PT was a radical departure from the LP12 / Ariston / Thorens convention of the time, and the biggest element, and most copied , was the acrylic platter providing an impedance match with vinyl.
 

limbok

Newbie
Wammer
Aug 13, 2023
248
100
58
Manchester
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Looks like a Helius Aureus. Nice enough - a good match for the period. I'll check the mass and let you know what weight should be on there. I would ditch the mat. The PT was a radical departure from the LP12 / Ariston / Thorens convention of the time, and the biggest element, and most copied , was the acrylic platter providing an impedance match with vinyl.
I only used the mat to check speed. The RPM app on mobile phones is rubbish.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Pinkie

Forum statistics

Threads
113,444
Messages
2,451,263
Members
70,783
Latest member
reg66

Latest Articles

Wammers Online

No members online now.