Wurlitzer 1400 -- Please Help!

[everymann]

Hello--

Gremlins are creeping into both my 2300 and my beloved 1400, and with there being nobody left to service these anymore, I'm hoping I can keep them going. I am very limited when it comes to tinkering with this stuff...

It had been a few weeks since I'd fired up the 1400 (set up to play 78s), and my experience has been that these old dinosaurs need to be used regularly, or else problems begin to present themselves. At any rate, I turned on the 1400 last weekend and I waited for the fluorescents to all flicker on. All seemed fine when I punched in a selection, until I realized the turntable shaft wasn't spinning. Uh oh. I opened the dome and tried spinning it by hand, hoping that would kick-start it: no such luck.

I rejected and re-selected various records, but I couldn't get the turntable shaft to spin.

Any ideas or suggestions as to what might be happening? I'm hoping it's something silly like a few drops of lubrication or tapping on a solenoid.

My humble thanks...

[Ron Rich]

Speaking of "--a few drops of lubrication" -- when was the last time that old Dino PROPERLY, oiled ? Is the TT extended to the top ? Is the TT drive pin engaged ? Ron Rich

[everymann]

Hello Ron--

Thanks for responding. The turntable definitely is extended to the top, yes. In terms of oiling, it was last serviced 4 years ago, at which point it was oiled. I have the shop manual, and this weekend I can look through it and determine where I need to use my little bottle of electric motor oil. It would be great if the problem can be solved with a few drops of oil. As for the drive pin being engaged...how can I tell? Thank you again!

[Ron Rich]

Four years ago -- electric motor oil RTFM- that phono should be oiled with the proper oil every 6 months !
Open the phono up and l@k at the bottom of the turntable shaft---Ron Rich

[everymann]

Greetings Ron, and thanks.

These service manuals are definitely not intended for the layman, as they tend to read like, “HOW TO REMOVE MECH: Step 1–LOOSEN MECH SCREWS. Step 2–REMOVE MECH.”

When you say to look at the bottom of the turntable shaft, I recall seeing the large round collar/dish at the bottom (I’m at work now; can’t double-check) but nowhere that jumped out as a spot to oil. Do I just apply it to the turntable shaft?

Thanks again for your patience.

[Ron Rich]

Yes-- shaft and bearing-- Book should show you "oiling points" and show you what type of oil to use where-- earlier WurliTzer manuals did-- Ron Rich