Collaro F-200-C "Custom" changer

[electra225]

I was concerned about removing the switch then having parts flying all over the place.

I have never worked on a VM changer, but this Collaro doesn't appear to have the linkages and levers exposed that a VM does. I'm told that a VM is the easiest to work on, so that is encouraging. Most of the workings on a Collaro are contained on the assembly I removed to clean and lube.

[electra225]

I stopped by Harbor Freight and picked up a gram scale. The tone arm weighs 5 grams on the nose. According to the service literature I have, the changer will track 4 grams +/-. I'm going to leave well enough alone. With a good needle, it should work well and be as easy on records as anything from its generation....

[electra225]

I believe I may have lost half the cartridge! I was playing a stereo record. I had played one side, turned it over. One of the speakers went soft, not dead, just really low volume. Knowing my setup was a kluge, I started checking connections. Nothing seemed amiss. I fired up the signal tracer and headed toward the cartridge. One side of the cartridge is low one side is normal. It is the same on both needles. I'm bummed this happened, but better now than after I order my supplies and after I get the changer back into the cabinet. What cartridge do you guys recommend that will sound as nice as this one did?

[TC Chris]

If the cart has slide-on connectors and is not soldered in, check those connectors and use contact cleaner.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I haven't done that, Chris. Excellent suggestion! Stand by....

[electra225]

There are four connections on the rear of the cartridge, flat terminals. Only three are used, I'm assuming only one ground is used. I cleaned the connections and used De-Oxit with no change. I pulled the wire connectors back a tad so I could touch them with a screwdriver bit and get a hum in the speaker. One side gets more hum than the other. I have checked my soldering at the mute switch and don't see anything amiss there. Can a wire have high resistance or something so it puts out a low signal? I'm thinking this may not be a dead cartridge. Is there a more scientific way to check this other than the hum test? If I ohm out the wiring, what should it be and what will it tell me if it ain't like that? The wiring on this cartridge looks pretty "breakdownable" to me. It appears to have had a hard life. Next step?

I believe I'm going to disconnect the cartridge completely and start looking at wiring. If new is available, I'm thinking it might be a good stunt to replace it because it looks beat up. I need to ohm the wires out all the way to the amp. I'm now using a solid state amp I have, thinking the H-K might not be 100%. That didn't help anything. I need to check the wiring all the way from the cartridge to the amp. Something strange is going on...

[William]

My RCA Home Theater has a wonky cartridge too. Sometimes the LH channel is very weak and the next time you play records it's fine. Sometimes it will be playing along just fine and all of a sudden, the LH channel will go weak. I have found when this happens, I thump the topside of the tone arm a couple of times and it will usually come back in. If that does not work, then I thump the cartridge itself at the needle and that pretty much works every time. How long it will last is a gamble. Sometimes for day, sometimes for 5 minutes. I would replace the cartridge, but they are no longer available and no substitutes either.

Bill

[electra225]

So you are thinking it is the cartridge? There is not one available and no substitutes according to Gary's website. I thought sure there would be Pfanstiehl of some kind that would work. How would I check the wiring to make sure I don't have an issue there?

[TC Chris]

Before you go banging on the cartridge and damaging it, try reversing the L and R leads and see of the problem moves. If yes, probably the cart. If no, it's somewhere downstream.

Chris Campbell

[William]

So you are thinking it is the cartridge? There is not one available and no substitutes according to Gary's website. I thought sure there would be Pfanstiehl of some kind that would work. How would I check the wiring to make sure I don't have an issue there?

For sure with mine it's the cartridge, I'm guessing the problem in part, is in the cartridge design. This is one of the smaller floating cartridges, not in width, but in thickness so the bridge thingy is kind of flat and sometimes loses connection. Chris has a good idea switching wires around, it's simple and should answer your question.

Bill

[electra225]

Just thinking out loud here...

Pfanstiehl offers a Magnavox replacement cartridge model P-191 on Gary's site. It is rated for 2-4 grams of tone arm weight. This changer currently is set at 5 grams. The service literature advises that it will cycle to 4 grams +/-. Is it advisable to try to cycle this changer under 4 grams of tone arm weight? Gary may have something available that is not listed on his website. And, can I replace the "breakdownable" wiring on the cartridge with a four-wire setup? It currently has two wires. The kind with the ground wire on the outside of the hot wire. A new four-wire setup would be as flexible as that old wire, wouldn't it?

I still need to make sure I don't have a wiring problem currently, but I thought I'd run this by you guys.

Edit: It needs a cartridge, no question about it. Wiring checks out good. I don't know whether it will survive a cartridge transplant or not, particularly if I have to change connectors. I'll probably change out the wiring along with the cartridge if I can find one.

[electra225]

I got to tinkering with the gram scale this afternoon. What I found was a bit shocking to me in a couple of cases:

*The DJ turntable with a Stanton B500 stereo cartridge was at 4.6 grams. I set it down to a nudge over 2 grams. This is the turntable I do my music conversion to digital with.

*The Magnavox TP-241D with the Sonotone 2T cartridge was at 10.8 grams. I set it down as low at I could get it, 5.3 grams. It seems to play and cycle fine that light.

*The General Electric RP-1590 stereo I redid was set at 5 grams on the nose. I left it alone for the time being.

*A General Electric Trimline stereo with the VM changer and the "Custom" tone arm was at 5 grams as well. GE must have set their tone arm pressure at 5 grams.

*Magnavox 1ST616 stereo, 7.5 grams

*Magnavox Stereo Theater, 6.4 grams

*Truetone kiddie player I redid, 11.6 grams

*Motorola ST-82 stereo with VM 1200-series changer and Tetrad cartridge, 2.8 grams. This tells me that a VM 1200 will cycle at less than 4 grams....

Last, but not least, the biggest and heaviest, the Magnavox Concert Grand, a whopping 12.0 grams! Whoa.....

[electra225]

A Google search for Euphonics brings up this. This cartridge is alleged to be a direct replacement for the E-1. The price is a tad over my budget. Does this seem legit or otherwise? I wonder if Gary could get something like this?

https://www.turntableneedles.com/euphon ... -e1-series

[TC Chris]

Well, Astatic was a big name in crystal and ceramic cartridges and microphones....

Chris Campbell

[TC Chris]

Well, Astatic was a big name in crystal and ceramic cartridges and microphones....

And ceramics don't have the same age-related deterioration risk that crystal cartridges had.

Chris Campbell

[William]

Oh my, that is expensive, but it is the same Astatic 710 that's on Gary's website that he states is no longer available. Maybe this company has some NOS, like the guy on eBay that is selling the EV26.

Bill

[electra225]

I sent Gary an email. Let's see what he has to say. I'll wager that he will come up with something.

[electra225]

Gary sent an email with two pages of attachments. Several options for retrofitting Magnavox cartridges with a tail bracket. Only one option is correct for this application. He is closed from May 2 to May 7 for vacation, so it will be next week before I can get parts ordered. I have other stuff I need from Gary, so I'll get it together and be ready for when he gets back. He asked not to order on Monday....

[William]

That's all good to know, Greg, including the fact that he will be on vacation. I need to order a few goodies too. Are the attachments something you can stick in the downloads?

Bill

[electra225]

Gary sent it to me as an attachment. It is two pages. It is on Downloads now. (Tuners) See if you can open it....