Garrard 3500 Changer in Packard Bell Console

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

This changer returned to owner today after some not
enjoyable service.
The mechanism is I'd say the same as in 2025TC, and 3000 changers.

The big problem came after I heated the toothed cam wheel
and removed it for cleaning.
The trip pawl is supposed to rotate in its
position in the cam wheel.

It was immobile, and after 4-5 hours of heating, solvents and
elbow grease, I could only move the pawl about
1/2 way out of its mount hole.

The pawl is a quality polished steel, and the cam is
cast aluminum, so I had to be judicious in the type of
pressure I used, so I didn't break the cam wheel.

Further action was futile at freeing it.

I went to see my friend, who is a juke-box expert,
for help.
He came up with using some thin-framed wire cutters
to grab the shaft of the trip pawl I had exposed.
He got it to rotate, and finally it came out.
There was literally no old expoxified Brit grease there,
as I've seen in Garrards and BSRs.
The pawl shaft was shiny clean, so how it got so bound up is a mystery.

There were indentations on the shaft from the tool,
so I spent 2-3 more hours carefully filing down the
burrs.
Then the pawl shaft went easily back into the cam wheel.

Another oddity in the changer is the Euphonics U-21-1 phono
cartridge.
It is not a magnetic or ceramic cart, but a variable resistance
cart specific to this series of 1960's Packard-Bell circuits.

So, I was glad the owner said she had sound out of the
record player, as there was no way for me to check the
new stylus using my bench stereo tuner/amp.

The changer has a nice set-up for adjusting the tracking
force. A sliding counter weight along with a gram spring
adjustment knob.

A design flaw is that the tonearm will only raise up
a few inches.
This made installing the new stylus difficult.

I showed the owner today how to load multiple records
and operate the changer, and she's super happy.
She bought the Packard-Bell for $25 at an estate sale.

[stbasil]

Wow, what an ordeal! Your client probably doesn't realize the bargain she is getting with such expert work!

[William]

Great job, Mr. Mogel. I guess the old saying, "patients is a virtue," is true.

Bill