RCA RP 218 changer

[hermitcrab]

This has been playing great.... now it developed a problem, when it reaches the end of the record, instead of lifting up... it slides back halfway across the record before it lifts up, like it is under spring tension?... is this a common problem with these changers?... never worked on one of these before...
thanks

[electra225]

I am the absolutely "dimmest bulb in the lamp" when it comes to changers. I would squirt your changer with WD-40 and hope for the best, but that might not be the best approach....

Likely there is some dried grease somewhere, causing a linkage to bind. We have some of the most competent changer guys in existence right here on our little forum. I'm sure one of them will be happy to chime in and give you information that will benefit the repair of your changer. Congrats on your score and good luck with the changer.

[hermitcrab]

well get this ... I sent a picture of the cart with the number to Gary... he says he can't match the number to anything?... who on the forum has dealt with these sliding needle set-ups?

[William]

It wasn't that long ago that I saw one listed, and I'm thinking it was eBay. Did you remove the cartridge to check all sides for a name?

As for your changer question, I have worked on my RCA Stereo Theater changer which is a model series RP225 thru RP228.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

Gary's issue was the number on the cartridge... it is a valid RCA# ....but I guess some of these are in phase and some are not ...that was his concern... of course it always boils down to the P-226 cartridge with the glue in kit...there are a few on fleabay that look identical but have different numbers than the one on my set...so I will go with gary's suggestion

[William]

Interesting, I did not realize RCA of that era would have cartridges either in phase or out of phase. I thought that was a thing for the 50's.

Bill

[hermitcrab]

well maybe I don't need a new cartridge... maybe I should try cleaning the contacts for the wires? what do you all think? They are completely black with tarnish...

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

This has been playing great.... now it developed a problem, when it reaches the end of the record, instead of lifting up... it slides back halfway across the record before it lifts up, like it is under spring tension?... is this a common problem with these changers?... never worked on one of these before...
thanks

What model # RCA is the RP-218 in ?

[hermitcrab]

3VF604... and the cleaning did nothing for the cartridge , still pops in and out , so I guess it gets the glue in replacement from gary...

[TC Chris]

Yeah, those look like they were silver plated. As I understand it,silver oxide is a good conductor and copper oxide is not.

Chris Campbell

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

3VF604... and the cleaning did nothing for the cartridge , still pops in and out , so I guess it gets the glue in replacement from gary...

Any chance there could be a bad wiring connection
in the tonearm to amplifier ?

[TC Chris]

3VF604... and the cleaning did nothing for the cartridge , still pops in and out , so I guess it gets the glue in replacement from gary...

Any chance there could be a bad wiring connection
in the tonearm to amplifier ?

Also, does that changer have a shorting switch to cut the signal from the cartridge during the changer cycle? If the spring-metal contact strips were bent, they could be closing in one channel sporadically when they should not.

Chris Campbell

[hermitcrab]

3VF604... and the cleaning did nothing for the cartridge , still pops in and out , so I guess it gets the glue in replacement from gary...

Any chance there could be a bad wiring connection
in the tonearm to amplifier ?

Also, does that changer have a shorting switch to cut the signal from the cartridge during the changer cycle? If the spring-metal contact strips were bent, they could be closing in one channel sporadically when they should not.

Chris Campbell

I checked all the connections all the way to the amp, all the spades had that powdery corrosion on them , cleaned and de-oxide... if this changer has a shorting switch , it ain't working because you can hear every move the tone arm makes while changing... also the number is 217-2 on the bottom , hope the 218 is basically the same...

[hermitcrab]

I take back all the bad things I ever said about cresant changers ... this RCA Studiomatic is a joke ... there is zero adjustment for tonearm tracking... the KRCA from VM is also a bad idea ...tell Gary to supply new screws if you order one of these , because you cannot use the originals ... too long !... after installing and checking the weight at 3.7 you would figure it is a perfect weight .... Nope.... the needle will not even contact the grooves in the record unless I lay coins on the arm, now I know why the owners taped dimes to the arm... these changers look good ... that is about all I can say about them...oh and I should not forget that the Turntable plays fast ... 33 is 35/36, 45 is 47, the closest is the 16 speed which is 17.5 ... can anything be done for that?

[hermitcrab]

here is what I have to use just to get it to track all the way to the end of the record...over 12 grams!

[electra225]

I would think if you have to stack dimes on the tone arm to get the record to play, with a new needle and a new cartridge, something else is wrong. Assuming that is a ceramic cartridge, I wouldn't expect it to take 12 grams to track properly. 12 grams of tone arm weight would be hard on stereo records. Is it possible the tone arm is hanging up allowing it not to track properly?

[hermitcrab]

To add insult to injury , the replacement cart cuts in and out like the original , measured the RCA cart and it weighs in at just over 5 grams ... Gary's replacement is barely 2 grams , the arm barely drops under its own weight .... so I went down to hardware and got some blue tack and added a couple grams under the arm and now it plays OK , one of my wires I had to solder was making a lousy contact so reflowed and now no more cutting out ...it still skids backwards a inch or so when rejecting at the end of the record before the arm picks up...why ?, not enough weight on the arm ... if I add more weight the skidding goes away and it picks up normally ... I thought RCA was quality .... these changers ain't :roll

[TC Chris]

Check the arm bearings--both the vertical ones, up and down, and the horiz. ones, side to side. The latter, especially, can be gummed up. Check the arm wiring to be sure it isn't binding. Make sure the arm-lift mechanism, whatever that changer uses, to make sure it is retracting completely after is sets the arms down. You've got something wrong in that device.

Chris Campbell

[Hi-Fi-Mogul]

I uploaded the RP-217-18 file in August.

It is the factory manual per Beitman.

It states that the RP-217-3 and RP-217-4 models use a
stylus force of 9 to 11 Grams.

Is your changer one of those ?

And, if the new cart cuts out like the original,
it does suggest there is also something else incorrect
that needs detection.

[Ken Doyle]

It states that the RP-217-3 and RP-217-4 models use a
stylus force of 9 to 11 Grams.

Those models must use a spring loaded cartridge mount or something. The industry standard maximum tracking force for stereo records was always 6 grams.