[bbchem]

My Grand Daughter has been sliding my needle across some records. I have a Space Arm from Nottingham, and a Goldring Eroica lx needle. I tried playing a new record at 2 grams tracking/wt and the needle slid across the record!! I cleaned the needle and the record, and it still does that. I scaled the Tracking wt back to 0.75 grams and the record played but one channel is distorted. Does this mean the needle is shot?? Help!!!

[Delacroix]

As the father of a young kid I feel your pain. Without examining the stylus it's impossible to know for sure but you just might be in luck IF all that is messed up is your anti-skate and/or azimuth which may have been put in serious misalignment by your grand-daughter's 'experiment' with a moving arm. I've seen the wrong anti skate setting have arms fly across record and the lower tracking weight you tried likely is part of the reason you have distortion (am guessing here as I don't know the recommended settings). Not sure how anti-skate is set on your arm/table combo but I'd check that quickly, get back to within recommended VTF and azimuth for the cartridge and give it a listen. You might get lucky.....I am assuming that to the eye, your cantilever is still straight and all appears normal?  Good luck.

[Ericus Rex]

I'd suspect anti-skate malfuntion as well.

[Mitsuman]

Do you have a magnifier so you can verify that the entire diamond is still intact and attached to the cantilever? I'm sure you checked as you said you cleaned the needle but it's possible the diamond has been dislodged. 

[*Scotty*]

I have to agree with Mitsuman, I didn't want to go there because it will mean a re-tip, but I have seen this same behavior when the diamond has gone missing. The skating force which pulls the arm towards the center of the record is still acting on the tonearm but there is no diamond stylus in the groove to resist the inward pull so the arm just swings to the center of the platter.
Scotty

[bbchem]

Thanks so much guys, I can barely see the needle, what should I look for to see if the diamond is dislodged?? Also if someone would not mind, I am a novice with turntable set up. Can I send someone a picture of my arm/antiskate device? It seems that the arm is not connected in any way to the antiskate device. I know its weird. Nottingham makes it unclear if my arm is set up correct.

[*Scotty*]

If the diamond stylus has been broken off it will very hard to see anything sharp or shiny pointed down towards the grooves on the record. A good magnifying glass is required to see the tip of the stylus. You will also need one of those bright LED flashlights if you don't already have very good lighting near the turntable.
Scotty

[*Scotty*]

 Here are some links to lighted magnifying glasses that may be helpful in viewing the stylus.
http://www.amazon.com/Lightwedge-Lighted-Pocket-Magnifier-Black/dp/B000I6REXM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341956154&sr=8-1&keywords=lighted+magnifying+glass
http://www.amazon.com/Vivitar-Viv-mag-2-Set-Magnifying-Glasses/dp/B003XDWNOC/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1341956154&sr=8-4&keywords=lighted+magnifying+glass
http://www.amazon.com/Power-Lighted-Magnifying-Glass-Magnifier/dp/B005FV9YD8/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1341956154&sr=8-10&keywords=lighted+magnifying+glass
http://www.amazon.com/Vivitar-Handheld-LED-Illuminated-Magnifiers/dp/B003IE8SCM/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1341956154&sr=8-11&keywords=lighted+magnifying+glass

This would be another option, a Jeweler's Lighted High-Power Magnifier Visor - 1.5X to 10.5X
http://www.amazon.com/Jewelers-Lighted-High-Power-Magnifier-Visor/dp/B005VR19ES/ref=pd_cp_hi_2
Scotty

[Sonny]

 

I'd suspect anti-skate malfuntion as well.

[neobop]

Upon reading your initial post, my first thought was that your needle is MIA.  But then you said this,
"I scaled the Tracking wt back to 0.75 grams and the record played but one channel is distorted."
Which channel?

Assuming that one channel wasn't distorted, how could the tip be MIA?  It's possibly damaged or chipped, but it doesn't make much sense from a distance. Why would it track at .75g, and not 2g?  If you put the cartridge on the record w/o moving, does it look straight when viewed from the front? 

I think you might have a problem viewing a Gyger II with a hand held magnifier.  If left on the arm, around 10X or so, is about as close as you'll get. I'm not sure what the limit is, but focal length gets very short.  If you have a camera and photo program, I suspect you'll be able to accomplish as much. 

Could the arm adjustments be way out of whack?  Did some wires get disconnected?  If you want to post photos from your PC, use the little box directly under the B.

[bbchem]

Problem solved!!! Thanks to putting all your posts together, I realized that the anti-skate was not actually being used! I lifted the anti-skate arm onto the actual arm and that did the trick. No movement and 1.7 gms tracking perfect!!! I feel like a real idiot. As I said I am a novice and the Nottingham info shhows no pictures and has a terrible instruction

Thanks again to all!!!!!!     BILL

[*Scotty*]

Bill, you got lucky,once. Is there anything you can do to reduce the chances of a future catastrophe involving your turntable.
Scotty

[Delacroix]

Good news. You are certainly right about the Nottingham manuals lacking some basic info......now you can feel confident that you DO know a bit about arm set up and start tweaking like a maniac

[bbchem]

Bill, you got lucky,once. Is there anything you can do to reduce the chances of a future catastrophe involving your turntable.
Scotty

Yes , lock my granddaughter out of my house!!!