The following procedure is advisory, True Point
Audio Ltd, Pete and R. Stevenson are not liable for any damage or injury that may
occur during this procedure.
Instructions for installing
Pete’s Suspension Units.
A special thanks to R. Stevenson who
has prepared these instructions for us and other Michell
enthusiasts.
When
reading these instructions, you may feel that at times they
state the obvious. No apology is made for this. What is
obvious to you may not be to someone else!
If all goes well, all assembly can be
completed within an hour. However, please allow yourself
more time as you don’t want to rush. Working under time
pressure never helps to reduce accidents.
Note that the words used to describe the
parts of the Gyrodec as the same as those used on this
website that has accompanying images:
https://www.angelfire.com/music5/michell_gyrodec/step_by_step/manual.html#:~:text=Put%20the%20white%20PTFE%20spacer,black%20spacers%20and%20socket%20screws.
1.
1) Clear a table, and find: some
tissues/kitchen roll; some grease; and some oil, which is
needed for the central bearing (according to internet
forums, one suitable choice is Extralube ZX1).
2) Disconnect the leads to the
tonearm, lock the position of the tonearm and add the
cartridge guard. (If you don’t have a guard, you’ll have to
weigh up the risks of damaging the stylus by removing it
compared with the chances of damage associated with removing
the chassis. Then remove the turntable belt, unscrew the
platter nut that secures the platter, and lift off the
platter. Put to one side the platter, the platter nut and
associated felt washer, and the rubber belt. Carry all that
remains to your workspace.
3)
Prepare a space for the aluminium
chassis. You may wish to use a couple of blocks of wood to
rest the sides of the chassis on, so you avoid trapping the
tonearms cable under the chassis. When ready, lift the
chassis clear of the spring towers.
4) At this stage, you can now access
the three spring towers. Lift off the upper part of the
tower so it is free from the spring support spindle, and
then unscrew the spring. Put the spring to one side, but
keep the white PTFE spacer (you may need to use this, if a
replacement has not been shipped to you).
5) Having removed the spring, you are
left with the upper spring tower, which contains a metallic
bearing, hidden from view and partially held in by grease.
You need to get this bearing out and replace it with a
ceramic bearing, and also add some additional grease. To
remove the bearing, start by extracting some of the grease
from the upper spring tower – a wooden kebab skewer is
suitable (see below) – before tapping the upper spring tower
on a tissue. The ball should fall out.
6) Grease one ceramic ball
bearing, and drop it in the top of the upper spring tower.)
7)
Place the sorbothane pad on top of the internal part of the
spring support spindle (see photo below).
8) Place the upper spring
tower, now containing the ceramic ball, over the spring
support spindle, which now has the sorbothane pad on top.
9) Now is the time to add
Pete’s pylons. To avoid O-rings everywhere, start by
removing just one of the two rubber bands. Loosen the other,
but keep it in place. Screw the Pylon down so that its top
is roughly level with the start of the knurled section of
the upper spring tower.
10) Place the white PTFE
spacer over the tower (see below). It should be tight, but
rather than apply too much force, if need be, carefully rub
with glass paper if it is catching on Pete’s pylon.
11)
Repeat this exercise (steps 4-10), until you have
all three Pete’s pylons installed. Then remove the remaining
rubber band from around each Pylon, and replace the
aluminium chassis.
12) The bottom of the every
pylon, including the PTFE spacer, should fit within the hole
of the chassis. If you put your eye level with bottom
surface of the chassis, and look across, no part of the
Pylon should be visible. If you do see that part of the
Pylon is protruding from the base of the chassis, lift the
chassis clear, inspect the pylon and rub with glass paper
the area that is preventing the pylon from sitting snugly in
the base of the chassis.
13) Once the base of the
Pylon’s is sitting well within the chassis, all that remains
is to do is to replace the thrust ball in the inverted
bearing. Remove the bronze bearing housing from the spindle.
If the thrust ball is not sitting on the spindle, it will be
in the bronze bearing housing, and can be removed by tapping
this on a piece of tissue paper. Once the thrust ball is out
– it looks just like the three metallic bearings from the
towers – replace this with the fourth ceramic bearing
supplied. It is probably inevitable to lose some lubricating
oil during this procedure, so don’t forget to top up the
spindle well.
14) Move the assembly back
to your where you normally house your turntable, and replace
the platter, platter nut and the belt.
15) Note that the addition of
Pete’s pylons will have altered the difference in height
between the pulley and platter grooves. To ensure that the
belt’s motion is purely horizontal, you may need to adjust
the feet of the turntable, or sit the belt in a different
groove in the platter.
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