A
Arfa Daily
Guest
A Dual 504 phono deck appeared on the bench today. "Parts removed by owner,
taped to turntable" said the job ticket. The owner had kindly dismantled the
arm gimbal ...
The parts on the turntable were a pointed screw, and a plastic washer. The
tracking weight setting wheel was laying at a crazy angle, and clearly, the
plastic washer was intended to fit into a slot just in front of it, and the
pointy screw was supposed to go through the lot, so that the point could
engage with the tiny bearing in the arm. In the centre of the setting wheel
was a threaded boss, so this was what the screw was intended to thread into.
Except it wouldn't. No matter how I tried it, the screw appeared to be too
large to fit this boss. I even took the wheel right out so that I could see
exactly what was going on, but no, the screw would not go into the thread in
the boss.
So I rang the shop, and spoke to the guy who booked it in. "Yep" said he. "I
know exactly what you're saying coz I tried it here, and I couldn't get it
to thread in either, so I thought perhaps I was assembling it wrong, so I'd
better send it over to you to look at". "Well no" said I. "I can't see any
other way it can go together either, so this can't be the screw that
originally came out of it. I wonder if it's one that he's picked up as a
spare part because he lost the original, and it's from a different model".
" I reckon that's gotta be it" said booking-in guy. "I'm gonna ring him and
see what he's got to say about it !"
Ten minutes later, he called back. "I spoke to him and told him that it's
the wrong screw, but he insisted that it was the one that came out of it. I
told him that it couldn't be because neither of us could get it to go in,
and that if he had lost it, he should just come clean and tell us, as it was
just wasting our time trying to get the wrong one to fit. But he still
insisted that it was the one that came out ". "Well, I don't know then" I
told him. "I'll just have to try again". I must admit, it was puzzling me
that the owner was adamant that it was the original screw, but that it
seemed too big for the only threaded hole that it could possibly go in.
I fiddled about with it for a few minutes longer, but then gave up, as I had
other more pressing things to do. I left the washer and screw in place, and
put a bit of Sellotape over the screw head to hold it in the hole until I
had time to take another look. I stuck it on another bench, and forgot about
it. For about ten minutes ... Have you ever had one of those 'light bulb'
moments ? Well, I had one then. From nowhere, this idea suddenly popped into
my head, so I picked up a screwdriver, wandered over to the other bench,
stuck the screwdriver into the head of the screw through the tape, and
turned it left ...
Doh ! >:-(
Arfa
taped to turntable" said the job ticket. The owner had kindly dismantled the
arm gimbal ...
The parts on the turntable were a pointed screw, and a plastic washer. The
tracking weight setting wheel was laying at a crazy angle, and clearly, the
plastic washer was intended to fit into a slot just in front of it, and the
pointy screw was supposed to go through the lot, so that the point could
engage with the tiny bearing in the arm. In the centre of the setting wheel
was a threaded boss, so this was what the screw was intended to thread into.
Except it wouldn't. No matter how I tried it, the screw appeared to be too
large to fit this boss. I even took the wheel right out so that I could see
exactly what was going on, but no, the screw would not go into the thread in
the boss.
So I rang the shop, and spoke to the guy who booked it in. "Yep" said he. "I
know exactly what you're saying coz I tried it here, and I couldn't get it
to thread in either, so I thought perhaps I was assembling it wrong, so I'd
better send it over to you to look at". "Well no" said I. "I can't see any
other way it can go together either, so this can't be the screw that
originally came out of it. I wonder if it's one that he's picked up as a
spare part because he lost the original, and it's from a different model".
" I reckon that's gotta be it" said booking-in guy. "I'm gonna ring him and
see what he's got to say about it !"
Ten minutes later, he called back. "I spoke to him and told him that it's
the wrong screw, but he insisted that it was the one that came out of it. I
told him that it couldn't be because neither of us could get it to go in,
and that if he had lost it, he should just come clean and tell us, as it was
just wasting our time trying to get the wrong one to fit. But he still
insisted that it was the one that came out ". "Well, I don't know then" I
told him. "I'll just have to try again". I must admit, it was puzzling me
that the owner was adamant that it was the original screw, but that it
seemed too big for the only threaded hole that it could possibly go in.
I fiddled about with it for a few minutes longer, but then gave up, as I had
other more pressing things to do. I left the washer and screw in place, and
put a bit of Sellotape over the screw head to hold it in the hole until I
had time to take another look. I stuck it on another bench, and forgot about
it. For about ten minutes ... Have you ever had one of those 'light bulb'
moments ? Well, I had one then. From nowhere, this idea suddenly popped into
my head, so I picked up a screwdriver, wandered over to the other bench,
stuck the screwdriver into the head of the screw through the tape, and
turned it left ...
Doh ! >:-(
Arfa