Pro - Ject P1.2 project

[EV Cali]

Was looking at Gumtree recently, when I spotted a Pro – ject Turntable. Photos were poor and a sparse description. Owner said he had purchased it new about ten years ago and the motor and stylus were missing ,lid scratched.
It was listed at $60 negotiable so I offered $50 and it was accepted and I wondered if I had done the right thing.
Before picking it up I got on to the Australian Pro – Ject  web site and a chat box popped up asking if they could help. Explained that I may need a new motor for a Pro- ject Turntable ,about ten years old ,could they help. No problem came the reply ,send some photos after you have picked it up and we will see what we can do .
Turned out it was  P1. 2 ,so I would assume much older than ten years old, and I would also need a Tone arm lifter, motor suspension belt and motor pulley.
Still no problem said Pro – ject ,phone with your credit card number and we will put the items in the post. Turned out the person on the live chat line was actually a real person and really helpful .
So far the service from Pro – ject  could not be better and I can only recommend there after sales service for  an old TT that I did not even purchase new.
My first impressions are that the plater is quite heavy and looks as though some time has been spent to make it balanced. It reminds me of the Rotel RP – 850 that I now use and I can’t wait to hear it.
I may try to tweak it a bit and  am open to suggestions as long as they are not keep changing all the parts until you have a Rega RP6.
Will post some more when parts have arrived .

[hochopeper]

Interesting, I have one of these that I picked up on here for $200 ... I've been thinking about adding a nicer cart to mine, busy with other stuff at the moment so will get to the TT later some time, hopefully later this year. Will follow along with interest. Good to know that I can get bits from pro-ject if I do anything stupid.

[EV Cali]

Thanks for interest. I assume yours actually had a motor though 

[muzzagruzz]

I had a Project 1.1 and it was brilliant. Very similar looking to yours. An Ortofon Bronze would be a nice cart for it or the one down from that. Enjoy it.

[dwbasement]

The money you would spend to fix the tt would be enough to get a better and newer tt I reckon.

[EV Cali]

The money you would spend to fix the tt would be enough to get a better and newer tt I reckon.

Thanks  @@dwbasement  all comments and advice welcome. I suppose that depends how much you think I will have to spend on the motor ,tone arm lifter, motor suspension belt and motor pulley.

As I have not said how much the parts will be I assume you must have some idea. From my perspective if I had found the parts to be too expensive the tone arm alone would have been worth the $50 I paid for the TT.

[dwbasement]

I would expect a couple of hundreds? I guess may be cheaper you just get the parts but I would think you could get a old rega p1 or p2 or newer project with cart for less than $300

[Bell Ringer]

Hi Robin,

 

I've got one of these, the platter warped and I never bothered replacing it (didn't think it was worth it). Pretty sure the motor and tone arm are OK, the lid is very worn after being stored for years.

 

Anyway it's yours if you want to pay for postage from Sydney. You can have the Ortofon cart as well, an OM10 I think.

 

Let me know if you want it.

[EV Cali]

I would expect a couple of hundreds? I guess may be cheaper you just get the parts but I would think you could get a old rega p1 or p2 or newer project with cart for less than $300

There is a chance of over spending on a deck like this .The new parts from Pro Ject ,with postage have come to under $100, with a generic Ortophon stylus ,that I already have  costing $20, that brings total spent to $170.

The rega P1 is a similar TT but I think the chances of finding a reasonable second hand one ,with a good stylus ,in Brisbane for under $300 are low. If all goes to plan I will have a TT , at least equal to a Rega P1 for about half the cost and will have had the fun and learning experience of putting it together.

Will post more on the out come after parts arrive. 

 

@@Bell Ringer

Thanks for your generous offer but as I have said ,I already have the parts coming in the post. It is very tempting as you can get upgrade replacement Acril it platters for $149

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pro-Ject-Acryl-It-Turntable-Platter-Brand-New-/291321555338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item43d41e298a

and surely it has to be worth spending that much on it. There is so also a second hand Acril it plater on ebay currently at $96.

 I would imagine that a Pro ject P1 , in good condition, would have to be worth $$200 - $250 so still justifiable.  I will let you or some one else have some fun with yours.

Edited May 17, 2015 by EVcali

[dwbasement]

There is a chance of over spending on a deck like this .The new parts from Pro Ject ,with postage have come to under $100, with a generic Ortophon stylus ,that I already have costing $20, that brings total spent to $170.

The rega P1 is a similar TT but I think the chances of finding a reasonable second hand one ,with a good stylus ,in Brisbane for under $300 are low. If all goes to plan I will have a TT , at least equal to a Rega P1 for about half the cost and will have had the fun and learning experience of putting it together.

Will post more on the out come after parts arrive.

@@Bell Ringer

Thanks for your generous offer but as I have said ,I already have the parts coming in the post. It is very tempting as you can get upgrade replacement Acril it platters for $149

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Pro-Ject-Acryl-It-Turntable-Platter-Brand-New-/291321555338?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item43d41e298a

and surely it has to be worth spending that much on it. There is so also a second hand Acril it plater on ebay currently at $96.

I would imagine that a Pro ject P1 , in good condition, would have to be worth $$200 - $250 so still justifiable. I will let you or some one else have some fun with yours.

Having fun playing with it, not bad for under $200 if the tt is in good condition.

[EV Cali]

Parts have arrived.

I now realise I also need the plate that sits under the motor and think the easiest thing will be to make one out of some aluminium sheet.

 

Next problem  

I do not know what terminals to connect the wires from the motor to.  

There are a pair of blue and  white wires coming from the top ,nearest the spindle and a pair of orange and yellow coming from lower down. On the TT are three pairs of terminals.

 

Can any one help?

 

I am thinking this may have been better in the DIY thread but getting closer.

Edited May 19, 2015 by EVcali

[Gee Emm]

Hi Robin,

 

I've got one of these, the platter warped and I never bothered replacing it (didn't think it was worth it). Pretty sure the motor and tone arm are OK, the lid is very worn after being stored for years.

 

Anyway it's yours if you want to pay for postage from Sydney. You can have the Ortofon cart as well, an OM10 I think.

 

Let me know if you want it.

 

I'm after the wall wart power supply, if you want to sell it.

 

16V AC output I believe.

[hochopeper]

@, I can have a look at the underneath of mine in the next few days if that helps.

 

I'm after the wall wart power supply, if you want to sell it.

 

16V AC output I believe.

The 1.2 I've got doesn't have a wall wart - just direct to mains. Should be able to grab a 16V AC from jaycar/altronics though, I've got one from there that I use for my O2 headphone amp.

[Gee Emm]

thanks

[EV Cali]

@, I can have a look at the underneath of mine in the next few days if that helps.

 

The 1.2 I've got doesn't have a wall wart - just direct to mains. Should be able to grab a 16V AC from jaycar/altronics though, I've got one from there that I use for my O2 headphone amp.

 Thanks @@hochopeper

I am back at work tomorrow so will also ask one of the Electricians I work with.

[EV Cali]

Before I returned to work I made up a new motor mounting plate out of some 2 mm aluminium sheet. The notches that can be seen are to help keep the motor suspension belt in the correct position when the plate is bolted to the motor, this is achieved by locating both ends of the belt over the motor spindle .It did not take long to complete and I stood back quite pleased with my self.
With the motor in place the turntable sub plater just touched one of the dome head bolts of the motor mounting plate, this was over come by  going over it and the other bolt with a file,  turning the bolts in to pan heads and after the slots were returned with a hack saw the problem was solved.
I also the found some information on the P1.2 , on Michael Lim’s the well known Rega tune up site. http://lpturntables.blogspot.com.au/2011/07/upgrading-project-p12-with-motor.html
There was a photo showing the mains termination so I copied it and showed it to Damien, one of the Electricians I work with, when I got to work the next day.
Damien has some experience with motors and said that the way it was wired up on the site was different to how he thought it would be so deferring to his greater knowledge I let him lose with his soldering iron.
The first attempt had the motor running backwards but with two wires switched round all was well.
Back home I fitted the main platter and found this to slightly rubbing on the plinth. I then realised there was a lot of slack on the turntable bearing .The bearing is a ball bearing similar to the Rega set up .I removed the cup nut from underneath and put some silicon lubricant on the ball bearing and then adjusted the lower lock nut to take out the slack.
This did the trick and probably meant I did not actually have to alter the Motor mounting plate blots!
The stylus was then fitted and I adjusted the slack in the tone arm bearings with circlip pliers instead of using $35 special tool, a tip gained from searching the net.
Levelled the tone arm and adjusted the tracking weight and it was then time to try it out.
Can’t complain about the sound, although I am sure it would sound even better with an upgraded cartridge.

I have left what Pro ject refer to as the 'transport screws in position on the motor mount plate ,just taking the tension off them. There is some thought that not removing them can cause some motor sound but I can not hear any and my try it with them removed latter.
Will let it sit as my main TT for awhile, as I consider if I will continue with more upgrades.
I achieved some sense of satisfaction by getting it up and running again and on a reasonable budget.
I have a real soft spot for the similar Rotel TT I have and the similar Rega,s and admire their simplicity. Just a tone arm with wires, a motor and a on off switch.

Edited May 23, 2015 by EVcali

[EV Cali]

Have been running the TT for a few days now and am happy with the sound and the TT in general. One problem I noticed when the house was particularly quiet was a rubbing sound. I lifted the platter off and could observe that the belt was right at the top of the pulley and rubbing on the pulley flange. I then got down level with the pulley and could see that pulley was leaning towards the sub platter, due to only having the support of the suspension belt. As I mentioned above there is some thought that removing the motor mount screws helps with  decoupling the motor from the plinth, so that motor vibration cannot be fed to the tone arm. I had left the motor mount screws in place ,with a rubber O ring beneath the motor mount bracket but not tightened. When I tightened the screws it pulled the pulley back in to the horizontal position, the belt immediately centered its self on the pulley and no more rubbing noise. I have not experienced any motor vibration noise and am unable to see how motor isolation just using the suspension belt could ever work as there is nothing to keep the motor and pulley horizontal. 

Edited May 25, 2015 by EVcali