Pioneer PLX50 turntable check out

[@aanon2550]

Thank you. What a great age we live in when very helpful information like this can be found. I'm not sure I ever would have worked out how to get to the belts without this video. For other people watching, to install a main belt, the top half of the plastic "drawer" needs to be unclipped from four points around its edges and lifted out. Now to look for info on fine speed adjustment!

[@d3dde76c]

Thank you very much. i bought the complete system for a very fair price and I had to change the belt on the turntable. Your video helped me to see how it works.

[@taineasy]

Have owned one of these since new and had never had an issue except for one main belt replacement. With the vert nice MC cartridge these units as good as or better than most $200 tables. Definitely better than a Technics SL-D2 or a Dual 1219 which I have.

[@BlankBrain]

I've repaired several plastic pin hinges by drilling out the pin, replacing it with a cut section of the right diameter nail and epoxying it in place. It only takes a few minutes with a hacksaw and grinder or belt sander. If you have enough space on the inside, you can leave the head on the nail, giving more surface for epoxy. Most recently, I replaced a tab on a Magic Bullet blender container. That took a little longer because I had to make a mold for the new epoxy tab using masking tape.

[@12voltvids]

Using a soldering iron the "drill out" the plastic, and then driving a screw into the "hot" hole will allow the threads to form in the plastic, and now you have a metal pin that can be screwed in as far as necessary. Already did that. Video got cut off.

[@davidgeltz7604]

I have had problems like that before, just drilled out where the pin was and glued in a metal pins.

[@Hi-Tech-Ray]

sometimes metal is sometimes a great substitute for plastic

[@12voltvids]

I did this, but somehow during rendering the last few minutes was cut off. The front panel opens and closes now, but does not activate the switch as there is a piece broken from the front panel that trips the switch level. It is what it is.

[@Hi-Tech-Ray]

For shits and giggles, I search ebay for that model to find a donor unit, however there is none around at the current time.

[@jimbronie]

Didn’t think the “mini-Systems” came around until the 90s. Thought for sure it would be linear tracking in that form factor. As usual. Great video!

[@Synthematix]

What a neat little unit, great because you dont have to have the record player on top of the hifi stack, it can be put in a cabinet.

[@The31262]

very common problem with those POS back in the 8's! Pioneer started making trash in about 1984. I di warranty work on them until 2000, when I closed my shop.

[@12voltvids]

Yes the quality slide started in the mid 80s for many manufactures.

[@Hi-Tech-Ray]

I would have to say is that 12voltsvids sure has patience like a saint!

[@missionpassed4584]

I find using a small stubby screw similar length to the broken hinge nipples after you drill a hole where the previous plastic nipples broke off works well depending on the hinge of course

[@12voltvids]

Yes that is the plan. I do however need to find that belt, and that is going to be the hard part.

[@shareideas614]

The tone arm won’t release to play the record Is there a switch to activate it ?

[@TheThecyclist]

amstrad brought out a linear tracking deck which stood on its end and the arm tracked across the record only drawback was it would not recognise 12 inch singles and would switch the speed to 33 thinking it was an LP!

[@jeffreyroy7639]

My 58W system (Tuner/Amp/Tape deck) work pretty good but the turntable will need new belts/lub..anyone find a source for replacement belts for the turntable?

[@eman59461]

Nice record player love the design accept for power switch.

[@12voltvids]

Jermaine Ortiz Power switch is now disconnected and door reattached.

[@d.logic1]

what would happen if you were to permanently short the switch? would it just stay on permanently with no other issues?

[@12voltvids]

Paul Ramos Yes that will make it serviceable with a new set of belts.

[@d.logic1]

other than a cosmetic issue, i'd would personally repair it to complete the system. keep another stereo component out of the landfill.

[@Hi-Tech-Ray]

I agree Paul, I would try to salvage most of these electronics from the 60s- b4 Y2K, Everything today is a piece of junk!

[@zx8401ztv]

The belt is the biggest problem i can see, the door can fixed with creative glueing and pin creating from coat hangers or welding rods. Never seen a belt go white.

[@shaun5427]

If the guy gives you the go ahead fix I will be surprised ! Everything is in here

[@SianaGearz]

Cute gimmick, worth restoring I think.

[@Bushougoma]

Man it seems Pioneers gimmicks to make these units slick backfired in a big way. You have to adjust your volume by turning a knob? We have a motor that can fail. You have to lower the tonearm on your vinyl? You poor neanderthal our turntable is fully automatic with a sliding tray. Well only if you consider loading 1 album at a time manually automatic.

[@12voltvids]

No it lowers the tone arm. I just moved it over manually, as there is a cue button to lift it and lower it, but nothing to move it to other tracks. You do that part yourself.

[@gaelfrenchy]

look like this inspired philips to build the compact disc

[@colinross971]

the front flap hits a micro switch

[@PileOfEmptyTapes]

Good lord, this stack is a real mess. All four components have had multiple issues. I can only guess that it had a rough life and was then stashed away in an attic or something for years. Seems worth restoring though, let's just hope the owner did not pay more than symbolic amounts of money for it.

[@12voltvids]

The owner of this unit is a viewer, and he said he bought it mainly for the speakers as it had a really nice pair of speakers with it. I have fixed the door on this, but somehow during rendering it was cut off and stupid me I didn't proof the entire video before uploading. What I did was drill a hole in the front panel where the pins were and set a couple of screws in it to go in the holes on the cabinet, however the left side that activates the switch the lever has a piece missing. So it won't activate the switch, so I took out the arm that activates the switch and intend to just wire it on full time. This way the front door opens and closes without putting undue stress on the plastic that is probably getting brittle anyway. The challenge for this piece will be finding the correct belt for it, but if I can find that, then this little turn table will be fully operational again. I was going to re-render and post the entire video again, but all that will do is piss off the trolls that will accuse me of re-uploading and spamming even though there is a few extra minutes. Perhaps a part 2 just showing the hynge fix. I noticed a few suggested drilling and using a piece of coat hanger. That would probably work too, but I didn't want to go through the outside of the cabinet.

[@FrightfulAccountant]

A clever design, but all that brittle plastic is asking for troubles. A device like this should had come with a long lasting metal hatch.

[@weslysa]

Seems like you serviced the whole pioneer stack. is the Tuner ok? xD

[@12voltvids]

Yes the tuner and amp are now repaired and working correctly. The turn table needs belts, and the cassette deck belts and a motor.:(

[@Hi-Tech-Ray]

The one thing I am wondering is if the tonearm would emit a signal???

[@nowayjay2122]

Over complicating the simplicity of a turntable. No wonder it doesn't work.

[@jusb1066]

you could say the same with vhs tapes. earlier top loaders had far less things to eject and load them, but being earlier were also more complicated as they had further refining to do

[@Hi-Tech-Ray]

I agree with top loading VHS ,I had a panasonic pv1200 which was built like a tank!

[@jusb1066]

some of the earlier machines outweighed tanks, im sure of it!

[@jamescorvett]

their seems to be a lot of problems with several makes and models of equipment over the years. i think the biggest flop is when they changed how equipment worked such as this silly retractable table. IMO their are to many weak points that's guaranteed to fail. i guess they also figure when it fails they can make money on repairs, if its even repairable, or someone would get suckered into buying another one. Several years ago someone gave me a very nice Sony RCD-W500C disc changer/recorder....that never worked from day one. I think my friend paid over $500 for it new, and never worked properly. LOL It will not record and the changer just randomly starts jumping from disc to disc or song to song. It wont program as the 80 page manual states and tech support, when it was new, didnt help my friend either after several calls. Just recommended sending it in for repairs, brand new?! Lmao So Ive taken it apart many times and I cant find anything wrong on any circuits, or the crazy mechanicals. I just lubed up the slides for the trays that move around and it'll work fine for a day or two then back to random. But the single disc side that records plays discs fine. And it reads disc tittles , guess those are a plus. Cant complain much for free, one day i'll fix it properly....one day. lol

[@jacktheripper6716]

The missing pins isnt a problem you can use toothpicks/clothe hangers as zx80 said the belt is your biggest headache.

[@jimreardon6599]

I agree. The belt looks like a non standard size. Good luck finding that.

[@Lapeerphoto]

WOW What brainiak marketing jockey thought: "Let's design a record player that quadruples the time it takes to change the record". Too much mechanism for me - I'm still rocking my direct drive Realistic LAB-400. :)

[@baladar1353]

Pioneers biggest mistake I guess...