Needing help with cartridge (Schumann-Merula DB 200)

Dear Jukebox-friends!

I am about to restore a NSM Prestige 160B to full functionality. I am quite near the goal, but I just found out that the piezo-electric (or ceramic) element in the cartridge (pickup) is broken on the B side. Just replacing the needles will not fix the problem.

Does anyone have a spare cartridge that I can buy?

Regards

Lars

So far I have:

- Polished and oiled the shafts for the direction change switch arms. They were unable to move due to oxidization and hardened oils.

- Fixed the gear on the selection motor. It was filled with hardened grease, but a bath in a proper solvent made wonders. Now it spins freely.

- "repaired" the credit unit where the subtract solenoid had burnt (probably due to the stuck selection motor). 30 VDC over 0.4 ohm means a lot of current, much more than the 2A fuse can handle. I replaced it with an Arduino-based thing with exactly the same functionality and to a reasonable price. Not an original part, but it does the job. And inside the grey box nobody knows it’s fake ;-)

- Cleaned and oiled the turntable parts (motor, idling wheels etc.). Now the record turns at a constant speed.

- Refreshed the drive belt with citrus oil based rubber reconditioner.

- Adjusted the clutch, which did not always grip.

- Replaced scratching volume potentiometers.

- Fixed buttons that stuck to the button frame.

- Replaced broken selection indicator light bulbs.

Just a few things left to fix...

Hello Lars,

You're welcome to place a wanted ad for the cartridge in the classifieds: [markt.jukebox-world.de]
Make sure the cartridge was tested before buying it. It could be faulty as well.

Another option is to get the cartridge repaired. Often the ceramic plates inside the cartridge are either corroded or even broken. This option can be about the same price than finding another used but good working one.


Kind regards - Hildegard

Many thanks Hildegard.

I have not been resting since I wrote the post. I tried to dissect the cartridge and made a writeup on my blog:

[nsmprestige.wordpress.com]

Tomorrow I will put everything back together after ultrasonic cleaning.

Hopefully I am able to present a success story on my blog.