Turntable Noises

My Turntable Hums or I get a weak signal when playing records

This is a common ailment with older Dual turntables. Usually it's caused by a build up of corrosion

within the turntable. It's an easy fix. Here is how to remedy the situation.

Make sure the ground wire (black) coming from the turntable is connected to the ground (earth) lug

on the amplifier.  All Dual turntables came with these ground wires. They usually had a "U" shaped

connector at the end of the wire, but as with anything old, they may have been pulled off over time.

Look at the audio connectors, do they have any corrosion on the outside or inside of them? If so

you can use a small piece of sandpaper to clean off the corrosion. Replace the cable with a new

one if this doesn't work.

If you still have hum, then continue.....

There probably is corrosion in the tonearm headshell. This is fixed by:

Place a cloth over the turntable, except for the tonearm. This is to protect your turntable from

sanding grit.

Next remove the headshell from the tonearm.  On the 1000 series and 1200 series turntables,

you just move the headshell handle back all the way and the headshell & cartridge should drop out.

Look at the brass contacts at the back of the cartridge carrier (the thing that the cartridge is screwed

into) on the top. Using an emery board, lightly sand the contacts until clean.

Now look up into the headshell. There will be contacts that mate with the contacts on the cartridge

carrier. Clean those contacts as well.  Now check your turntable to see if the hum went away.

If you still have hum....

Using a pair of small tweezers, remove each wire from the read of the cartridge. Be VERY

careful here as these wires are delicate. And using the emery board scrape each terminal

on the cartridge lightly. Then replace each wire back to the original terminal from where it

came.

Your Dual turntable should now be free of hum.

My Turntable Makes       Dual turntables (especially the changer models) do make noises when changing records

Clicking Noises When     they shouldn't make any noise while playing. If you hear a click, click, click noise while

Playing a Record            playing a record. It's a good indication that the unit will need to be serviced. This includes

removing all the old lubricant and applying new, including disassembly of the motor.

We have information about how to do  this here.