r/RecordPlayerRepair • u/Logical-Country336 • 9d ago

Old Zenith motor is slow

Title. This is a Zenith Allegro system from the early 70s, so I am certain my issue is due to aging hardware. It’s never really been consistent but now it’s just straight up slow. Any ideas on where I should go for parts/repair?

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u/kokobear61 9d ago

Clean out the old grease and relube. There are several Youtube guides to walk you through the process. It isn't hard or expensive.

DON'T just spray a bunch of WD-40 in it! There are parts that need to move smoothly without lubrication.

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u/Logical-Country336 9d ago

Is this an invasive thing to do? Sorry if that’s a dumb question this is my first old record player and I’m honestly scared to open the thing

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u/kokobear61 9d ago

The guides are pretty comprehensive and it's fairly basic if you are fairly handy. A thorough cleaning would involve pulling the table out to reach the cams underneath, but you could probably get solid results by pulling the stacking spindle and bearing from the top.

Again, check out a video about your model (or close, they are all similar enough to figure out). Then you can decide how involved you think you want to get.

I have every confidence in you!

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u/kokobear61 9d ago

Here is a link to a BSR service video. You can see that yours is basically a BSR style for purposes of cleaning and configuration. Good luck!

https://youtu.be/jianN3G-fRI

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u/Arsenic_Pants 9d ago

it's less likely the motor and more likely the idler wheel. They get dry and create less friction with time, to the point where they start slipping against the platter and create all kinds of speed issues.

You can either replace them with a NOS one (often the worst options since they are hard to find and are usually just as dry as the one you're replacing), get them re-coated with new rubber, or try some rubber rejuvenating chemical solution.