Thanks Neali, hope to have it up and running this week Ron

Hello to all, first time posting. I have a Ristaucrat s45 that I am working on. I have a background with EM pinballs so some of the mechanism is familiar. I have been scouring the net for pictures of the mechanisms so that I can make sure that I am on the right track. Upon opening the unit I found some wires and springs hanging. Any help would be great!

Hang in there,You will get it working, there are enough great minds on here and I'm proud to say they got mine working like a dream. As you have already read on this post a manual just isn't out there . See if you can post a pic of what it looks like now. I may still have some pics that I had taken.

Thanks, I will see if I can post some pictures this evening. I just removed the amplifier and it looks like someone threw up inside of it after eating a bunch of capacitors.

Here is a picture from the underside of the amp. It appears that they have bypassed a few things and have put a transformer from something else onto the frame as it doesnt match up with the screw holes. If anyone has a good picture of the amp or can rec. a replacement from something else or has a hand drawn schematic on a Denny's napkin, I would much appreciate it.

Hey Scoot, looks to me like someone recapped it.Again there are guys on here that are sharp on these.When you turn it on do you have sound?I would unplug the turntable and plug it in and listen for a hum etc. You will probably need a cart for sure, if you have sound then remove the mech and make a frame out of wood to support it as you can run the mech by it's self, with it out shoot a pic of the springs that are unhooked. I am not a expert on any of this old stuff but managed to get my players working with alot of help form this site.

The unit will power up, but the black Tung Sol tube gets super super hot. I did not get a hum, but if I jiggled that tube a little I got some popping. The turntable itself (well the whole thing for that matter) looks pretty ruff. The cabinet is delaminating due to this being out in a barn. I really want to save this little guy. Where should I start with taking the mech/ turntable apart. The grease is very dirty and sticky so I assume it needs a good cleaning.

Your right about the mech.I would take ALOT of pics before you start. Like you I messed with electro's so I had a basic knowledge of how things should work.What does the mech do when you plug it in? any kind of movement ?
If you go to Jacks site. www.phonojack.com he has a great tutorial on removing the spindle.He is really good about helping you as are all the guys on here . I'm sure you will need a idler wheel but thats not a problem west tech The record lift and tonearm will come off pretty easy, looks like the turntable and tonearm will need alot of sanding (I glassbeaded mine) if you have access to one I would make a cardboard box to set the mech assembly in and duct tape it to keep as much beads out ,blow off the mech really good and start oiling/lubing whatever looks like it should move.As I said before I'm a newbie myself so this is just my thoughts

Can anybody tell me what cart I need,I tried Garys K45D and it works with some mods but it don't allow the needle to set forward enough to wipe the brush? Thanks

This is where you need to use some practical ingenuity to solve a relatively simple problem.
There are numerous threads on this site regarding cartridge installation.

Typed in Cart install and nothing seemed to apply or I'm just confused again.Forgive me but I do that alot

The cart works fine but I would like to have one that will wipe across the brush

A new hole can be drilled in the chassis and the brush/spring re-located.

Ron,

The K45D kit from Gary at Voiceofmusic.com should work fine with some tweaking. First, that kit is designed for an RCA Victor RP-190 not the Ristaucrat record changer which has a tone arm this is more like the earlier RCA RP-168 record changer. The cantilever and stylus of this K45D kit should stand up to the sideways brush, but the tip should be dead center on the brush to avoid any interference when you're 'playing a full stack' of records.


Dust brush on the Ristaucrat record changer also reduces static electricity build.

In this configuration, I like to use a removable stylus so you can change the stylus when necessary. But as you already have this K45D, I'd suggest you not use the "modified mounting bracket", the special clip with foam rubber that is secured by two screws. This Pfanstiehl P-228 cartridge has a long-life diamond tip stylus and puts out a nice 0.9v, plenty of power for this amplifier.

I would lightly crazy glue the cartridge to the tone arm and if necessary remove it "unglue it" with acetone. It actually unglues easily with acetone, but good friend bastardbus here on ARF suggests using hot glue, which I'm sure would work fine. The crazy glue is so thin the cartridge sits squarely on the underside of the tone arm. It is crucial that this tip be perfectly aligned for proper compliance and tracking. Yes, it matters even though the P-228 is very forgiving, it should 'kiss' the record and track properly.

Jack

Got it Jack, your reply did the job.That was my concern with the needle not wiping the brush I have read on some of the post about
getting the needle and cart back to the original position Thanks again

Looking at Jack's site I see there were wall/bar spkrs for these players. do these beasts even exist?

Got back on the amp and the 3 wire cap is a Sprague Atom that says 8+8 does that mean each leg is a 8 mfd? Also can in just use orange drops as a replacement? Thanks Ron

Those should be electrolytic capacitors; therefore, orange drops won't work. You could use two 10 mfd. electrolytics, of the same or slightly higher voltage rating, to replace the two section cardboard can electrolytics. Connect the plus of each new electrolytic to where each of the colored wires go, and each negative to the black wire.

Thanks Larry, for info. Ron

Going to order caps for amp it calls for a .2 is that the same as a 2? Thanks Ron .you can tell I'm a rookie