I bought a Yamaha YP-400 TT off TM (a present for my daughter), but before I picked it up, the seller emailed and said that as there wasn’t a power plug connected, he thought he would wire one on the power lead, and test it to make sure it was running.  He said he must have wired  it up wrong as there was a short circuit.  He offered me the TT free if I wanted to try and fix it.  I took up his offer.

I found that he had wired a three pin plug onto the phono leads (the phono plugs had been cut off by a previous owner) so when he plugged in and switched the power on he said there was a loud “phutt” under the tonearm base!  He said they must be old fashioned cables, as the white and red cables have an outer metal mesh!

Haven’t  had time to have a look at the damage yet, but I suspect that the terminal block under the tonearm  base may have fused, and it is likely that the inner cabling of the tonearm will have sustained damage.

Aftermarket phono leads can be bought, and tonearm cabling can be replaced.

But, and a big but, do the experts out there think that having 240V pass through the terminal block will have damaged things beyond repair?

ROFL. Good grief, what a total idiot " must be old fashioned cables as the white and red cables have an outer metal shield "
Unfortunately electricity has a habit of finding and blowing the weakest link. Apart from the previous owner this will probably be the tonearm wires.
The only way to establish the damage unfortunately will involve dismantling and inspecting. Everything is fixable, it just depends how much time and money you want to spend.

it would be interesting to see the cartridge too.

Oh no, things like that terrify me! He could have electrocuted himself as well by touching an exposed metal part of the turntable with the active 240V on it! Nightmare...
The tonearm wire, cable and cartridge will have taken the hit and will most likely need replacing. I’d replace them even if they don’t look too damaged, just to be sure. I just hope the explosion under the turntable hasn’t sprayed the insides with the dreaded black smoke and compromised something mechanical as well.
You might be able to get an Audio Technica AT95e for not too much as well, if that’s an appropriate cartridge for it.

AMR-iFi R&D

Sorry if my initial reaction was rather flippant, but after such stupidity the guy is lucky to be alive.

Nov 4, 2019 9:42:39 GMT 12 Graham said:

Sorry if my initial reaction was rather flippant, but after such stupidity the guy is lucky to be alive.

I reckon it was fair enough Graham!

ditto

it's for guys like the seller that the EU mandated stuff like the plugs in modern banana sockets.

you never know what people will do.

Agree with Graham! Will post pics when I get things dismantled. That will take a few days as several outside chores have been lined up for me due to this lovely fine weather.

I did take the head shell off this morning - fingers crossed it hadn’t been fused in place, but it came off easily. There is an old Yamaha cart attached,
probably the circa 1975 original. The cart wires do not appear burnt or discoloured, but will replace as I have spares.

Will be back with updates later.

Have partially disassembled. Today there isn’t enough light to take a photo. There is no evidence of fire or smoke, everything is very clean.
The tonearm wires look ok - they have a clear insulating cover over them from where they exit arm base and run to an insulated terminal to which they are soldered with the phono lead.
There is another set of cables/wires, same colours as the tonearm wires, but slightly thicker, which are twisted into a loom, also soldered on to the terminal, and running up under the platter chassis. According to the schematic they connect to the auto return mechanism (it is a semi auto tt).
I haven’t had a look under the chassis, but it is likely there could be damage there.
The wiring loom running to the auto return seems to have taken most of the hit, especially the white cable. That has been fused to several other wires, and when teasing them apart gently, the white cable snapped. I can see glimpses of exposed inner copper wire here and there on the loom as well.
When you factor in that this is a circa $300 TT, it looks to me that the cost of repair would exceed that amount (a ready terminated phono lead on TM alone would cost $189. To which would be added the cost of dismantling, cabling, and soldering by a tech.
There is also another, possibly unrelated, issue - according to the manual, the TT platter should simply lift off, but something is impeding it and it won’t lift off.
I will return it to the seller next time I am passing.

The platter is probably on a tapered spindle, jammed on.
Pull up at same time as pushing down spindle - don't be too vigorous or hit the bott thrust pad too heavily.

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Hi Sub
I hate to see a good turntable become landfill, which is probably its fate if returned to the seller.
Before you decide to do so how about checking the following.
If the tonearm wires from junction 5P-IL to the cartridge pins are OK it can be salvaged quite easily.
I would remove all the wires from 5P-IL ( just cut them off, no need to desolder ) except the tonearm wires which are blue BE and white WH, and red RE and Green GR. That includes the red, white, and blue wires going to the 'Short Switch '.
Check with a multimeter that the tonearm wires have continuity from junction 5P-IL to the cartridge pins.
If the continuity is OK you are sorted as the wiring from the junction to the rca leads can easily be replaced. The 'short switch' is just there to prevent popping when the motor starts or stops.
The other alternative is sending it to me to assess and/or fix.
Cheers
Graham

Owen, thanks, a little WD40 and some judicious muscle power, the platter popped off.

Graham, did what you suggested, cut all wires off except the tonearm wires. It is probably my technique, but I cannot get a continuity reading. My multimeter only has probes, and with such delicate wires to work on I think a multimeter with little alligator clips would work. Unfortunately I am handicapped by a condition known as essential tremor, and I was unable to maintain good contact with my probes.

The arrangement I had with the seller, was I would try to fix it, and if I could, make him an offer based on cost of repair and the auction sale price - $306.00

If I couldn’t repair it I would return it to him.

I have just emailed the seller to let him know of your offer. My proposal to him is if you can fix it for $306 or less, I will pay him the difference. If it is likely to cost more, I have suggested to him he could then negotiate with you. Since Istraka was the under bidder by $20, it is likely he could relist for a higher price once it is up and running.

OK , good plan.
I'm fairly confident it can be fixed for less than $300.
Cheers
Graham

The ‘short switch’ on most auto return turntables mutes the output until after the tonearm lowers onto the record. It mutes again when the tonearm is about to lift off automatically.
$189 for terminated cables on TM is excessive, you can get some cheap interconnect rca cables from Jaycar, snip off one end and terminate it onto the tonearm wires. But I realise that working with fine wires like that with your tremor condition might be easier said than done. Also, the contacts on the shorting switch might have fused if the wires going to it have burnt. Send it to Graham I reckon!

AMR-iFi R&D

The $189 phono cable was for a relatively upmarket one by Supra, don’t seem to be any others listed on TM, but yes, Jaycars will have them cheaper.
Will drop off at Graham’s as soon as I am able.

John, I have some van den Hul cable that came off one of my SME arms sitting here if you want it, free if you take it away,might even find the original SME rca plugs as well.

Thanks Mike, will try and work out when I can pick up. Will email you 👍

The world's only vdH wired Yamaha YP-400

DarkLantern blog - darklanternforowen.wordpress.com

Well at least the cable capacitance might be lower 😉

AMR-iFi R&D

Nov 11, 2019 19:10:19 GMT 12 Mike A said:

John, I have some van den Hul cable that came off one of my SME arms sitting here if you want it, free if you take it away,might even find the original SME rca plugs as well.

Collected these yesterday from MikeA - VDH M.C. D 501;Hybrid.  Thank you Mike for your generosity.  Great sounding system you have, admire it greatly.

Could you remind me of the name of the Norwegian singer you played for me?  Want to see if I can track down anything by her.  Short term memory loss - I had forgotten her name by the time I hit Kamo!

You're more than welcome John.

The singer is Kari Bremnes and she has a couple of english language albums as well, "Norwegian Mood" and "You'd have to be here".

What a fantastic forum this is! Delivered TT to Graham on Friday 20 Dec, and by 22nd it is repaired and up and running. Thank you Graham and Mike.