Cartridge problem

[Audio Al]

Hi

My Shure V15 Type 3 Supertrack plus seems to have lost one Chanel :scratch:

Any way of testing it

I swapped the head shell for another with a different cart and that one works fine

I also metered out the pins on the head shell and get continuity through all 4 pins

[Clive197]

I think you already know the answer to this one. Sadly your V15 TypeIII has passed away, it's dead, expired, shuffled its mortal coil, gone to the great cartridge heaven.
If there was a way to test the cartridge, it would only tell you the same thing. To the best of my knowledge, you can't repair them. Even if a specialist could, they would not be able to get the original parts and anything else would make it something else and not the V15 TypeIII that you know and love.
I'm sure that in your heart of hearts, you know all this. Please accept my condolences, a great cartridge.

[walpurgis]

Hi Al.

Apart from the stylus, which I assume is OK. There are no moving parts to wear out, so the only thing I can think of is that one of the fine lead out wires from the coils has corroded and parted. I have seen this before and it usually happens by the pins at the rear of the cartridge body where the heat from soldering has removed the lacquer coating from the wire. You need to get the cartridge body off to inspect this. It can be repaired if you're very good with a small soldering iron and there's enough slack left in the wire to reach the pin. You could graft a piece of fine wire in if need be.

[Kvaal]

Take the cart off the shell and clean contacts with isopropyl.

[DSJR]

A cheat, but BE CAREFUL!!!

Touch a well warmed up and properly tinned soldering iron tip to the END of the affected channel pins on the cartridge. 'Sometimes' it's just enough to re-make the solder connection inside. If you're very lucky, that's all you'll need to do... If not -

Many thousands of V15 III's were made and bodies on their own do come up on eBay all over the world. Whatever one's opinion of the V15 series, they're all collector's items now and prices aren't hugely realistic.

A quick note. If you're after an upgrade, the Me97XE with Jico SAS stylus is about where you should look. The SAS stylus for the V15 III 'changes' the performance, whereas the 97 one seems to genuinely improve the Xe's performance and tracking (flatter response amongst other things).

[kcc123]

One can use a digital multimeter and set it at the 200 ohms position to test the coil resistance and continuity of a cartridge. If one channel is open, it is highly likely that one of the tiny wires attached to one of the pins is parted or broken. It can be repaired if one is skillful with a soldering iron as I have done this before.

[walpurgis]

it is highly likely that one of the tiny wires attached to one of the pins is parted or broken. It can be repaired if one is skillful with a soldering iron as I have done this before.

Blimey. You must be telepathic. That's just what I said! :lol:

[kcc123]

Heheh, just a coincident!

[kcc123]

Actually, I have repaired two of my cartridges by soldering back the dechached wires to the pins, one is a Denon 103 R and the other an Audio Technica AT32E.

[DSJR]

I've done one or two, but one M75 body couldn't be saved sadly..