Mike New Bearing.

[I.D.S.]

Morning all anyone still got their fitting instructions for the Mike New bearing. I know it's not a lot but would be handy to look. Enjoy the weekend Ian.

[CageyH]

No. The important thing is to make sure that there is no electrical contact with the PCB.

[CageyH]

Thanks to Robbie Gong, I have a copy of the instructions.
PM me your e-Mail address and I will send them across.

[CageyH]

I will try this:

Instructions for fitting the replacement High Precision
Bearing to the SL1200
Issue:-- 3​ (28-04-2011)
Author: Mike New​
​
Note: These Instructions should be read and understood before proceeding with changing the Bearing.

Every effort has been made to ensure that these instructions are clear and unambiguous; follow them carefully.

Disassembly

a) Remove all power from the SL1200 before proceeding

b) Remove the top Hinged cover if you have one

c) Clamp down the Tone Arm and fit cover to stylus if you have one

d) Remove the platter by inserting fingers into the two holes and pulling upwards.

e) Remove the five screws holding the large black cover (with radial slots for ventilation) and remove the cover.

f) Carefully remove the three plugs attached to the cable forms from the main circuit board. One on each side of the board, (top, bottom and right hand side, when viewed from above.) Note: you may need to clip the cable clamps on the bottom cable form to give more freedom.

g) Now remove the three self-tapping screws, which hold down the circuit board (Top Right, Bottom Right, and Bottom Left hand corners.) Use the correct size Posidrive screwdriver, a Phillips screwdriver will do if you are careful.

h) Now remove the three long screws equally spaced around the periphery of the motor coil assembly, these are black in colour. (these screws clamp the coil assembly and bearing to the main plinth.)

i) Carefully lift the circuit board upwards and to the left and remove the bearing assembly from the bearing cavity while observing how the bearing housing fits into the three curved slots.

j) Now remove the small black circular plastic cover that locates on top of the coil assembly if it is fitted. Note: This cover is no longer required as it interferes with the extended locating spigots, which accurately locate the bearing into the coil assembly. The cover was only used to protect the coil assembly during the rigors of storage, warehousing and assembly. It serves no technical function in the direct drive motor.

k) With small side-cutters or nail scissors carefully trim the component wires that poke through on the solder side of the board in the area of the circular body of the new bearing. Nip the wires neatly to immediately above the solder dome. Place a clean rag or towel over the base area before nipping to effectively catch the off-cuts and prevent them from getting in the works.

While you have the circuit board in you hand, take a moment to inspect the three corners where the self-tap screws fit through. Note the bottom left hand corner hole is the only one that has a connection to the Zero-Volt rail as discussed at some length on the AoS forum.
Also take time to compare the very solid build and design of your new bearing compared with the light flimsy bearing you have just removed. There is no comparison is there!!

Reassembly

l) Carefully fit the new bearing into the curved circuit board slots with the right hand whilst locating the three long retaining screws through the holes in the bearing. Now hold the assembly by the protruding spindle while lowering back into the bearing cavity.

m) Now insert the bottom left hand screw into the corner of the circuit board to locate it correctly but do not tighten.

n) Carefully engage the three long bolts in their lower chassis holes and lightly tighten using the correctly fitting Posidrive/Phillips head screwdriver and taking care with the adjacent fine copper motor coils. Note: The circuit board (already well located by the bottom left screw) may still need to be jiggled a little to line up the screws with their individual existing holes.

o) Insert the remaining two screws into the corners of the circuit board and loosely tighten all three.

p) Now fully tighten the centre bolts, which will now clamp your new bearing to the plinth.

q) Finally, tighten the three circuit board screws

r) Note: On some models of SL1200 an earthing tag is fitted to the bottom left hand screw.

s) Replace the circuit plugs attached to the three sets of wires, into the circuit board

t) Carefully fill the oil cavity around the top of the spindle (just below the taper) with the oil supplied and replace the platter. Note: you will only require 3-5 drops of oil to form a very shallow meniscus around the spindle.

u) You are now ready to replace the platter, (top cover is not needed yet) switch on the unit and give it a spin. Note: Before replacing the platter add a coating of Vaseline or silicone grease to the spindle taper; this allows the platter to more easily settle down onto the taper.

v) If all is OK then remove the platter, refit the black top cover and replace the platter, mat etc.

Final Considerations

The new bearing may have slightly altered the VTA setting so you will now need to check this before spinning some vinyl.

The platter needs to be carefully leveled in all directions for maximum benefit. A short level placed on the platter will give the best results. Rotate the platter and check for level in all directions.

Tip:--​The standard feet on the SL1200 are a loose fit in their threads and are unsuitable for the best results. Tightly screw all four feet into the base as tight as possible. Now use shimming to level the platter, pieces of plastic, cardboard etc will do the job.

Note:--​Allow about 50 hours for the bearing to effectively run-in before any critical listening, although you will notice a difference immediately, in the overall sonic performance

​HAPPY LISTENING

If you are happy with the quality of your new High Precision Bearing; then let all you friends know on your favorite forum.

[Nigel]

What happened to Mike New? I've not seen any posts from him for a long while.

[CageyH]

What happened to Mike New? I've not seen any posts from him for a long while.

I assume he has retired from making platters and bearings.
His website is no longer active.

http://www.mikenewaudio.com/

[I.D.S.]

Hi Kevin many thanks for posting that there was a couple of items that i didn't think or know. I also did not get a response from Mike New so maybe he has retired and spends his time listening to music. Ian.

[mikeyb]

He was in his 70s a few years ago when he stopped making his upgrades for the Techie.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk