One thing that always really stands out as a sore thumb on a turntable is a scratched dust cover. And the bad thing is, almost all older turntables have this problem.
Over the years, people have cleaned them in the wrong way, or have had items stored on top of them, scratching the surface.
How do we fix this?
When looking for solutions to the problem, we found that information on the internet is conflicting, or just plain wrong, possibly even making things worse than they currently are. Or information is outdated or not detailed enough.
We figured our expertise in polishing plastic pinball machine parts might help us out on this one.
Our basic theory: We simply wetsand the surface up to a very fine grit, and then polish it.
The disclaimer: We don’t claim to be any kind of experts here, this is our first attempt to fix this problem. This will just be a proof of concept. Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments!
The victim
You don’t try new cleaning techniques on expensive equipment, instead, you sacrifice a junk unit, in case things go horribly wrong. It will also help you get a feel for the technique, before you try it on the real deal.
We happen to have just that: A Sony PS-T15 from 1979. Not necessarily a junk unit when in good condition, but also not really high-end stuff.
The platter keeps turning slowly when the unit is off. A bad capacitor perhaps? Also, the original headshell is missing, the current one doesn’t have a needle, and one of the hinges on the dust cover is broken. And the dust cover is heavily scratched and dull of course, perfect!
