My deck plays too fast and i must adjust pitch control to -2.5 to get the speed correct... is there a way to adjust speed internally?

This could be the result of pitch adjustments gone awry. Also, you may have both the 45 and 33 1/3 buttons pushed down which cause it run at 78. Here are a few trouble shooting tips and you can find the full manual for the TT at the link posted below:

Record sounds too fast or too slow. 1.) Turntable is set for wrong speed. Make proper speed selection for record type being played with platter speed buttons. 2.) Variable pitch is engaged. Depress quartz button or return pitch adjust slider to center detent position to engage quartz lock. Moving pitch adjust slider produces no effect. If the LED next to the pitch adjust slider center detent position remains green when the slider is moved, quartz lock is engaged. Depress the quartz button to disengage the quartz lock and activate variable pitch. The LED should turn RED

The speed should be adjustable but the common practice is to use a frequency counter and test tape or test tape and wow and flutter meter. I look at this from a Technician's point of view as I have been fixing units for 45 years so far. Once the motor speed control is found it does not take too long. Sometime it take more time taking the cover off.

there may be 2 possibles

1, the pinch roller is not going down and staying in the fixed when during playback, easy way to check power down the unit, press play and see if it looks firm, it will push back, if working right

if its loose, it may well have come off a little sping, and may well be an easy ish fix, by someone who know about cassette decks,

2, the speed adjustment has failed, there will be an internal speed control, which keeps the playback at a correct speed, if this has failed it may be fixable, but only by someone who can take it to bits and remove and solder a new one in, and they are very small and Sony items i have had have failed on speed control! too for me its a junker box

good luck

How to tweak the playback speed on Panasonic SL-HM42 turntables


You will need:

1. 1x small Philips screw driver
2. 1x small flat-head screw driver
3. An ear for correct pitch and a little bit of DIY skill!

Step 1 - Remove the wooden base plate

After ensuring that you've removed the the rubber turntable slip mat and securely docked the turntable arm, carefully flip the turntable over onto its lid to expose the wooden base plate, as per below.

Using the small Philips-head screw driver, remove the screws holding the wooden base plate in place, then gently lift the base plate off the turntable.



Step 2 - Expose the pitch adjustment screws

Once the wooden base plate is removed, you will see the speed-controller circuit board on the right-hand side.


To expose the the two speed/pitch-control screws, firstly remove the screw holding the speed-controller circuit board in place, then gently lift the circuit board up on the free side.


Step 3 - Correct the turntable playback speed and pitch

The easiest way I found to correct the playback speed was to flip the turntable carefully back into the original position, allowing the speed-controller circuit board to hang free as shown below.



Next, play a record that you know well and are able to tell when the speed/pitch is correct (assuming you have an ear for correct pitch, that is!), then at the same time using the small flat-head screwdriver, gently turn the speed adjustment screw(s) to adjust the playback speed up or down until the correct playback speed and pitch is achieved (or at least until it no longer annoys you ;).

Turning the screws clockwise (to the right) will increase the speed/pitch, and anticlockwise (to the left) will decrease the speed/pitch.

NB - Both screws allow for fine pitch control, so if the second is already at maximum speed, you can use the first screw for additional speed.
Step 4 - Reassemble the turntable again

When you're happy with the speed of your turntable, remove the record, the mat again & locking the turntable arm, replace the screw holding the speed-controller circuit in place (as per Step 2) and then finally replace the screws holding the wooden base plate, as per Step 1.
Happy listening!

This condition, regardless of which way the tape is moving, is caused by the failure of a rubber pinch-roller to trap the tape between capstan and the passive roller.The speed is then caused by the part of the drive driven by a small belt and a clutch that should only keep a small amount of tension on the tape in ensure clean rewinding of the tape after it has passed the head.
Lubricant in part of the transport's moving parts or a dried-out rubber roller may be causing this.If you want to try to clean the pinch roller, don't use alcohol since this can further harden the robber.Use a clean fiber-free cloth or paper towel wetted with a LITTLE naphtha and turn the roller on the wetted area. If you get some dark smudging, the treatment is working.

You need to calibrate your pitch control. This requires a small precision screwdriver (similar to something you would repair eye glasses with). If you look under the turntable where the pitch control is you will find 2 small holes, 1 marked 33 and 1 marked 45. Turn the turntable on and set the pitch control lever to zero pitch. While the turntable is spinning insert the screw driver into the pitch calibration hole under the turntable and twist the potentiometer back and forth until the turntable pitch is zero (I believe clockwise is faster, counterclockwise is slower as you look up from the bottom of the turntable). This is a fine tune adjustment and will not require much turning to adjust the speed (1 or 2 mm's) either way should start to bring you into zero pitch. The platter speed can be verified by the little dots on the rim of the platter. They should appear stationary in strobe light on the power switch when you are at zero pitch. When you are adjusting the speed you will observe the dots on the platter rim spinning clockwise and then counterclockwise as you adjust the fine tuning. Fine tune the speed until the dots appear stationary and you will be back to zero pitch. You have to adjust the turntable at both speeds 33 and 45 using the correct fine tuning hole under the turntable. My personal experience is it is easiest to do this with 2 people. 1 person to hold the turntable level and running, while the other adjusts the fine tuning. Hope this helps.

this is belt driven turntable....have you tried adjusting it via the pitch control or even getting another belt for that turntable....

On the 1200MK2 the pitch control slider is for just that purpose. Disregard the 0 setting and use the illuminated strobe marks on the platter to adjust to nominal speed. When they appear to be motionless you are there. The control on the 1210 may be a knob but the same principles apply.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technics_SL-1200

You have to understand any sort of calibration meter will only tell you if the pitch control is faulty - or excessively too fast/too slow. If your units are just 'off' then that is a matter of a simple calibration of your pitch controls back to original factory specs. Also, just so you know, the pitch controls on the 1200s are not really calibrated when they leave the factory. They are basically installed, set a default setting, then shipped off. So, you'll often times have 2 turntables with sequential serial numbers, but they are both off.

Here is a tutorial on calibrating your unit back to original factory settings: TECHNICS SL1200MK2 / SL1210MK2 TURNTABLE PITCH CALIBRATION

You can also print this out and give it to the technician who serviced your units. Also ask him what kind of calibration meter, or unit did he use to test? Just curios.

- TWEAK AV LAB
The ORIGINAL TURNTABLE Technicians.

Motor speed needs to be regulated by PWM. Reducing the current (with a resistor) actually lowers the torque - which, with a given load, does result in reduced speed - however, different length tapes (60min vs 90min), as well as different quality, and even current position in the tape, will change the load and hence the speed. You need to regulate the speed via PWM. It's sometimes done on a small board built into the motor, in which case you'd have a round hole into which you could insert an INSULATED screwdriver (tiny flathead wrapped most of the way in electrical tape works). It may be done on the main board, in which case you could find a pot conveniently labeled "motor speed", or perhaps "pulse width" or "pwm" or something to that effect. Find it, mark its current position just in case, and turn it to see if it gets the effect you're after. And there are some tape decks in the world with no speed adjust - they are designed with a specific speed motor and the sizes of the wheels and gears are calculated for that speed. Also there may be a mechanical fault/malfunction causing the speed problem. An initial check and thorough cleaning of the capstan and pinch roller should be done. If there is a buildup of tape oxide or a piece of a broken tape wrapped around the capstan, the tape travel will be too fast (do to the effective increase in capstan shaft diameter). If the pinch roller isn't fully engaging, the tape can be getting pulled onto the takeup spool at a speed faster than the capstan control. A different source of trouble might be a slip clutch (possibly an idler/clutch assembly)which is binding, or otherwise not functioning the way it should. Another type of motor doesn't have it's speed controlled by an internal or external voltage.. instead, the motor has an internal centrifugal speed controller. This type of motor can be found on older tape decks, and might not have been utilized more recently. Good luck