hi all, picked up a rivarossi 5104 turntable on ebay, must be 50 years old but still runs and looks great. controller not included but i figured out the wiring colors to the motor and solenoid and i'm simply going to use a toy ho power pack to rotate the turntable at my chosen speed in forward or reverse.
the solenoid when energized pulls up a locking pin that drops into place when the bridge lines up with a perimeter track. the motor won't run until the solenoid energizes again and lifts the pin. i wired up the solenoid in parallel with the variable dc line going to the motor and it energizes but gets a little warm. is it ok for the solenoid to run on variable dc or does it need fixed ac?
UPDATE: If I apply voltage to both turntable motor and the index solenoid, the solenoid won't get enough starting voltage to pull up its pin before the motor wants to go, which locks up a running motor. so the solenoid must get its own separate full voltage line when the turntable starts to run. im sure the original controller was wired this way.
anyway i found a way to permanently lift the solenoid and pin up out of the way (a paper clip) and wont be using it. I also bypassed the safety switch. I'll use the good ol' eyeball indexer--much more fun. this turntable now runs terrific for a dinosaur. (had to pop the turntable and clean the rings also bend the wipers--see my post in WPF june 24 for the how to) -rob