Kenwood KD-48F automatic operation issue

[pianogamer5]

Hi all,

 

A couple years back, I got a Kenwood KD-48F turntable from Facebook Marketplace, and it's served me well for a while (only needed a new cartridge). However, recently I had an issue with the automatic operation of the turntable, so I cracked it open to figure out what was up. I did move recently, so I think something could have been jostled around in there and got out of wack. After a lot of fiddling (and supergluing a part back in place), I have it in a somewhat decent state, but things still aren't working perfectly.

 

Thankfully, when the turntable reaches the end of a record, the auto-return function works properly: the tonearm raises, returns to its resting position, then lowers again, and the motor stops.

 

However, I'm unable to get automatic playing to work. When I press play, the turntable starts, the arm raises, moves nearly to the runout portion of the record, lowers, then kicks out a bit back into the last track of the record, probably scratching it a bit in the process (though I haven't seen any visible scratches from this). Normally, the tonearm is supposed to raise, move just to the edge of the record, then lower and begin playback (as you'd expect).

 

This isn't the worst thing in the world, as I can simply manually start playing my records, and let the auto-return function do its magic, but I'd like to have the auto-play function working too if possible.

While I was working on the player, I did attempt to find a service manual, and it appears one exists for free at vinylengine.com, but when I try to register for an account there it tells me that registrations are closed. I did see it available elsewhere, but for a fee (either for a physical reproduction or PDF version), which I'd rather not pay.

 

Does anyone have this turntable, and might know why my auto-play function doesn't work? Or, does someone have a vinylengine.com account, and would be able to procure the service manual (located here: https://www.vinylengine.com/library/kenwood/kd-48f.shtml) for me to diagnose the issue further?

 

Thanks in advance!