saba: SABA Phono-Super 9 Question

Hello all, this is my first post to the forum as I am a new member of radiomuseum.org.  My first question has to do with one of my new addtions, the SABA Phono-Super 9.  I just purchased this radio/phono from an individual in Germany in almost perfect condition.  The radio portion is working fine, but the phonograph is spinning to fast. Everything appears to be fine on the inside, so I think this may have something to do with the 50hz/60hz differences between the US and EU. 

I have tried to solve this problem and have asked a few people what they would do.  One person said to change the value of the capacitor on the turntable motor.  Another said the wiring from the turntable motor to the main power supply may need to be switched and another said that I may need a new spindle for the motor that would work here in the USA on 60hz.

The turntable is a Perpetuum-Ebner 4230 I believe. 

Someone told me that these PE turntables run at 168 volts, in between the EU and USA voltage and the wires running from the turntable motor to the main power supply may need to be switched.  Is this a 50hz motor?  If so, I can see why it is running fast here in the US where we use 60hz. Most turntables that were sold in Europe utilize 50 hz motors and when they are used in the US run about 20% faster than they should.  To solve this problem companies like Garrard and Thorens offered alternate motor spindles depending on where you were located and the power situation in that country.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how I can get this spinning slower so I can play my LP's at the right speed?  Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.  This is a great unit and I hope that there is a quick fix for this issue!

Thanks!

Foley

Edit 18-9-2018: Dead links to ebay removed

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Hello Foley,

you are right it's a problem with the 50/60 Hz power supply. The motor is a synchronous motor type. That means it always runs with the speed of the AC power. The input voltage may vary in a wide range (10 or 20%) with no effect to the turns of the motor. For some PE chassis are differerent spindles available.

If you have a look at the schematics of the Saba Phono-Super, you will see that the turntable is a 220V type. If you change the voltage selector to 110V the transformer work like a auto-transformer for the turntable motor. The voltage will be nearly 220V.

Maybe to solve your problem you have to use a electronic transformer. In Europe we can buy DC/AC converters for cars. They convert 12VDC to 230VAC with 50Hz. The output is sin-wave or nearly sin-wave for the cheaper one.

Michael

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