Brinkmann Bardo and Tri-Planar VII-U armrest issue


Just got a new Brinkmann Bardo. It was a snap to put the Tri-Planar am to the arm board drilled for this arm.

I measured the spindal to pivot distance of 233.5mm with my Feickert Protractor and set up the cartridge with the MintLP.

The issue I have is when I put down the arm, the arm will touch the arm rest and not fall at the beginning of the first track. By touching the arm rest, the arm is bump to several groove from the beginning of the track 1. I did try to fix this issue for the arm rest being too close to the platter by turning the armpod but without success if I want to keep the right S2P distance. Maybe I am doing something wrong. I would appreciate any comment/help.
acadie
Sarcher30

I cannot do it. The 3 holes for the Tri-Planar are not equilateral triangle but are isosceles.
Bummer. Sounds like the arm board was drilled incorrectly. One other thing to try, would be to remove the arm board from the table and flip it over. Maybe you have it upside down?
You can remove the flat head grub screw that fixes the armrest in position, thereby freeing the the j-hook/clip arm rest assembly to swing up or down on its metal support rod. Be warned however that removing this grub screw will be difficult - every screw on a TP is glued using a thread adhesive. A drop or two of acetone will usually dissolve the glue making it much easier to remove. You'll want to save the grub screw and obtain a new one as you'll have likely marred the head. In one arm board iteration, I had to do this to allow the arm to clear the lead-in groove as well. Just a slight downward tilt of the clip assembly did the trick, and the armrest is still perfectly functional as friction holds it nicely in place.
Whoever sold you the table should have come to your home to set it up, including full cartridge alignment, at no additional cost. At almost any level of purchase I would expect that.
Acadie,
I have the same issue. I sent Tri an email and he said to bend the small rod (arm rest rod) out, or away from platter.
I tried doing this last night, but found that the small rod is very stiff. I was afraid of putting too much pressure on the rod and screwing up the tonearm frame/body.
Once I have the right tools, I will try again.
If you find a different solution, please let me know.