Slow Speed on Record

I have one vinyl record that plays a little slow.  What I have noticed is when I lay that record on top of another record, I can see a little (not much) daylight between the two edges of the records.  So, it appears not lying really flat.  Would that non-flatness contribute to a record playing a bit slow?  Or, maybe it is something else.

Any ideas??

Thanks,

Jerry

If it is just the one record, it is a good bet that record is warped and is causing the problem. If it were something with the record player, all the records would run show.

Welcome to TRF.

Thanks for the quick reply.  It make sense, but it is surprising that just a little of non-flatness would cause the slow play.

Jerry

Records are designed to grip with the outer edge of the record and the label. If they are warped, they can slip.

It does not take very much slippage to be noticeable, especially at 33 1/3 . You probably would not see it slip while it is playing.

I found the last two responses very informative. It gave me some info as to how records tend to adhere to each other and I could expect some slippage at 33 1/3. I had no idea the record’s edge was so important. That is where I see the daylight.

Thanks again for getting back to me.

Jerry

Warped records can play just fine singly. They can cause problems used with a changer. The edge and the label are the "friction" points. Records are designed with the playing grooves somewhat indented so they do not get friction wear being stacked on a changer.

If you should have access to any, the rubberized mesh sheet people use for putting on their kitchen shelving would prevent slipping. Cut a piece the size of a record with a spindle hole and put it on the surface the record slips on and the record on top.

Wildcat 445

I was okay until your latest response.  You said warped records would play okay singularly.  In my case, I played the record in question at all positions, singularly and in various stack combinations.  In addition, I did the following:

1.  Played the same record on another record changer (somewhat newer) at all positions and it played slow there as well.

2. On the older record player, even though other records sounded normal, I was suspicious that it might have a slight speed issue.  So, I replaced the idler wheel and the 33 1/3 speed turret.  The record in question still played slow.  And, the other records sounded normal – maybe a little better, but difficult to tell.

So, I could have more than one issue with the problem record.

The rubberized mesh sheet is a clever idea; not sure if I want to go to that effort for one record.

Jerry

If you put a paper strobe on it, is it actually turning slowly?  Not sure if you said it played slowly on a rubber friction mat... it would be hard to slip on that!
Have you played it on a separate transcription quality T/T?
I doubt if it is actually recorded "flat"! :-)
Cheers,
Roger