Pulley puller , PR1 : USD12.00

Stainless steel dual or standard pulley upgrade is a simple mod which brings about substantial sonic improvement. The only problem is unlike other plug-and-play upgrades, pulleys for Rega TT's are glued down to the spindle and how to remove the pulley safely is of utmost concern. Though many had shared their experiences in removing their pulleys, some TT owners are still a bit worry, especially to remove the stock aluminium pulley using the "hack method".

I have also posted pictures of various pullers (thanks to all the contributors) as reference for you to source around your area. However, there are still requests to include a puller in my list of upgrades for those who may need it .

It has been in my mind for some time to come out with a simple puller to solve this problem. And now you don't have to look high and low anymore; it's here for you!

Planar 2/3 owners, other than those who have upgraded their motors would not require this puller. 

Swab some acetone onto the
 top of the motor spindle/pulley

Removing pulley with puller 

Job done!

Note: No need to buy a whole bottle of pure acetone, just borrow some finger nail enamel remover solution from your wife/girl friend/daughter will do as only two drops of it is required!


Here's feedback from Michael Minucci of New Jersey, USA:

Michael, Just installed the dual pulley on my P5. Just wanted to say it's an outstanding upgrade. I have a delrin platter which is slightly heavier than the standard glass and it comes up to speed much quicker now. Speed stability is also improved and the sonic improvements especially it seems in the lower end is tighter and more defined. For anyone who is not sure about this upgrade due to fears of removing the original pulley just order the pulley puller. The old pulley came off easily without the need for any acetone. Well worth the $12.00.  Thanks.  Michael  N.J. USA

Feedback and tips from Marty of Brentwood, USA on his RP3 upgrade:

Michael, Just finished installing the dual pulley and it is definitely an improvement! Everything is tighter! More Solid! Just all together better.  The pulley puller worked perfect, not sure why anyone would buy the pulley without the puller, why risk it? one thing I did different was I cut a rubber band for women's hair with fabric surrounding the rubber and tied several very tight knots around the post to create a barrier to stop the acetone from reaching the motor. The idea that the fabric would absorb the acetone. Then after letting it soak I mopped up excess acetone with a q tip. Then pushed the rubber band down with a screwdriver to make room for the extractor. From there it was just a matter of turning the screw until the pulley was free.  Sounds great thanks!

Tip for sourcing for suitable puller : 

* If you are looking for other pullers, make sure its dimension is big enough to accommodate the pulley size e.g. the one in picture below is too small for the pulley and will not work for you.

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Here's the emigration story of Nigel of Ohio, USA and his Rega Planar 3 TT. Let's see how he had overcome the problem of A/C frequency difference (50Hz in Britain and 60hz in USA):
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 "Hello again Michael,

Here are some photo’s for your blog:

My story is very simple really –

having emigrated recently from Britain to the USA I couldn’t bear to leave my Rega Planar 3 behind even though I wasn’t sure how to make it work over here with the different mains voltage etc. 

So then from reading your blog I realised that the lower voltage supply here wasn’t really the problem.The synchronous motor of the Rega still works, although sometimes it needs a little help to get it turning. The main problem is the different frequency of the supply – 60hz as opposed to the 50hz back home in the UK. The motor was running noticeably faster than 33rpm on that setting. 

So I found out you had a 60hz version of the metal pulley upgrade and ordered the parts from you. 

Your package arrived here in only about a week and I particularly enjoyed the stamps - very colourful!

Fitting it was so easy – it took me only 15 minutes and I was up and running again. The old pulley just popped off with minimal force using my fingers. I didn't need to lever it with any tools.

Removing pulley - 
 using my fingers only

The new pulley slide onto the motor easily 

I then fitted the new silicone drive belt and tested

I even did a crude timing on the rpm and confirmed that, sure enough, it was now running at just over 33rpm – which is exactly where it needs to be, obviously.   Thanks again Michael for your prompt service and support.   Nigel – Ohio, USA "

Thanks Nigel for sharing with us your story here!

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If you would remember, Peter Kisilenko, a professional musician in Canada had shared with us earlier on dual pulley upgrade for his fully modded RP3 TT. As he had mentioned that most probably this would be his last upgrade for the RP3 TT, I didn't expect to hear from him again.
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I was quite surprised (but really glad) when he contacted me recently. Indeed it's good news to me that he'd decided to use my upgrades for his new hybrid mono TT. Also, it's so kind of him promising to send some pictures to share with us here. One important point to take note on his motor base installation is: he had removed the circuit board from the plinth to have a out-board/detached motor. I had also discussed how to do this in my post :"How to make out-board motor". In fact this "outboard motor" can be "shared" by different Rega TT's you have since it is detached completely from the plinth and you won't be playing both TT's at the same time.
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Try it out ... and you may like it ! (the detached motor not only can be shared, but also easy for moving the TT's around). 
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Here's the note and pictures sent by Peter : 

"Hi Michael,

As promised here are some photos of my P2-P3 hybrid mono TT. The table consists of the motor, circuit board, bearing, cover and feet from a Planar 2 and the  Rega 303 arm from my RP3 that are mounted on a P3 plinth that was given to me. The cartridge is an Audio-Technica Mono 3 LP. 

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All the other parts are from you - the acrylic platter,motor isolation, motor thrust bearing, aluminum subplatter, standard pulley and silicon belt. My RP3 now has an Audiomods classic arm.

I decided to mount the circuit board in a small box and use an in-line on-off switch on the power cable (excellent idea! Peter).

Here's how it looks under the table.

Here's a top view showing the subplatter and pulley.

Here's the complete table. 

It's a great sounding TT with rock solid speed stability and zero noise. Your upgrades made a huge difference!

Here are the two TT's side by side. The RP3 on the left has your double pulley installed.

It's great fun modifying Rega TTs and your parts have been a big part of the fun.

Cheers,

Peter      "

Thanks for sharing the experience with us, Peter!

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