Can anyone help? I moved recently and my deck got bashed up and the tonearm wires in the mounting under the deck (linking to the phono leads) have all become disconnected. Does anyone know the order for re-soldering?
I'm not sure what you're asking, but the order of which wire to which terminal is somewhat arbitrary. Typically red is R+ and green or white is L+. However, as long as you are consistent with color at both the cartridge and phono input, you can use whatever color you want for whichever terminal you prefer.
I think I did most of the damage when I unscrewed the mounting without realising how delicate the connection were inside and I think I tore most of them out. I think (hope) it may be just a reconnection job but I just haven't a clue where to start. What are you suspecting may be worse. It's an old deck but I don't want to bin it because it has served me very well.
There are two main things that can go wrong with an arm when it's abused.
1. Wiring. 2. Bearings.
Strictly speaking if the wiring's been torn then you should rewire the arm. On such an old arm, this is uneconomic. You could buy a brand new RB250 for about £124 and benefit from a better arm immediately. In fact you can buy a Goldring GR1.2 (basically a Rega P2) from HiFi4Less for just £128 and use the arm off that! (While you're about it, you could check the oil in the '3' and check the condition of the bearing against that in the Goldring.)
2. Bearings: To check if the bearing has been damaged, balance out the arm so it balances horizontally. Then tap it at the headshell aiming for the centre of the deck. If the arm sweeps across with no change significant braking and/or doesn't stop suddenly on its way, then it's fine. If it seems to suffer from friction or stops suddenly when it swings in, then the bearings are damaged and this is definitely uneconomic to repair. Don't forget to put the stylus guard on the cartridge if you do this!