Got a handcranker for Christmas

Devoted to discussion of all-acoustic record-playing machines, such as Edison cylinder players, Victrolas, Brunswick Ultonas, and the like. When the Big Blackout happens, this will be the only audio evidence of our civilization (as it is).

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Jesus H Chrysler
Posts: 190
Joined: Sun Nov 26, 2006 12:03 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Got a handcranker for Christmas

Post: # 32968Unread post Jesus H Chrysler
Tue Dec 30, 2014 7:35 pm

A 1917 Victor Victrola XVI. Still works, but the spring makes a clunky sound sometimes and the speed adjustment doesn't seem to work very well.
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emorritt
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Location: Tennessee

Re: Got a handcranker for Christmas

Post: # 32983Unread post emorritt
Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:20 am

The clunking means that the lube in the spring barrel has dried out and the springs no longer slide smoothly as they unwind. The speed adjustment is possibly either disconnected from the governor linkage or needs adjustment.

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Jesus H Chrysler
Posts: 190
Joined: Sun Nov 26, 2006 12:03 am
Location: Asheville, NC

Re: Got a handcranker for Christmas

Post: # 32988Unread post Jesus H Chrysler
Thu Jan 01, 2015 9:39 pm

Thanks! I figured it was something simple like that. I haven't had time to dig into it yet, but the mechanism cant be too complex.

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emorritt
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Location: Tennessee

Re: Got a handcranker for Christmas

Post: # 32998Unread post emorritt
Fri Jan 02, 2015 2:25 pm

You have to be careful removing the cover of the spring barrel as there are two springs (sometimes three or four, depending on the model) separated by a slotted plate. They are powerful springs and you can be injured by them if they go sproing!! :lol: Seriously though. Be careful. You open the barrel, put in a couple tablespoons of the lube, then wind the machine and let it run down a few times to spread the lube. It's best to remove the top spring, lube the bottom with a little less lube, then replace the top and put an equal amount in it. If I recall correctly, in the Victor products, the springs hook the winding shaft by two rectangular slots. Some models have crimps in the end and the shaft is slotted so the 'Z' shape engages when the crank is turned. You can use Moly lube on these, but the best mix is finely powdered graphite and Vaseline. This mix was taught to me over 30 years ago by an 80 year old expert that I learned spring motor repair from. It will dry over the years, but modern lubricants will get gummy and turn into a mess. Silicon, moly and regular oils and greases don't work as well as the graphite mix. Oils will drip out through the cover plate and holes where the winding shaft passes and mess up the inside of the machine.

Getting the speed indicator adjusted properly can be a challenge since the needle is mounted on a shaft that has a hairspring which engages a lever with a secondary felt pad that rides on the governor plate. How far the plate moves when the machine is started is "read" by the second pad and moves the needle on the gauge above the motorboard. You have to wind the machine and then strobe card the turntable and adjust the speed to 78 RPM. Then, giving a few winds between tries, you have to raise the motorboard, loosen the setscrew on the needle and adjust it, lower the motorboard, check the strobe speed with the turntable flat, then raising the motorboard again and adjust the needle until it's about right. It's a little complicated, but it is possible to get it pretty much dead on. But again, Victor primarily recorded at 78 but didn't standardize it until the late 1920s. Foreign recordings that Victor issued in the U.S. used speeds from 60 to over 100 RPM from the 1890s onward. One of the reasons the speed indicator is there is that some records had the correct speed printed on the label and other companies the playing speed was printed on the record envelope. Others, it was your guess - if it sounded too fast, slow it down - too slow, speed it up. Classical recordings was the primary reason for speed variations. At 78, a 10 inch disc would run about 3 minutes to 3:30 comfortably - a 12 inch disc up to 4:30 or so. If a piece ran longer (even cut down, as was common practice for classical music) the engineers would slow the recording lathe down to try to accommodate a longer selection, trying to not sacrifice frequency response or cause greater surface noise, which is why early recordings ran at such a high rate of speed compared to a 45 single or LP.

Hope this helps.

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