Victor 1-5 Repair (Part 3)

So in attempting to clear out two stray needles and a dessicated dead bug I broke the cap to the reproducer. It was not a shining moment.Thankfully George at GREAT LAKES ANTIQUE PHONOGRAPH had not only a escutcheon but also a brass reproducer to replace the now pulverized one made of pot-metal.In examining the escutcheon I saw that while it's internal diameter was exactly right, it's external diameter left a sizable gap between it and the chassis. This is not ideal as it puts all the cranking stress on the two screws which as you know are screwed into a 70-year-old box. That seemed unwise knowing that it may be dry and brittle and prone to more crumbling. I wrapped the internal portion of the cylinder in amalgam tape to fill out the gap until it was flush to spread out the force.The reproducer is connected by a single pin to the tone arm making replacement simple by design. The cap is attached by 4 teeny tiny screws, and the diaphragm by wax and the body insulators by 2 headless set screws but thankfully all that can stay put. I chose to replace the whole reproducer to avoid all that pain. The Victor 1-5 now works beautifully. I may completely disassemble it in the Springtime to more thoroughly clean and grease it all over again. But that it not an indoor project, and not a cold weather project. 'Till then I can just crank up my 78s and let it do what it was made to do.

Victor 1-5 Repair (Part 2)

With the phonograph disassembled into a pile of parts one can begin to clean and lubricate the mechanism. For cleaning I use a toothbrush. You're not looking for it to sparkle like chrome. You just want to remove debris and hardened grease. This will all brush away easily. Any crud that resists this will require solvents. Lets try to avoid that. We're not just removing old oil to make it pretty. Gummy dried oil and grease hold grit and dust and this will wear down the gears and add friction.

If you decide to outsource I recommend APSCO. The manual says to use Victor motor grease. Since that no longer exists I'll go with something comparable, and 3:1 oil on the more delicate parts.

The basic parts are as follows:
1. Spring Barrel
2. Governor
3. Drive Gears
4. Base plate
5. Speed Control shaft
6. Turntable

1. SPRING BARREL
We are tentatively assuming the Spring is not broken which I have proven by process of elimination. This means that barrel can stay sealed.

2. GOVERNOR
The Governor needs oiled at each bearing and the Friction Sleeve in the middle of the shaft as well.

3. DRIVE GEARS
wipe away old grease and freshly lubricate the spiral of spindle and the teeth of all gears. This is a 85 year old phonograph, it's been lubed before. You can see where it needs to go.

4. BASE PLATE
Just wipe clean.

5. TURNTABLE
In this case we have a little rust so I've buffed it off with steel wool and the rubbed in a thin coat of oil. After that all I can do it hope that it doesn't spread.

OTHER PROBLEMS: I realize now that I'm also missing the escutcheon. This is not something I can fake. I'll need to buy a replacement. There also is deep cracking in the potmetal case of the reproducer, and strangely there are 2 needles and one dead bug inside the reproducer. Those probably made it in through the tone arm as well. I may have to farm out the more delicate work of repairing the reproducer.
I gave it a couple cranks and it seems to to test it. It seems to wind up and hold tension but it slows down quickly, finishing one side of one 78. This is probably average behavior for a single spring model. But it's equally likely that the 80 year old spring has metal fatigue and will ultimately need replaced. However, with out the escutcheon it's not safe to keep winding it up. Without an escutcheon the cranking motion will wobble outward and can damage the gearing, strip the threads and otherwise destroy the motor. I've emailed George at Great Lakes Antique Phonograph. So short of a complete rebuild.. I'm done.

Victor 1-5 Repair (Part 1)

I am the proud owner of a Victor 1-5 portable phonograph. It's serial number 16284. I would be more proud if it worked. The VV 1-5 portable was introduced in 1926 as a "step-up" model from the basic VV 1-6. It was in turn replaced by another series of 200 series portables: the economy model VV 2-35, the mid-range VV 2-55, and the premium VV 2-60 model which all came out in 1928 and 1929. these are not particularly rare or valuable which to my advantage means that at least the parts will be readily available.

The problem is that though the platter turns, the weight of the tone arm leads it to stop doing so. This is a common problem that can have a number of causes. The VV1-5 is a single spring model so if it turns at all, the spring is not broken. We are probably looking at a problem with hardened grease. It needs cleaned.

STEP ONE: Research
Read about the phonograph. The best way not to break things is to do a little reading ahead of time. One simple tip from a more experienced user can avert catastrophe. I started here. Victor also usually has a diagram inside the device instructing the owner how and where to oil the device. This one is scanned below. The discoloration is because Victor varnished it right onto the underside of the plinth.
STEP TWO: Detach the turntable
Technically the turntable is just the platter that spins. The chassis is called a plinth. First rotate the tone arm out of the way so that it is not damaged by the disassembly. Then pull the E-clip (E-ring) off the spindle. The turntable should lift right off. Yes that's rust on the bottom of the turntable. Yes, that's bad. Even though the rust is light, it means one horrible thing: Moisture may have gotten at the mechanism.STEP THREE: Detach the plinth.
The turntable is mounted directly to the top by four small Flathead screws. Underneath it is a sound box. The VV1-5 used the Victor used a No. 4 Sound box which connects to the elbow. The elbow is that stationary metal mount connecting to the tone arm. Mine is marked #50 in chalk. I wish I knew what that means. See Step#1.STEP FOUR: Examine the motor.
the motor is still attached to the plinth. eventually this will need unbolted but for the moment It's convenient to leave it be. The first thing I noticed is that the speed adjusting screw was screwed down so far by the previous owner the level it adjusted has slipped off. It was permanently set to the slowest possible speed. This alone could be the problem.MORE TOMORROW...

RECORD WEEK Part 5: Victor

Victor Records, also called Victrola, RCA Victor and the owner of the infamous HMV logo (His Masters Voice). They began in 1901 after the most dramatic start a label could possibly have.
First some preamble: Emile Berliner's Gramophone company started making 78s in 1889. These were mostly for toys, but quickly grew into the real thing. At the same time, Eldridge Johnson was running the Consolidated Talking Machine Company. that company made phonographs to play those aforementioned discs. So far all is well. Then this Zone-o-phone bastard Frank Seaman comes along. He steals design concepts from both companies. The infringements are blatant, and have no hope of standing up to normal legal scrutiny. So Frank goes for an innovative approach.Frankie sues Gramophone and the Consolidated Talking Machine Company for copyright infringement. This is as absurd as it sounds. Then he goes to Columbia records and convinces that their earlier patents are broader than they currently think. He proposes that he pay them royalties if they help with his insane plan. Normally this would be a loss, but Columbia also hopes that they can but Gramophone out of business and take seize some market share. It goes down. Together they actually get an injunction against Berliner and Johnson in 1900.
But they counter sue and they have the patents to prove that Seaman has chutzpaz but is also a nut bar. Columbia Records slinks off and sulks. Berliner and Johnson are victorious and thus form the Victor Talking Machine Company. In 1906 they start producing the very popular Victrola phonograph.
In 1928 Johnson sells his half of the company to RCA and it becomes RCA Victor. In the late 1940s they began releasing the first 45 rpm records. In 1968 RCA phased out the HMV logo and the Victor brand as part of a modernization for the company. The little dog nipper got a reprieve in 1976. In 1985 Bertlesman and RCA formed BMG. It was this company that revived the Victor brand in the late 1980s for the occassional oddball release.

DO YOU KNOW THIS RADIO?

When I first saw this I thought it was an RCA model 45X11. but the chassis is wood and clearly older than that. Eventually I had to admit that I have no idea what model this is.

It's an RCA-Victor somthing and it's portable. It has a space in the back for a battery and no power cord, or if there is a power cord it's long lost. There's a handle on top so it's a portable somthing . It's resemblance to the 1940s Philcos is too strong for it to be much odler or newer. Anyone know what this is? It reminds me of Motorola Model 50-XC-3, but this is obviously an RCA, and lacks the "polish" of that model. it's got that nice dark finish like the RCA T63, but dosen't look a damn thing like it otherwise.