Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Discussions on Talking Machines & Accessories
User avatar
Victrola-Monkey
Victor III
Posts: 704
Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:58 am
Location: Florida

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by Victrola-Monkey »

Howdy and Welcome,

Though I’m in Florida now, I had lived 1975-1978 just over the bridge from you in Pennsville, my mom is still there.

I haven’t replaced any main springs yet but I had many slow moving motors that just needed a governor adjustment. It’s the spinning shaft with three weights that can be slowed down by the brakes being applied by the speed control. If you can’t get the speed up by increasing the speed control or by moving the lever it depresses on, on the underside with your finger, then perhaps the end play of the governor shaft needs adjustment. I had 5 machines I was working in a row that had that issue. The brake was always on, so I loosen the shafts end stops and slid the shaft slightly away from the brake pad. Note that I am referring to the governor brake on the motor and not the turn table brake that is on the top side of the motor board. Also make sure there actually are 3 weights on the governor, sometimes ones comes off. On the other hand if you hear the motor clunk as it unwinds, you will definitely need those mainsprings disassembled and repacked with grease. Good luck.

-Wayne

User avatar
Henry
Victor V
Posts: 2624
Joined: Thu Jan 08, 2009 11:01 am
Location: Allentown, Pennsylvania

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by Henry »

OrthoFan wrote:In case you need it:

Victrola VV-XI Owner's Manual -- (click on the thumbnail images to make them full size for viewing/printing) --

https://www.nipperhead.com/old/vicxi.htm

HTH,
OrthoFan
Milo, it's funny that Victor never bothered to update the photo on p. 4 of the Instructions, which shows an earlier cabinet version of the XI and also smaller horn doors. My XI from 1917 has the medallion front corner post carvings, like the one pictured, but larger horn doors (evidence of a larger horn!), and my Instructions book shows the same photo as the one in the link. Your XI has the later cabinet, with simplified front corner posts (no medallion carvings at the top) and larger horn doors, so by this time the photo is even more dated, despite the imprint date at the bottom of the last page (3-18-20, i.e., March 18, 1920). OTOH, the drawings throughout the Manual are correct for this late-date XI.

Congratulations on your acquisition. You got a very good deal for your $80 outlay. That machine should clean up nicely, and with a carefully rebuilt sound box and a good CLA of the other mechanicals, you should enjoy this machine for many years to come. Just be sure that you use a fresh steel needle for every record side, and play only "shellac" 78 rpm records, never vinyl records of any rpm. Incidentally, I generally use soft-tone steel needles in Exhibition sound box, and the sound is plenty loud! Your machine has the appropriate later no. 2 sound box on the "fat" tone arm (in Victorspeak, tone arm = "taper tube"), and should sound even better than mine!

If you're ever up my way (somewhere north of Philadelphia), send me a PM and we'll get together for a session.

User avatar
Curt A
Victor Monarch Special
Posts: 6412
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2010 8:32 pm
Personal Text: Needle Tins are Addictive
Location: Belmont, North Carolina

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by Curt A »

Milo,
Welcome to the Forum and to the new (to you) field of antique music and machine collecting... If you are like the rest of us, this is only the beginning and one machine is never enough... Hopefully, you won't totally succumb and have to build a new building to house your future collection, but if you do, I'm sure you will enjoy the trip...

You asked: "are any good websites out there, parts sources, things like that." Congratulations... you have found the best by joining the Forum.
"The phonograph† is not of any commercial value."
Thomas Alva Edison - Comment to his assistant, Samuel Insull.

"No one needs a Victrola XX, a Perfected Graphophone Type G, or whatever you call those noisy things."
My Wife

Milo Bloom
Victor Jr
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 2:47 pm
Location: Wilmington, DE

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by Milo Bloom »

My 17-year-old and I had a successful disassembly and cleaning session tonight.

I found it pretty interesting to be disassembling something that was likely last put together 99 years ago. We were discussing what would have been going on at that time... they were just three years removed from the last pandemic before this one, just a couple years removed from the Great War and still eight years away from the Great Depression. My grandfather was one. :)

Hoping to reassemble tomorrow or sometime later this week.
IMG-1178.jpg
IMG-1179.jpg
IMG-1180.jpg
IMG-1181.jpg

User avatar
Phono-Phan
Victor V
Posts: 2465
Joined: Fri Apr 06, 2012 9:38 pm
Location: Plover, WI

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by Phono-Phan »

I would suggest replacing both springs. They look pretty weak from the picture. Out of the barrel, they should be much wider in diameter unwound. Search for Ron Sitko in the "Links" section. He sells replacement springs.
Ken

EdiBrunsVic
Victor IV
Posts: 1060
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2010 12:12 pm
Location: Cranberry Township, PA

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by EdiBrunsVic »

Ken has a good suggestion. Contact Ron Sitko and he can help with supplying new springs.

User avatar
audiophile102
Victor IV
Posts: 1219
Joined: Tue May 12, 2015 12:50 pm
Personal Text: Say to yourself I am so happy hurray!
Location: Brookfield, Illinois

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by audiophile102 »

audiophile102 wrote:
Lucius1958 wrote:If you're leery about servicing the mainsprings, there are a number of folks in the Resources section of the Forum who will remove, clean, regrease, and replace them for very reasonable cost.

The rest of the motor is fairly simple, and should only need cleaning and relubricating. Rebuilding the reproducer is not too difficult, either. Enjoy!

Bill
Very good advise. Spring servicing is something left to experienced hands. Here is a You Tube video which will give you an idea how hard it is.

(Double-click the video above or click this link to go to the video on YouTube.)

"You can't take the phonographs nor the money with you, but the contentment the phonographs bring may well make your life better, and happier lives make the world a better place."

Victor VII
Victor I
Posts: 100
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 9:14 pm

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by Victor VII »

Congratulations on the lovely new machine and welcome (to you and your son) to a fantastic hobby. All of the warnings that spring replacement are best left to experienced hands very specifically reflect the fact that losing control of a wound spring can cause you and anyone /anything around you bodily harm. Not simply just a quality control issue...

VanEpsFan1914
Victor VI
Posts: 3165
Joined: Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:39 am
Personal Text: I've got both kinds of music--classical & rag-time.
Location: South Carolina

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by VanEpsFan1914 »

If you two wanted to give spring replacement at home a try, I suggest making sure you pack it with good grease that won't stick the coils together and make you have to do it over again.

But before you toss out those old mainsprings clean the very ends of them (the outside end where it hooks up to the barrel) and see if you can find the Victor trademark stamped into the steel. Considering you & your son were talking about history, this will let you see if your Victrola had ever broken its mainspring in the past & required an aftermarket replacement.

They really are good pieces of history, as well as worth actually using. I use mine all the time (I have an XIV and a few other kinds) for just listening to music--if they are fixed up there's no reason it won't last another 100 years of use, or more. Lots of us on here still use them.

Milo Bloom
Victor Jr
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Jan 09, 2018 2:47 pm
Location: Wilmington, DE

Re: Introduction - newbie Victrola owner

Post by Milo Bloom »

I took a look at the spring ends and the only thing immediately jumping out at me was the 17, which matches the 17 that's on the canister. So far we've been using the series of videos linked above for disassembly and cleaning and that 17 is mentioned there, as well as the pear-shaped holes on the springs, so I've seen everything I've expected to see so far.

I don't see a Victor trademark jumping out at me per se but since you suggested looking for it I do see something there that I can barely make out. It's in the below photo... appears to be something ending in DE... I can't tell if it's a M or an IV or something else.

Regardless I don't plan on discarding them if I don't reuse them... I'd probably hang them on the wall :)
spring markings.jpg

Post Reply