The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I have always heard you should replace gov springs in sets. Today, I was getting ready to replace a set of three on a Victrola governor and pulled three from stock. I could see no difference between the two old ones and the brand new ones. I went ahead and replaced all three, but I wonder what the big deal is.
Dave D

The temper, thickness and even the length may vary slightly between original & reproduction springs. Any one, or all, of those things can effect the balance of the governor and create vibration and warble. I would guesstimate that the greatest chance for trouble would be in the temper. Basically, it's the same reason why it's best to change both mainsprings when only one is broken.

I am guessing that problems arise when replacing a broken governor spring on an off brand or unusual machine. If you can't find an exact match and you mix in something close it could cause the governor to run out of balance. So I would replace all the governor springs with replacements as close to original as possible. Is this a good repair practice?

How many people replace all the governor springs when one breaks on an ordinary Victor Victrola?

Jerry Blais

Jerry B. wrote:I am guessing that problems arise when replacing a broken governor spring on an off brand or unusual machine. If you can't find an exact match and you mix in something close it could cause the governor to run out of balance. So I would replace all the governor springs with replacements as close to original as possible. Is this a good repair practice?

How many people replace all the governor springs when one breaks on an ordinary Victor Victrola?

Jerry Blais

I do- I figure when one is bad the others aren't far behind.

I also replace all of them every time that complete spare sets are available.

Thanks for the interesting comments. I will continue to replace all the springs as needed.
Dave D