Columbia #9 Rebuild

[Zkeener323]

Well I am finally going to begin restoration on a Columbia portable that I have had hiding in the back of a closet for some time. I recently acquired the correct #9 reproducer and tried to search the forum for some guidance but I came up short. I regularly repair Victor reproducers but Columbia is foreign to me. My Viva-Tonal reproducer on my 810 I plan on sending to Wyatt, primarily because the diaphragm is damaged. However, I would like to do this one myself. Does anyone have some tips? Is the exhibition gasket tubing appropriate, Sugru for back flange reconstruction etc?

[Marco Gilardetti]

You may want to check the orange tubing that user grammofontjanst sells on eBay, it's the closets I can remember to Columbia's original orange tubing.

Otherwise, you may want to purchase the yellowish tubing which is commonly sold as "cycle valve rubber for bike inner tubes" (which grammofontjanst also resells, but you can find easily elsewhere, eventually also in bike shops).

By disassembling the soundbox you will find out that the back isolator is also orange and has screws on both sides as it keeps the soundbox suspended with no direct contact between the arm and the soundbox. It's not exactly what I would describe as a part easy to rebuild with sufficient precision with households. Unfortunately I've also never met anyone producing and providing replica parts. On the other hand you will probably find out that - contrary to what usually happens with rubbers used by HMV/Victor - this type of orange rubber has not solidified over the years and that you might reuse the back isolator quite succesfully, perhaps improving air tightness with the least necessary quantity of silicone.

[CarlosV]

On the other hand you will probably find out that - contrary to what usually happens with rubbers used by HMV/Victor - this type of orange rubber has not solidified over the years and that you might reuse the back isolator quite succesfully, perhaps improving air tightness with the least necessary quantity of silicone.

Marco is correct concerning the English Columbia reproducer back rubber rings, however the US-made rubber isolators harden with time and become petrified like a pterodactyls fossil. I made a replacement cutting two sheets of rubber into disks, making holes and gluing them back-to-back. Did not look good - it is hard to cut rubber - but keeps the reproducer in a single piece with the required flexibility.

[Orchorsol]

Tip for cutting rubber - lubricate the knife or scissors with a strong solution of dishwashing detergent in water.

[VanEpsFan1914]

Zack,

Glad I could provide you with the "correct #9 reproducer" and get another machine back running. Good luck with the restoration!

I thought I put in the description that there was no isolator left on that reproducer. The guy that messed with it back in the eighties was a hack and all there is, is the metal pieces & screws.

Perhaps you could take silicone sealant and make a sheet about the right thickness, then cut that with a razor knife to get the right size of sheets to use for the isolator.

If it doesn't make it or if it's damaged, now you know who to complain to.



Charles

[Phono48]

On the other hand you will probably find out that - contrary to what usually happens with rubbers used by HMV/Victor - this type of orange rubber has not solidified over the years and that you might reuse the back isolator quite succesfully, perhaps improving air tightness with the least necessary quantity of silicone.

Marco is correct concerning the English Columbia reproducer back rubber rings, however the US-made rubber isolators harden with time and become petrified like a pterodactyls fossil. I made a replacement cutting two sheets of rubber into disks, making holes and gluing them back-to-back. Did not look good - it is hard to cut rubber - but keeps the reproducer in a single piece with the required flexibility.

All good advice, except that the No.9 soundbox doesn't have that sort of rubber insulator, it has a flexible metal insulator, fixed to the main body at three points. There is a black rubber ring round the central core, but nothing like the red rubber ones we seem to be talking about here. Those are fitted to the No.15 and 15A soundboxes.

[epigramophone]

This is what they should look like. No.9 on the left, No.15/15A on the right :

[Marco Gilardetti]

Well, let's then hope that all that is needed by this soundbox to operate correctly is still in there.

[Zkeener323]

Well the soundbox came in safe and sound yesterday afternoon. I went ahead and disassembled it while I wait for the gasket material suggested by Marco. I only had difficulty getting the front bezel free from the back. It was really seized on there. The diaphragm is in pretty good shape, only a minor dent in the center that I can fix, and a little malformation along the edge. Interestingly, it appears to have factory sealed holes to what I can only guess would have been there for some sort of "spider" like on an orthophonic. As epigramophone noted, this does not have the orange back flange. It is just a simple black o-ring that isolates the reproducer from the arm assemble piece. Mine is still pretty pliable so I think I will leave it for the meantime. Also, thank you VanEpsFan1914, I wasn't even looking for one lately but it happened to pop up on my suggested items on e-bay and at such a low price I couldn't pass it up. I plan on getting many hours of enjoyment from it, again I really appreciate your more than fair price, honest description and aid to a machine in need. The HMV 21 that was fitted with the machine had a badly damaged diaphragm so I borrowed the thumbscrew from it. One day I'll work on fixing that one, but until a decent diaphragm pops up with out being attached to another reproducer (because then I'd have to fix that one too, of course) I think the 21 can live without it's thumbscrew. My motto these days is "fix what you got" I've acquired too many machines I bought because it was cheaper to have, and have for future use of their parts. So now I get to recover some portables, and do some woodworking on a few tabletops.