Victrola 1-5 No-Return Coil

[Zkeener323]

I'm not really sure what to call this part, but its the coil spring that keeps the crank from unwinding as the motor is wound. Every other Victrola I have seen uses the ratchet prawl gear design. For those unfamiliar with this motor, it is similar to the style used in HMV portables. In any case, mine is broken and since the spring is tempered, I have no ability or access to tools to fix the existing. Does anyone have advise on either a source for a replacement or some sort of remedy. It appears that this style of motor was used very scarcely so hopefully I can find something without having to buy a whole motor just for parts. I did check the spring that's used in an HMV portable and its diameter is just a little bit too big for the Victrola. Any advise is greatly appreciated.

[VanEpsFan1914]

This spring might not be too hard to make.

You will want to use something like music wire for the spring itself, wound onto a mandrel or core the same diameter as your shaft. Then if that doesn't work, tempering a different wire will do.

My brother made a set of springs for a huge "longspring" steel animal trap. They're over a foot long, I think, apiece, & he made them with regular scrap-iron from the welding shop.

He built a wood & charcoal fire up & threw them in to anneal, cooling them slowly after they were red-hot. He then worked them into shape over a few days, cold, with a grinder & files and saws and all what not. To make them springy, he heated the fire red-hot again and put in the springs. Going by the color of them, he stopped them when they reached the desired redness by pulling them out & quenching them in a bucket of rainwater.

Neat skills--hopefully someone can help you. If no one else chimes in I'll pull the motor on my 2-65 and get some images of a similar spring-loaded catch.

When you get a new spring in, the conventional wisdom says not to oil it, I suppose it would cause it to spin backwards.

[Marco Gilardetti]

When you get a new spring in, the conventional wisdom says not to oil it, I suppose it would cause it to spin backwards.

In general, whatever worked so far, will work. If it was dry, then it's better to keep it dry. If it was found oiled, than it is OK to oil it further.

I have a bunch of portables that use this system (Decca Trench and Gilbert Portable are the first that come to mind) and all of them have this coil oiled or greased. I suppose it would grip too much even in "forward" rotation if non oiled, and also that the coil would rust quickly, so I suppose they decided to have it oiled and designed the coil accordingly.

There may be other makes/machines in which this coil has to stay dry, but I don't remember having ever found one.

[Phono48]

I agree with Marco. I have a huge collection of portable machines, and occasionally come across one that "squeaks" as it is being wound. In all cases this has been cured by applying grease to the non-return spring. I too would have thought that this was counter-productive, but it works, so as they say "If it ain't broke......"