Columbia Motor Questions - Total Newbie.

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hillndalefan
Victor I
Posts: 183
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:51 pm
Location: western Missouri

Re: Columbia Motor Questions - Total Newbie.

Post by hillndalefan »

Another suggestion about the friction of the needle in the record groove stopping the turntable: If this happens with ANY record, the motor needs work.
If it is just one or a few records that do this, washing the record in soap and water, drying it with a paper towel or two and playing the record while it is still damp, will clean the dirt out of the groove [there really is just one on each side :lol: ] and subsequently the record will play without a problem.

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Covah
Victor II
Posts: 299
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:31 am

Re: Columbia Motor Questions - Total Newbie.

Post by Covah »

"Everything was going great, all until one of the springs (the center one I believe) fell off its arbor and unwound."

How frustrating. But keep with it, you WILL get much better at working with springs.

Once I spent six hours- really- trying to get one of those three-spring Columbia motors to work. Finally I gave up in disgust. A year later, when I had recovered, I took another look and in ten seconds discovered one of the springs was upside down.

One skill is to shape spring ends with pliers. Once you get the feel for how they grip you can adjust the curve so they grip real tight.

The Columbia autostop is real cool when it works. Adjust it mainly by pushing the ring on the hook extension that triggers the stop. It needs to be held just tight enough to push a trigger when playing. When the record stops playing the pressure stops and the trigger releases a spring to push the brake. Even the highest-end Victors never had a fully automatic brake.

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