Home Suitcase machine- cylinder speeds up and slows down

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Nedt
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Home Suitcase machine- cylinder speeds up and slows down

Post by Nedt »

I have a suitcase Home machine and the motor has been disassembled, cleaned and oiled, as well as the top works. The spring has not been inspect it but it does seem to run pretty strong and will allow me to play almost two cylinders. The issue I'm having is when I play a cylinder, the speed seems to vary throughout the 2-minute duration. It may be slow for about 30 seconds then speed up for 30 seconds then slow down a little bit, Etc...

I have inspected the governor and no springs or weights are loose and everything seems to be intact with the governor, including the screw on the opposite side of the disc that fastens the springs and weights to the shaft.

Even as I watch with the yolk and governor as the machine runs and the speeds seem to switch up, I do not see anything drastically moving or happening to cause the varying speeds.

Any help on some things I may consider would be appreciated..

Thanks!

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phonogfp
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Re: Home Suitcase machine- cylinder speeds up and slows down

Post by phonogfp »

This sounds like a sluggish mainspring. Remove, clean, regrease, and reinstall.

Good luck - -

George P.

Nedt
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Re: Home Suitcase machine- cylinder speeds up and slows down

Post by Nedt »

Got it.. thank you.. that would be the only thing i have not done as of yet..

Jerry B.
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Re: Home Suitcase machine- cylinder speeds up and slows down

Post by Jerry B. »

If you've checked everything, I assume you've got a good belt. Jerry

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MicaMonster
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Re: Home Suitcase machine- cylinder speeds up and slows down

Post by MicaMonster »

I’m with George on te mainspring. Sometimes the grease turns to tar. ALSO: you should have a new drive belt (i sell them!), and also check to make sure your friction leathers are hard, and not spongy! Spongy leather compresses under full spring tension, then relaxes, which slows down the cylinder slowly as you play.
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Phonofreak
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Re: Home Suitcase machine- cylinder speeds up and slows down

Post by Phonofreak »

Another thing to check is the governor. Make sure it spins freely. Also, check the bearings and end play.
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Accursius
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Re: Home Suitcase machine- cylinder speeds up and slows down

Post by Accursius »

Just recently, I had a similar problem regarding my own "Suitcase Home" project. In my case, the speeding up / slowing down of the cylinder turned out to be caused by the tonearm carriage rod being slightly bent. Because of this, the pressure of the half nut to the feed screw increased towards the middle of its travel so much that it slowed down the spindle, gaining speed again while travelling further. Rotating the carriage rod by 90 degrees more or less solved the problem.

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rgordon939
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Re: Home Suitcase machine- cylinder speeds up and slows down

Post by rgordon939 »

I’ve seen speed issues due to a damaged or broken speed control yoke or one that was stuck in place.

Rich Gordon

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