The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello everyone!
I have been fortunate enough to have been handed down a HMV 102. It is in lovely inside and out and of course means a lot to me sentimentally. Whilst it does play, I am very conscious that it has not been serviced in around 80 years. The spring is a little 'clunky' and could do with re-greasing. Does anyone have any advice on this? I have seen many mixed pieces of advice regarding servicing, so it is all a little confusing to me! I am concerned regarding opening the spring drum (even when allowed to run down before opening) as I have heard it could potentially be quite dangerous due to its length and sharp edges. Likewise, does anyone have an accurate chart/diagrom on which parts to oil and grease? The charts that I have seen have either been so pixelised or just unclear. I take it general car grease and sewing machine oil is best! I am new to this hobby - but cannot wait to start on my 78RPM adventure! Hoping to service my 102 to ensure that it has another 80 years of happy playing!
I also apologise if there is already a thread for this - I am new to the site so am still getting used to navigating it.
Thanks in advance,

Hello Bugle, and welcome.

Indeed there are many previous threads about spring barrel servicing that you can find by using the "search" function on top right. Being the 102 a single-spring portable machine, it's quite an ideal one to begin with, if you really decided you want to learn to do this task your own. Otherwise, you might also disassemble the barrel and mail it to some fellow who does this kind of works.

The most important advice in my opinion is that you should check twice that the spring is fully unwinded before you do anything: check if the gears attached to it have backlash and are absolutely free from any pressure or force, and only then begin to disassemble the motor. The spring has to be taken out with care and "controlling" it as it unwinds: I suggest you search on YouTube clips of other fellows doing this (many useful links are already provided on previous threads covering this subject) and get an idea of how it is like before you do the same. However, there are absolutely no sharp edges, as people who never actually did this job often pretend.

In case of doubts, just stop, take pictures and come back here!

Here is a link to the HMV 102 manual which member soundgen shared recently: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=46917

Yes, the only time you will find sharp edges in a spring barrel is when you have a broken spring.

Hope that helps
Andreas

Thank you both very much for your replies. I will watch a few instructional videos on spring removal and cleaning before having a go myself! Out of interest, does anyone recommend a gramophone engineer who could clean and regrease the spring - just in case it proves a job too far! Thank you also for the link to the instructions. Do you also have a chart which demonstrates which parts need oiling and which need greasing?

Bugle24 wrote:Out of interest, does anyone recommend a gramophone engineer who could clean and regrease the spring - just in case it proves a job too far!

This depends on where you live, I could do it for you if you lived in Italy.