My Edison B80 tabletop disc phonograph

[audiophile102]

Congratulations Mindy, it's a fine example of an Edison B80. The grill was an inspired choice. I still enjoy hearing the Edison records you sold me what seems like ages ago. I have two diamond disk tone arms. One with a figure 6 diaphragm and the other with a true tone diaphragm. One of these days I would like to try them both out on your B80 and get your opinion as to which sounds better. You really dodged a bullet with the spring. Having replaced one on my A250, I dread the thought of doing it again.

[pughphonos]

Congratulations Mindy, it's a fine example of an Edison B80. The grill was an inspired choice. I still enjoy hearing the Edison records you sold me what seems like ages ago. I have two diamond disk tone arms. One with a figure 6 diaphragm and the other with a true tone diaphragm. One of these days I would like to try them both out on your B80 and get your opinion as to which sounds better. You really dodged a bullet with the spring. Having replaced one on my A250, I dread the thought of doing it again.

My friend John! You and Evelyn are always remembered fondly by us--and it's nice to be able to resume an active friendship (to the rest: the Jennings plus my spouse and I live in metro Chicago and have traded visits pre-pandemic). I love the idea of testing those diaphragms. I have the Schubert still (at home) along with a B-19 (Chalet)--the B80 I'm keeping in my academic office at IIT.

For sure changing springs is hard and dangerous. I figured I'd try the WD-40 route and if it didn't work, no harm done. Luckily it was a success.

We'll call and chat soon.

Mindy

[alang]

Congratulations on a job well done! I have an A80 that I love as well. Some people don't like the fact that you need to wind up 50 turns in order to play one record, but I like those early machines that show that things hadn't been figured out completely. If you ever have problems with the original belt slipping, I resolved that by soaking it in alcohol to clean and shrink it a bit. Has been working fine ever since.

Andreas

[Phono-Phan]

"If you ever have problems with the original belt slipping,I resolved that by soaking it in alcohol to clean and shrink it a bit. Has been working fine ever since."

That is a great tech tip. I will have to remember that one. Thanks!!!!!

[pughphonos]

Congratulations on a job well done! I have an A80 that I love as well. Some people don't like the fact that you need to wind up 50 turns in order to play one record, but I like those early machines that show that things hadn't been figured out completely. If you ever have problems with the original belt slipping, I resolved that by soaking it in alcohol to clean and shrink it a bit. Has been working fine ever since.

Andreas

Thanks, Andreas! Totally get it about the charm of machines where "things hadn't been figured out completely." With Edison we know how things finally turned out. I had somewhat similar attraction to Pathé for while, but that company never really found its way (horn to cone and then back to horn again).

Thanks for the tip on belt maintenance.

Mindy

[VanEpsFan1914]

It's awesome, Mindy; congratulations on a good machine and I love the customization with the Columbia grill. It's probably one of the few times I've read a post and thought it would be nice to have a B-80.

The alcohol fix on the belt is impressive.

[pughphonos]

It's awesome, Mindy; congratulations on a good machine and I love the customization with the Columbia grill. It's probably one of the few times I've read a post and thought it would be nice to have a B-80.

The alcohol fix on the belt is impressive.

Thank you! As long as the motor is fundamentally sound, any B80 can be rescued (even if the spring barrel is frozen with 110 years worth of gunk--and the other problems are even more quickly solvable in most cases).

Its has virtues over the standard Diamond Disc machines. The latter have the heavy iron motorboards that are hard to remove (with their large horns dangling below). If you leave their motorboards in place, you have to get at the motor and other elements by reaching into tight and hard-to-see recesses that are tucked behind the large horns. The interior of the B80, on the other hand, can be easily and totally accessed (top down) within seconds by removing the thin wood panels that surround the turntable. Sure, the cabinet is massive, but that gives you lots of interior space for easy access and navigation--and the smaller B80 horns contribute to the extra space.

In your repairs you won't want for company as lots of other owners have posted their work and finished products to YouTube.

[Lah Ca]

@pughphonos

Lovely!

Thanks for sharing.

For people like me who are not familiar with Edison machines:

Here is a tour of the inside of a B80 followed by a sound demo. The tour helps to visualise your description of things.

https://youtu.be/RBwiG5vy_kY?si=YvrJJyK0uyUxy5LL

Here is a discussion and demo of the motor, which is apparently a beast of motor with a massive spring. It offers an explanation of why a tabletop machine would be so heavy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_u_NPtkgMw

[pughphonos]

@pughphonos

Lovely!

Thanks for sharing.

For people like me who are not familiar with Edison machines:

Here is a tour of the inside of a B80 followed by a sound demo. The tour helps to visualise your description of things.

https://youtu.be/RBwiG5vy_kY?si=YvrJJyK0uyUxy5LL

Here is a discussion and demo of the motor, which is apparently a beast of motor with a massive spring. It offers an explanation of why a tabletop machine would be so heavy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_u_NPtkgMw

Thanks lots for the videos to help visualize. I have a couple YouTube channels that I can't access now (passwords expired, apparently).

The B80 motor isn't too heavy--you can lift and move it around with one hand once it's free. It's attached to the bottom of the cabinet by three large screws that can be undone from the outside when the cabinet rests on a side.

[VanEpsFan1914]

It's awesome, Mindy; congratulations on a good machine and I love the customization with the Columbia grill. It's probably one of the few times I've read a post and thought it would be nice to have a B-80.

The alcohol fix on the belt is impressive.

Thank you! As long as the motor is fundamentally sound, any B80 can be rescued (even if the spring barrel is frozen with 110 years worth of gunk--and the other problems are even more quickly solvable in most cases).

Its has virtues over the standard Diamond Disc machines. The latter have the heavy iron motorboards that are hard to remove (with their large horns dangling below). If you leave their motorboards in place, you have to get at the motor and other elements by reaching into tight and hard-to-see recesses that are tucked behind the large horns. The interior of the B80, on the other hand, can be easily and totally accessed (top down) within seconds by removing the thin wood panels that surround the turntable. Sure, the cabinet is massive, but that gives you lots of interior space for easy access and navigation--and the smaller B80 horns contribute to the extra space.

In your repairs you won't want for company as lots of other owners have posted their work and finished products to YouTube.

I do not think I'll be out to buy a B-80 because I am trying to deal with a lot of collecting stuff. Trying to pare down the herd here, but dumpster-diving the other day scored me one of those old-time Kirby vacuum cleaners. No idea why I decided to crawl in after it--always wanted a Kirby but I do have a good old Oreck I'm trying to get working first. It is flood-damaged but it runs nicely; might try fixing it up & painting an old car with the spray-gun attachment if I decide to throw caution, and a pint or two of machine enamel, to the four winds.

My A-200 is at least nice about one thing--You can oil it without taking the motor board out at all, if you use the oiling tubes, and you can work at the back of the motor by dropping the hatch in the back (using the foldaway brass handle provided to open it.) And it also has the take-away wooden strips near the motorboard to get in there and work on it. I think I may have done all right by waiting for a long time before I bought an Edison Disc phonograph. I did not know the B-80 was set up this way too, or that this was not "normal" on an Edison. It's pretty easy to work on but it also does not need worked on very often--thankfully, most of these early machines do seem dead reliable, unless it's my Home Model B, which is reliably dead.