Viva tonal portable ID and restoration help needed

[anchorman]

I bought this Columbia Viva-tonal portable a few weeks ago on the auction site, and it showed up with tone arm and some other parts lose in the box. Seller was kind and refunded my money due to the shipping damage, told me to keep the machine. So now I’ve got yet another project on my hands...

First off, can anyone ID this for me? I can’t find anything like it in all of my searching. The platter measures 6-¼” in diameter, single spring motor with no markings that I’ve found yet. The case is roughly 9 x 12-½ x 6” tall.

I found most of the bits inside, but I’m missing one ball bearing from the tone arm. There are 13 small balls, and 12 larger ones. I’ll have to fetch my calipers from my office tomorrow to measure them. Hopefully I can get my hands on a suitable replacement ball.

What grease to use on the arm? And when I clean up the motor what oil/grease On pivots and gears? What grease on mainspring? The motor seems to run, but I’m guessing I need to adjust the end play of the governor shaft, since it seems to have a little too much play, and I may need to replace the felt on the governor arm also.

Once I’ve gone through the motor and got the tone arm back together, I’m going to need a new reproducer, since this one is now missing a pivot screw, and looks like the pot metal back has gotten warped. Hopefully there are some salvageable parts there!

I ended up snagging a Columbia 112A portable that looked to be in nice shape for what seemed like a reasonable price, which may show up tomorrow. Hopefully that one arrives in one piece!

[mattrx]

Interesting machine. Take a look here, there may be some usable info.

http://www.graham-ophones.co.uk/hmvcolumbia/4586468626

I am restoring a HMV 88 and ran across this site. If nothing else, you might get model info for your machine. The motor in your portable looks identical to the one in my HMV. Evidently there was overlap later in production.

Good luck!

Matt

[epigramophone]

There appears to be a small transfer inside the lid, below the Columbia one. What does it say?
I assume that you have seen the very helpful threads on Columbia portables under "UK and European Machines".

[JerryVan]

If the motor runs fine and the spring doesn't thump, then there is no need to re-grease the spring. Just oil the moving parts, (pivot bearings), of the motor, (with just about any motor oil), and put a little bit of grease on the gears, (any general purpose grease will do). Unless the felt pad that runs against the governor has worn so much that the metal arm is now rubbing the governor, just apply a little oil to the felt and leave it alone. If it has worn too much, just pry back the "fingers" that retain the felt and push it ahead a bit, then squeeze the fingers closed again.

If you adjust the governor end play be sure there is still some end play when you're done. Just a tiny bit is all that's needed to prevent binding. Also note that some governor bearings have holes in them that are eccentric to the outside diameter of the bearing. This allows you to turn the bearing and adjust the mesh of the governor worm gear with the worm wheel. Try to avoid turning the bearing and unwittingly & unnecessarily altering that adjustment.

Post a photo of your reproducer in its present condition.

[anchorman]

Unfortunately there isn’t anything left there but some black marks in the shape of what was probably once a small paper label. I’ve been through nearly every thread I could find on the Columbia portables, and looked at untold numbers of pictures on google, and in addition to googling the various terms in so many combinations.

There appears to be a small transfer inside the lid, below the Columbia one. What does it say?
I assume that you have seen the very helpful threads on Columbia portables under "UK and European Machines".

[drh]

I suspect this is a Japanese model. At least, the distinctive crank handle matches that of a Japanese Viva Tonal portable under discussion here: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=44490

[anchorman]

I suspect this is a Japanese model. At least, the distinctive crank handle matches that of a Japanese Viva Tonal portable under discussion here: viewtopic.php?f=11&t=44490

Thanks! I’ll look some more among Japanese machines. The latch button is also the same.

[anchorman]

The balls in the tone arm base are 5/32” and ⅛” diameter. Should be 13 of each, I think? The ⅛” balls actually measure .123” give or take. The 5/32” balls are pretty much dead on. Not close to any standard metric size. Easy enough to order replacements from my favorite hardware store.

I took some pictures of the soundbox, and managed to get most of it apart without damaging it further it looks to me like the pot metal got squished/bent somehow. I can’t imagine how it would have done that from metal fatigue or zinc pest type issues. The sound bar seems permanently attached to the diaphragm, which is unfortunate, as I’d like to take it off. I tried using a dental pick heated up to melt the wax, but it appears there is possibly a small washer riveted or soldered in place? No screw that I can see. I just took apart the soundbox from a peerless junior portable that I got from my step mother a while back, it was easy to get the screw out... melt wax with hot dental pick, clean grove in screw head and unscrew. That one has some other issues with the sound bar, that are for another thread and another day, but I wanted to see how think the gaskets would be.

Here is the soundbox from the viva-tonal. It takes the rubber tube gaskets. It’s missing one of the needle bar screws and retaining nuts. The bearings are 5 each 1/16” balls in a circle in the bearing cup with a 5/64” ball on top of them that the pivot screw with a cupped tip bears upon. Diaphragm is nominally 2-3/16” diameter, and is about 0.0035” thick +/- 0.0005”, which interestingly enough is the same thickness as an aluminum beverage can. I see some experimenting with DIY diaphragms in my future. The back is in sorry shape, and will have I be replaced. I’m considering turning/machining one from aluminum, which ought to be relatively easy.

[anchorman]

Ok, this is a g-50, from Japan, post WWII manufacture. Hopefully this allows me to find some more information. Seen here in the list of Japanese columbia machines

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=44519

[JerryVan]

Yes, the reproducer body is toast. Typical pot metal distortion. The diaphragm appears to be in great condition. No reason I can see to detach it from the needle bar or replace it. It's a good design that would be hard to replicate. Just makes it very delicate to work with while attached. It seems as if you have some machining experience. That will come in handy!