Victor R Slows Down

[toysbyroy]

When I wind the Victor R, it runs up to speed, then slows down ( without the needle on a disc). Could the governor weights be too heavy? Thanks, Roy

[JerryVan]

How much do you wind it?

No. It would not be due to a governor weight issue.

Other questions...
Has it ever worked correctly since you've owned it?
Has the motor been cleaned & lubed?
After winding, how long does it take to slow down? Obviously, all wind-up phono motors will slow down after winding, given enough run time.

[toysbyroy]

As soon as the governor begins to spin, it slows down even without playing a record.

[toysbyroy]

As soon as the governor begins to spin, it slows down even without playing a record.

[Inigo]

Sounds like misadjusted governor. Being the fastest running part with the lightest force, it's very sensitive. You must be sure that it works fine without any resistance, and also check the meshing of the spindle gear with the governor worm.

[jboger]

I recently worked on a friend's Edison Home. The machine would slow down and stop as soon as the stylus was set on the cylinder. In order to find the problem one must be methodical and systematic. Clearly there was a loss of power, but where? My first thought was the cylinder as it was old and moldy (it was the one that came with the machine).* I tried a nice clean cylinder, but the problem remained. Then I tried something quick and dirty: I oiled everything between the mainspring (but not the mainspring) and the mandrel just to see if power was restored or partially restored. It wasn't; no improvement. Next step was to properly clean all gears, pinions, and pivots, along with the half nut and so forth (still ignoring the mainspring). This required dismantling the motor. finally, because I had checked everything between the mainspring and the mandrel, only one thing remained: the mainspring. By a process of elimination, I concluded the mainspring was no longer providing the necessary power to drive the machine. I bought a new one, installed it, and now the machine runs just fine.

I went into some detail to illustrate how I went about troubleshooting a machine that had an issue but I did not know where. If you don't know where the problem is, you might want to try a similar approach. Look for those points where power could be lost.

John
__________________
*Actually, the first thing i did was test the reproducer on a different machine. JB