Reducing governor noise

[anchorman]

I’ve got more than a few gramophones with what I would consider to have excessive governor noise. What is the most common cause of this rattling, and best cure? I can see that unbalanced weights and springs could be a problem. Possibly Poorly meshing gears, or to much end play of the governor shaft.

How much of a role does the leather/felt piece play? If this were too hard and/or glazed over, is that a culprit I should look at? I.e. will replacing the friction pads cause the rumbling to go away?

Thanks in advance!

[tomb]

One of the ways is to replace both the springs that hold the weights and the weights. You could try just the springs first as the tension on them loosens up over time. Also check the surface and straightness of the governor brass disc. It could be slightly bent. I have put a little oil on the pads that worked on one. One other thing might be a adjustment in the position of the governor. There is adjusting screws on Edison's that can be adjusted . . Tom

[JerryVan]

I have found that friction pads can be glazed with old, dried, possibly paraffin-based oils, that make contact between the pad and friction disc fairly tacky. Any run out in the disc, coupled with sticky friction pads, can induce a rattle. I lightly sand the friction faces with some fairly rough sandpaper and apply fresh oil. That seems to help.

In addition to the other possible causes of noise that you list, is excessive radial bearing clearance, i.e. wear.

All that said... some governors were more or less noisy by design... or by lack of design.

[anchorman]

I think I found part of the problem… tiny scratch on the governor disc, and a little burr at the end of the scratch that was causing things to hang up just a bit. Replaced the leather tonight, which made it chatter a little differently. I’m guessing I need to rough it up a bit more on the surface, or perhaps try wool felt pad instead. Getting rid of the tiny burr helped for sure, and made it more quiet. Going to try soaking the pad with neatsfoot oil tomorrow. Might need to go back and carefully lap and polish the surface on the lathe to it perfectly flat and smooth, but hopefully it’s good enough already.

Word to the wise for others, be very careful around the governor disc surface!

[anchorman]

I soaked the new leather a little more after roughing the end up with a bit of 120grit sand paper. That helped. A friend’s advice to place a bit of really fine emery paper under the pad while it was running helped even more. I did 1200 grit, followed by 2000 grit. All rumbling now gone, and the nasty warbling that was happening has also cleared up. I couldn’t wish for a quieter motor, and will be using these tricks on others that are making noise.

[fran604g]

I soaked the new leather a little more after roughing the end up with a bit of 120grit sand paper. That helped. A friend’s advice to place a bit of really fine emery paper under the pad while it was running helped even more. I did 1200 grit, followed by 2000 grit. All rumbling now gone, and the nasty warbling that was happening has also cleared up. I couldn’t wish for a quieter motor, and will be using these tricks on others that are making noise.

That's a great idea for a remedy, for a couple of reasons.

Cheers,
Fran