Amberola 30: Mandrel Has Stopped Turning

[Chinacat]

Hi Folks: My Amberola 30 was working fine a week ago. This weekend I put a cylinder on and it would slow down about 20 seconds into the song. It slows down even with the reproducer raised. I ran the spring down by turning the mandrel by hand and rewound it. The mandrel only turns when the spring is wound all the way AND you still turn the crank. If I wind it all the way and stop turning the crank it stops dead. I checked all the gears and everything moves very freely. Is this a seized spring? Is there a something I can try lubing the spring with through the oil hole rather than take it apart? Thanks for any suggestions, maybe it's time to ship it out to get fixed. This old stuff can be quite the headache sometimes. John

[VintageTechnologies]

Yes, you could try squirting a lube through the "oil hole" as you call it. Assuming the spring has never been opened and cleaned out, it could be very dry with remnants of the original graphite powder still inside. Small wonder then, if the motor doesn't run. You can buy Vaseline in plastic squeeze tubes resembling toothpaste.

When the spring has been fully wound, it pulls away from the perimeter of the spring barrel, allowing room to squirt in the Vaseline. Press the tube squarely against the hole and squeeze in a few ounces if you can. Have the screw ready in your other hand to replace immediately, because increased air pressure will try to blow the Vaseline back out if the spring barrel is airtight! Run the motor down as far as possible and then rewind again. After several wind/unwind cycles, the lube should be redistributed among the coils and even mixed with the remaining graphite. You may even decide to give the Vaseline a second application. Don't worry too much about adding too much lube - whatever is in there will squish around as the coils contract and expand - that's a good thing!

I used this technique to lube my Edison Opera a few weeks ago. No more thumping noises.

[NEFaurora]

It sounds like he either broke a spring, or he broke a winding/stop pawl. Either or..

At any rate, It sounds like it's due for its million mile servicing unfortunately.. It sounds like you'll have to tear it apart..

)

Tony K.

Edison Collector/Restorer

[Chinacat]

The spring can be wound down if I turn the mandrel by hand for awhile. I then can wind it fully and it holds it's wind, there's just no mandrel movement. The pawl is there and engages w/ the sprocket tooth. Strange!

[OrthoSean]

This sounds to me like a governor issue. With the motor completely wound down, take off the upper cover where the governor is, check for end play, there should be just a little bit. If the bearing are too tight, it won't run on it's own.

Sean

[Jerry B.]

Whatever you do, do not remove the mandrel when the spring is even partially wound. With most machines, controlling the governor will stop the spring from unwinding instantly but not the Amberola 30, 50, and 75 and perhaps others as well. I learned this the hard way. Jerry Blais

[Chinacat]

The governor has a very slight amount of end play. So it may not be related to the mainspring, eh? This gets curiouser and curiouser. I don't understand how the mandrel won't turn when everything is so well lubed and free-wheeling. Thanks again folks. I guess I'll spend more time looking it over. If I can't figure it out I'll ship it out to Ron Sitko or Great Lakes Antiques.