Expert 4-spring what am i doing wrong?

[snallast]

Bought an Expert Junior a few months back, now suddenly the needleholder gave up - I can´t fasten the needle anymore. The same thing happened to a Lumiere 460 a few months before that. It´s never happened to me before that - and I´ve had and played a lot of gramophones...

So - am I doing something wrong here? The only thing that´s changed is I´ve left steel needles behind and changed to bamboo. Could that affect the threading? Should I have oiled it - never did before. I´m not being violent - this is weird! The Expert 4-spring seems to be all brass. The Lumiere is aluminium.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? Any tips? Who could I turn to to have the 4-spring fixed? This place is suddenly so quiet... too quiet!

[Meltrope3]

Do you mean the thumbscrew is stuck (frozen) and won't turn?

[CarlosV]

Please check if you have the correct screw. If the screw has a different thread, it will eat away the original thread in the soundbox (brass and aluminum being softer than the steel of the screw). The only way to fix that will be to fit a wider screw.

[snallast]

No no, the thumbscrew isn´t frozen - I´ve been using the machine for months, what happens is when I try to tighten the screw it just glides and doesn´t "catch" in the grooves. It happened all of a sudden - with no prior accident.

- about the screw - being the right one or not - well it´s the one that came with the soundbox and worked just fine so there was no reason for me to think it was not the right one. How would I know which is the right one? There was certainly no resistence or anything indicating that it had the wrong threading. Are there a lot of "slightly different" threadings out there in thumbscrews...? I tried the thumbscrew from the Lumiere (that gave up on me in the same way) and that one works - for now... but should I keep on using it?

Ideal I suppose would be to know what thumbscrew is the correct one for an Expert 4-spring, try that and see what happens? What do you think?

[soundgen]

Either the inside thread on the soundbox , or the thread on the screw has sheared off , probably the former as these parts are often brass while the screws are always ( ? ) steel

solution is to get a new screw which is slightly oversize and screw into the soundbox slowly back and forth ¼ turns as if you were cutting a new thread ( which you are ) works 99 times out of 100 !

[soundgen]

And if you bring the soundbox to me I'll do it for you for £5 and guarantee it for 5 years ! Or post it for repair at £15 including Return Insured post to

Mrs J R Child
16 Hardwick Road
Bedford
MK42 9LF

[soundgen]

I repair and guarantee any soundbox for £5 if brought to us at our Stall at the Westway Market , under the Westway in Portobello Road , London on Saturdays , or from Spitalfields market on Thursdays or from our Bedford workshop other weekdays

[soundgen]

www.gramophoneworkshop.blogspot.com

[snallast]

Well that sounds great! I wonder - could the same thing be done with the (aluminium) needleholder of the Lumiere? Soundgen I´ll PM you about details on the Expert soundbox.

Thanks again for all the good advice!! Hakan