Untouched pre-dog Type E

[jboger]

In a separate thread I had posted pictures of a Victor Jr that I bought at auction a little over a week ago. It was quite clear that the machine was untouched. Well, a few months earlier I lucked out at an auction of the contents of a farmhouse. There were two other auctions relatively nearby that day that had excellent cylinder machines for sale. My hope was that the Big Guns would go to those auctions and leave this poor little machine and me alone. Not sure that that happened, but I bought it. No crank. I looked everywhere for it, in box lots on the floor, inside teapots, and even under the auctioneer's hat. No luck. Posted here is a picture of the machine sitting inside the farmhouse having collected much dust over the years. (The photo was taken by the auctioneer.) It has a Concert reproducer and Nipper on the horn. What do you think? No Nipper on the machine, but Nipper on the horn. A later upgrade?

[Phono-Phan]

Nice find! It does look like this machine has an upgrade to a larger horn. It would just be hard to tell if it was on since new or upgraded later.

[Jerry B.]

I've always been very fond of the Victor E in either front or rear mount configuration. They come in a small package and have tons of personality. Jerry Blais

[jboger]

I do have a question. Inside the horn elbow, the end in which the sound box is attached, is a hard rubber insert. I have not pushed the soundbox far into the elbow for fear of splitting the brass. (1) how far does one push the soundbox in on this type of machine? and (2) should I replace the rubber insert? If the answer to (2) is yes, is that part available? (Sitko?)

[Phono-Phan]

The reproducer should be inserted far enough for the pin on the back of the reproducer to go into the hole on the tone arm plate. Depending on the condition of the rubber sleeve, you might have slightly sand the inside of the sleeve to make the reproducer fit in.

[jboger]

Well, as I live and breathe!. I just went downstairs to inspect the machine, and sure enough there is a hole that the pin on the soundbox fits right into. I wondered what that pin was for and now I know. Thanks!

[jboger]

I've gotten around to looking at and cleaning up this machine. So far I've had the Concert reproducer repaired. I tried to separate the parts myself but was uncertain how much force to apply. I thought it rare enough that I let a more experienced person rebuild it. I've lightly cleaned the case but don't plan to do much more than what I've already done. It's still pretty much the same as what you see in the photo where it still sits in the farmhouse it came out of it gathering dust. I've now disassembled and cleaned the motor. It's a nice design, rather modularized. The brake works just fine (needed a little oil), and the speed control is excellent. A lot of dried grease needed to come off. And then I re-oiled the machine according to Reiss with a little vasoline on the governor gear. She (excuse my sexism here) runs a lot better and more quietly now.

OK, so what's my problem? The motor is still noisy. Worse before, better now, but still noisy. And I don't find a lot of volume coming out of the horn, some of which depends on the record, and probably some on the soundbox.

So here are two questions: (1) What is the volume output from a Concert soundbox? and (2) was there a ball bearing on the lower pivot of the spindle shaft/arbor? With regard to the latter, there is enough endshake that a bearing may have gone in there, but it doesn't seem excessive, the endshake that is. I could experiment and put one in there--not too much trouble--but before I disassemble the motor for the third time I thought I'd ask.

Now on this Forum, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of opinions (and personalities I might add). Lots of suggestions about lubrication. A third question. I've put light machine oil on the various wheels, but perhaps I should put something heavier? What do you t think? would that quiet the motor? It's hard to pinpoint exactly where the noise is coming from--perhaps everywhere. Or maybe these early motors were just noisy to our modern ears.

Glad to hear any thoughts.

[Lucius1958]

Yes, early Victor motors do tend to be a bit on the noisy side: the main culprit is usually the governor pinion.

Bill

[jboger]

Yes, thinking that might be the case after listening to a few videos loaded up on Youtube. I doubt that the spindle had a ball bearing on the bottom pivot. The reason I speculate that is because it has a conical pivot. I plan to try a heavier grade of oil, maybe a light coating of motor oil, and see what that does.

I'd like to know people's experience with Concert sandboxes . . . er soundboxes--just love that autocorrect. Reiss states that their performance is not so great