Columbia BF Motor Dissasembly

[benjaminh]

Hi George,
Sorry for the delayed response. I've seen what you described (spinning because of hardened grease) on other motors, but I'm not sure this is what's happening here, because the barrel grease seems to be quite smooth still.

What my motor is doing is this: viewed from the crank end, the two central barrels are turning smoothly counter clockwise when the motor is cranked. Then they spring rapidly counterclockwise, and the tension seems to be released.

Benjamin

[benjaminh]

Here's a short video of the problem I'm having: https://youtu.be/vN5A8hGUTXo

I just can't figure this one out; I've taken the motor barrel assembly apart three times now, and can't figure out what's going on. The two pairs of outer springs are linked together by the fact that the springs are on the same arbor. When I manually twist these pairs of barrels individually, out of the machine, I can't make anything slip, so I don't know why something is slipping when all the barrels are put together...

Benjamin

[phonogfp]

One of those two mainsprings in the central tandem barrel is either unhooked or broken.

George P.

[FellowCollector]

I've taken the motor barrel assembly apart three times now, and can't figure out what's going on.

Are you 100% confident that you have the springs wound inside their barrels in the correct orientation? I agree with George that one of your springs appears to be or has become unhooked. In the video the tension within the central barrels is released during cranking which usually indicates a broken or (in this instance since you've taken the assembly apart and presumably inspected the springs) unhooked spring. Make sure each spring is hooked on its arbor and on its barrel securely AND make sure the springs are wound in the correct direction otherwise one spring will unhook another spring during winding. I also notice quite a number of missing screws that secure the spring barrel separator plates to the spring barrels. I would highly recommend getting those screws back into the plate "tabs" soon. If you're missing the screws Ron Sitko has them. Good luck.

Doug

[benjaminh]

Thanks for the tips; I tried to ensure that all the springs were hooked up, but it seems that one was coming unhooked from the arbor during assembly. I bent the center end of that spring a bit tighter to ensure it couldn't pop off the arbor, and the motor now works as it should.

Benjamin