Reproducer lifter mechanism Amberola A1 and Opera's

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Canuk Phonographs
Victor II
Posts: 286
Joined: Sun May 10, 2015 10:35 pm
Location: Stratford Ontario

Reproducer lifter mechanism Amberola A1 and Opera's

Post by Canuk Phonographs »

The reproducer lifting mechanism on my Amberola A1 and Concert exhibit the same problem, not lifting the reproducer high enough for full clearance when removing and inserting a cylinder.

You can see in the picture that the lifter tab is not lifting the reproducer weight quite high enough. I have swapped 3 different reproducers and both machines still fail to lift the reproducer weight.

I have put a small amount of grease on the lifter, made sure there is no burr and still no fix.

Before I do anything radical, I wanted to ask the forum members what they have done to fix this problem.

Thanks in advance,

Blain
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Amberola A1 Type SM Diamond A reproducer
Amberola A1 Type SM Diamond A reproducer

52089
Victor VI
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Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2011 7:54 pm

Re: Reproducer lifter mechanism Amberola A1 and Opera's

Post by 52089 »

One thing I definitely don't recommend you try is bending the paddle, which will snap if pushed too far.

Usually the problem is related to the little spring that causes the paddle to raise and lower. This tends to be a bit binding in its rather narrow enclosure. It's a fairly complex adjustment to make to get it right without bending anything too far or breaking anything.

Interestingly, I've had 3 or 4 1A motors over the years and the ones that were all original never had this issue, only the ones that have been repaired in some way. Clearly there's some little trick that neither you nor I know about yet!

HisMastersVoice
Auxetophone
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Re: Reproducer lifter mechanism Amberola A1 and Opera's

Post by HisMastersVoice »

You may find your answer here, I had the same problem with my Opera.

http://forum.talkingmachine.info/viewto ... =2&t=21348

Canuk Phonographs
Victor II
Posts: 286
Joined: Sun May 10, 2015 10:35 pm
Location: Stratford Ontario

Re: Reproducer lifter mechanism Amberola A1 and Opera's

Post by Canuk Phonographs »

So thank you. I removed the little spring and snipped the deformed end hook off, re-bent and formed a new hook end with the net result that the spring was about 1/16 in. shorter. This was all it took to get the paddle lifting properly, a little extra spring tension.

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barnettrp21122
Victor IV
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Personal Text: "Did you ever stop to think that pleasure is a duty?" (Victor sales pamphlet)

Re: Reproducer lifter mechanism Amberola A1 and Opera's

Post by barnettrp21122 »

Nice that it was so simple! Happy listening!
Bob
"Comparison is the thief of joy" Theodore Roosevelt

His Master's Voice Automatic 1A Exponential Gramophone Demonstration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi70G1Rzqpo

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PeterF
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Re: Reproducer lifter mechanism Amberola A1 and Opera's

Post by PeterF »

Nice that it was so simple! Happy listening!
Would that it were so simple!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YAclFXGGpM


[youtubehd]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YAclFXGGpM[/youtubehd]

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