A load of stuff I hauled home yesterday.

[EarlH]

This is kind of an interesting find that turned up on craigslist in northern Minnesota a few days ago. From what I gathered the guy that had this stuff collected phonographs, stoves and antiques in general. When he died a few years ago his daughters sold off the stuff that they thought had some value and then left the rest of it sit. The damp certainly didn't do this 10-50 any favors, nor the other Victrola. All the veneer is loose on both machines and the case is all coming apart on both as well. The ice box on the back of the truck really has some issues as well, but it was in a dry part of the garage, so it fared a little better. The 10-50 was in the cabin and I don't know if a water pipe broke in there or if the roof leaked badly, but the case is not in good shape on it and you can see the doors are history. It's a shame as it is a coin operated one and that end of things looks to be all there. I don't think the company that did the conversions over to coin operation used the same components in two machines. All of the one's I've seen have a totally different mechanism in them for that. The guy I talked to said that the daughters thought the 10-50 came from St. Cloud but they weren't sure. They did remember their dad playing it.

Anyway, I thought you might like seeing the pictures I took. The ID tag is gone from the 10-50 so unless I find it inside somewhere, I have no idea what the serial number would be. It must be an earlier one because of there the lamp is inside the turntable compartment. The VV-405 is really not worth saving. It was frozen down to the floor in the garage and those poor things are a tough sell in pristine condition. The doors are starting to cup on it as well and the top is really bad. At least that machine is quite common. That model was a good seller up in Minnesota. I can use some of the parts from it for that VV-360 I have that's in bad shape as well. That one is worth messing around with because they are quite scarce. It's funny where this stuff turns up at times.

[VanEpsFan1914]

The icebox is pretty cool! I've always wanted one of those; fortunately they turn up pretty often.

Your VV-405 is the one I'd be most excited about. They're such a classic design...and having parts for a 360 is not so bad either! The 10-50 looks like a fun project. I'm sure lots of us are curious if you can ever get it running.

[EarlH]

The 10-50 can be made to run, but the cabinet is pretty rough on it. It's got loose veneer all over the place, and that's not a real problem, but the core wood is starting to cup in places and then it's really a huge job to sort out. I'll set it somewhere dry for the time being and see what it settles down like. The back panels are almost completely unglued and it's doubtful they will glue back together. I'll clamp them between some plywood and not worry about them for a year or so either. They might flatten out that way and be ok. The motor spins freely though, so there is that. The guy kind of screwed up some of the switches on the mechanism for the coin operated part to work, but those things are a huge nuisance on these things and it's just a lot easier to keep that stuff, but not really use it. Especially if it's a machine that gets used very much.

Too bad this 10-50 didn't get put somewhere that was a little less damp when it was in storage, but it's just the way it goes.

[PeterF]

10-50 was fine until recently, then vandalized (apparently by the seller):

https://antiqueradios.com/forums/viewto ... 9&t=371422

[Garret]

Wow. What a find! Fortunately, this is completely salvageable. Let me know if you need help finding doors... I see gutted cabinets on Facebook quite a bit.

Garret

[Detrbear]

There's been a cabinet on Facebook Marketplace since November, located in Ohio:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 391981356/

Could it be for the model you need? I hope so!

[EarlH]

I wonder if someone got into that cabinet and tore those doors all up like that. Or, the picture they posted is an old one. It is the same machine though in that picture as the cracks in the door glass is the same along with a few other things from what I can see. That guy from South Dakota certainly got horsed around by them, and the guy that did sell me the machine asked me if "I was the guy that got all horsed about by Brandon?" I wasn't, but the guy that listed it on Craigslist, and the guy that it belonged to were not the same. He had one of his employees list it for him. The door wasn't locked, it was just swelled shut tight. I had to use a small sledgehammer and block of wood to drive the record drawer out of the cabinet. That cabinet is very much swollen from damp and a lot more veneer is going to pop off it when it settles back down. It's too bad they didn't have enough sense to remove the back panels and get into the record compartment that way. No fixing stupid I guess.

The guy that did own it made some changes to it a long time ago. I don't think he understood how to change some of the wires around so it would work like it did at the factory. The accumulator for the coin operated side would need to have the solenoids re-wound to work. The wires on those are broken for some odd reason. They also made off with the ID tag for some reason. I wonder if "Brandon" got fired or something, or mad hat his boss for some reason and went over there and tore the thing up? The owner of the company was clearly NOT happy about the whole situation, and the guy that works for him that helped me load it apologized for his boss at least 3-4 times. At least the whole thing didn't get put in a dumpster. There is that. Maybe I'll give the guy I talked to a call and see what he knows about the situation. Thanks Peter for pointing out the other discussion on this thing. You do good work! Earl.

[startgroove]

It should be fairly easy to get the wiring back in order. Normally, the only modification is that the plug on the motor is disconnected and another circuit is inserted between the two connectors, which goes to an accumulator that will activate the motor when credits are added. The normal off/on switch is sometimes taken out of the circuit with that arrangement. At least that is the way mine is.
One of the neat things that can be done if you manage to get the coils fixed, is to have a pushbutton connected to the accumulator through a length of wire pair. That way you can operate the machine from a distance, or any place where the wires reach, such as from your easy chair, or even another room. Each time you push the button, one record will play then shut off. If you press the button ten times (assuming the stack is fully loaded) the machine will play ten records then shut off.
Good to see this machine finally found a home.
Cheers, Russie

[GregVTLA]

Looks like a great load of stuff! It's a shame what's happened to that 10-50 whether it was somebody doing it deliberately or not. But if anyone can fix it, it's you!