Why is my Brunswick Cortez acting this way?

[eighteenbelow]

I picked up a Brunswick Cortez recently, and one of its springs needed to be replaced. That's been done, but now I'm experiencing two other issues. One is that I can't seem to get the brake to engage in a way that it completely stops the turntable from spinning; the other is that it will only play through maybe half of a 10-inch disc before it starts slowing down, and keeps on slowing until it stops completely well before it gets to the end groove. (I do crank it up all the way -- it takes about 50 turns to get all 4 springs wound.) It will pick up speed once I pull the reproducer off the disc, but the arm swings pretty freely. I suspect it may have something to do with the way the automatic brake mechanism is configured right now, but I'm not sure. I also don't know if the lever at the base of the tone arm, which is clearly supposed to trip something, is supposed to be angled the way it is, or if mine got bent to the side at an angle at some point. (To be clear, instead of going straight down to the base plate after it juts out, it goes down and to the left. It's still low enough to trip that lever, though tripping the lever does nothing right now.) I've attached some pictures, and would be grateful, in addition to suggestions and theories, if someone would post some clear pictures of what everything is supposed to look like. Thanks!

[CarlosV]

Hello
The tip of lever that trips the brake should be vertical, not at an angle. That should be easy to fix, but make sure it is not touching the motorboard. The brake is manually adjustable, so if you push the lever completely it will push the brake out of the way, and the turntable will spin unimpeded. If you adjust it and get it to trip, and it does not make the turntable stop, it is because the braking pad, made of cork or leather, is not touching well the edge of the turntable. You will need to push it forward or replace it, but before sdiong so try to clean the turntable edge, sometimes it solves the problem. The Cortez motor is one of the best gramophone motors ever made, with its 4 springs it should easily run for 10 minutes, and evidently there is something wrong if it starts to lose power as early as 2 minutes. Firstly double check that you are playing a record in good condition - worn discs create drag and may cause turntables to slow down or stop. Apart from that, there are many possible areas to investigate, like stuck arms, placement and grease of the replaced springs, alignment of gears, sources of friction etc. You can take a look under the turntable to check if there is any interference from the brake on the turntable, but normally if there is any interference it will be audible with the pieces of metal rubbing on each other.

[phonogal]

The brake trip on your Cortez is correct. It is supposed to be bent but not angled as mentioned. It should not rub the bed plate. Here are pictures of mine.

[phonogal]

Your problem may be that you are missing a spring off the automatic brake. Here's a picture. Without the spring your brake is probably partially on all the time.

[eighteenbelow]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. The missing spring is definitely the problem with the brake, but as for the other issue, I am breaking down the motor and cleaning the springs to see if that helps. I have heard that Brunswick used a special lubricant in the Cortez (and possibly other models of the same era) that helped make the machine super quiet. (I can vouch for the fact that it is.) Does anyone know what, exactly, that special lubricant was, and what might be the modern (and readily-available) equivalent? I'd like to be able to keep the machine as quiet as possible.

[JerryVan]

You stated that one of its springs needed replacement. Was that spring replaced with a brand new spring or another original Brunswick? It's never a good idea to replace just one spring with a new one. The new one will inevitably be stronger them the used ones still in the motor. I can't say that this is the source of your trouble, but a good start would be to replace the other springs as well. Not what you wanted to hear...

[Hyperion]

No, I would never replace one of four springs with a brand new one and leave the other three as they are. Does anyone know anything about the lubricant Brunswick used on this machine?

[eighteenbelow]

No, I would never replace one of four springs with a brand new one and leave the other three as they are. Does anyone know anything about the lubricant Brunswick used on this machine?

I used an old solid Brunswick spring for exactly that reason.

I would like to know what kind of lubricant they used on the Cortez to keep it so quiet. I thought I might have read something about that here a while back, but I can't find the posting. Can someone point me in the right direction?

[eighteenbelow]

Well, I got the motor all cleaned and serviced, and now it plays two 10-inch discs on a full winding -- but only two. I would have expected a four-spring motor to have more power in it than that. Does anyone have experience with these? How many discs should I be able to play on a full winding? What else should I do?

[dzavracky]

I just wound my Cortez all the way up. Since my family went to bed, I couldn't play any records on it. But I timed how long the motor remained running. It spun for 23 minuets!! If the average 10 inch 78 record is about 3 mins long, then my Cortez can play about 7 records on a full wind. I hadn't done this before and I have to admit... I was really impressed by how long it ran!

I hope this helps!

Mine started making some thumping noises though..... do I need to take out the motor and grease the springs? I really don't wanna take it apart since it already works so well

David