Pathé Model VII Restoration: Motor Disassembly

[dzavracky]

This was exactly the issue on my motor. If you follow Jerry’s steps you’ll have a fine working motor! I do hope that you noted which way the springs were wound inside each barrel!

I’m glad you got them out without injury. Great job so far!

David

[jimlewis1126]

HEY, LOOK WHAT I DID!! Before:

And after:

I feel like I just tied my shoelaces for the first time! This is the top barrel — only minor scrubbing needed, and most of the old grease came right off.... cleaned up very nicely. I also cleaned the geared cap and arbor; tomorrow morning I'll grease it a attach the cap.

The bottom spring (remember — broken), barrel and cap are now soaking overnight. Once I get them cleaned up I'll set to trimming the end of the spring and drilling new holes. I'm so please that it went pretty smoothly.... AND I COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT EVERYONE'S HELP! So, thank you all again!! More to come as I get the rest of the gears cleaned up.

Cheers!
Jim

[JerryVan]

Awesome! Pack every space available with grease.

[dzavracky]

Jim,

You are doing a great job! Keep it up

David

[jimlewis1126]

I just realized that I didn't grease the barrel before installing the spring. Critical step? Should I extract the spring, grease and repack? Or, in its current state, will a heavy dose of grease be sufficient?

Again, this is the TOP spring barrel (the bottom barrel turns when the motor is cranked)... I don't know if that makes a difference. I'm figuring that no matter what, once I've greased the spring and resealed the barrel, I'd do well to tap it a few times on the table (bottom side down) in order to work in the grease. Also, I'm thinking that once the whole motor is reassembled, it's wise to completely wind the motor and let it run down (just once? more?) to work the grease further. I know there various schools of thought on how far to wind the motor, so I promise I'll do so carefully. Plus, I'm bearing I mind that despite its proven durability, the motor is 100 years old.

Anyone's thoughts?

Cheers!
Jim

[Inigo]

It's good to wind it up and let it run a few times. I wouldn't wind it completely these first times... Only half or so... You'll find some resistance to wind it up, so don't force it. Just wind softly as far as you'll go, then let run down, then rewind a bit more, let it down, and so on until you notice that the grease is working and winding gets easier. Grease will start to overflow by the ends where the shafts come out, so clean them a bit... Don't remove all the surplus grease, only that which is far from the shafts entrances. A bit of grease out there surrounding the shaft is good, for it helps sealing these shaft entrances, so to prevent the dry air from entering into the barrels and oxidizing the inner grease.

[jimlewis1126]

Makes a lot of sense. Thanks so much for your guidance.

Cheers!
Jim

[dzavracky]

You don’t need to remove the springs to grease the barrel! Just pack a bunch in and wind it up a few times.

David

[jimlewis1126]

GREASY ENOUGH FOR YA? That's ONE spring done!

[JerryVan]

FD6A85D2-FF3D-44CD-8CA8-F92F12D97B34.jpeg

GREASY ENOUGH FOR YA? That's ONE spring done!

Yup!