Edison suitcase Standard (Edison Bell) - advice please!

[dzavracky]

I agree, the belt probably is part of the problem, but it probably isn't everything. I'd guess the motor needs a good cleaning and lubrication as well. Since it's running too slow, it also needs adjustment; David's right, the governor is likely off, although he got it the wrong way 'round, since you say the machine runs too slow, not too fast. As to that amber dust: did the black cylinder have brown spots or blotches on it? If so, those are mold, which is the death of wax cylinders. I don't know why, but in my experience European cylinders seem more prone to it than their American Edison counterparts. I have the impression even the Edison foreign language series cylinders are more prone to mold issues than the domestic product.

Incidentally, my experience with an Edison Standard Model B was that the speed does tend to warble, as you put it. All that gear train running the feed screw and whatnot is not conducive to as smooth a run as the "off the end of the mandrel" design.

Oh my bad! Yes I did read this wrong... you will need to move the govenor away from the brake pads then. Cleaning the motor is straight forward, I would DEFINITELY recommend polishing all the end of the gears where the sit in the casting. I recently did a standard motor and it was still pretty noisy. I went back through it and polished ALL the moving parts and it's almost quiet now.

Good luck!

David

[Lucius1958]

With the catches only on the ends of the lid, and that low serial number, would this machine have been manufactured just before the end of the nineteenth century?

See "The Spotter's Guide to the Edison Standard", on the APS website.

- Bill