Advice on felt brake pad for windup portable

[RCA_victrolaboy]

Greetings to those of the Talking Machine Forum.

I have a 1939 RCA crank windup portable model with a little brake pad that engages with the platter when moved over to stop the disc - however, the little brake pad seems to be worn or 'unlubricated' to a point where it no longer acts smoothly (allowing the disc to spin a couple of times before reaching a complete stop) and instead stops immediately once engaged. I read online that this could potentially be harmful to the motor and was wondering on how I could remedy this - I was thinking about either lubricating it or replacing the felt, but was unsure on what exactly to do.

Thank you all for any information you all can provide

[Lucius1958]

Not familiar with the details of the RCA portables; but there are ways to advance (or, if needed, replace) the brake pad. Lubrication is not required, as the brake needs enough friction to operate properly. Is it an automatic brake, BTW?

- Bill

[gramophone-georg]

FWIW, I have never owned nor seen a windup where applying the brake- manual or automatic- did not immediately stop the platter- within a revolution or so, if not sooner. I think someone confused their warning with that of an electric powered turntable.

[RCA_victrolaboy]

That happens to sound about right; however there isn't a single revolution that occurs and kinda makes an unpleasurable sound when stopped suddenly. It doesn't do a single revolution, just stops immediately, from 78 to 0 in the blink of an eye. Is that a normal and maybe I should stop worrying? It just seems rather... unsmooth. It's not a autostop, just a simple setup with the tonearm and platter

[Orchorsol]

I always prefer to stop the turntable by hand and then apply the brake, as suggested to me by another highly respected collector some years ago. It might not be entirely necessary but it avoids any shock to the motor, unpleasant noise, and wear to the brake pad. It just seems a pleasant habit now, and respectful to all these venerable old machines...

[Inigo]

The issue is that the platter stopped si suddenly makes the governor flyballs come to a sudden stop too, and this produces undesired stresses on the delicate flat springs supporting them.
A test you could do is examine the brake and see if its action spring is too strong, and try to relax it a bit. Another idea could be to apply some talcum powder to the leather pads or felt, and examine also the platter edge surface where the pad touches , maybe it can be softened or polished a bit with 0000 steel wool all around. Maybe it is oxidised or too rough. This late thing usually makes the brake action softer.

[epigramophone]

If the brake pad is made of leather it may have dried out and hardened with age. I have no experience of RCA Victor portables, but at some point HMV changed their brake pads from leather to felt. Examples of both are pictured :

[RCA_victrolaboy]

Thank you all for this wonderful advice! I'll try and get that platter off today and I'll let you all know how it goes. I'll also try that stopping the platter manually idea.