Help with an RCA Victrola O-1 Portable pot metal elbow

[Dischoard]

I was cruising around Craigslist the other day (I know, it's dangerous) and this little machine popped up. The fella said the spring was broken but it turned out to be a little simpler than that. Someone had loosened the three bolts holding the motor so the turntable sat too low on the deck hitting against the brake lever. I took it all apart, cleaned it up and now it winds and spins beautifully.

I figured this machine would be worth the $20 because it came with a bunch of HMV Canadian 78s (which were in rougher shape than I had hoped) and because it appears that this machine was significant in 2 ways; 1: there weren't very many of them made, only around 6,600 and 2: it seems to be the missing link between the dramatic shift from Victor's beautiful portables to RCA's terrible, mass produced machines. Imagine something being significant because it's terrible?

I mean, this thing could have had any name on it, there is no quality to this at all. The motor board is the thinnest, flimsiest plywood ever used. Everything is riveted and not easily user serviceable. The worst part is the tonearm. The elbow joint is completely frozen and, at this point, the only thing keeping this from being a working player. I've seen a couple other threads talking about pot metal Columbia tone-arms but wonder if anyone had any luck (or put any time into) one of these? Because it's riveted down I can't remove the tone-arm to soak in any solvent or place in a freezer or boil then cool, etc. There isn't the faintest hint of a budge, it's like it's been superglued closed. I can't even remove the motor board with the tone-arm on it because the hinge that connects the lid is actually riveted right to the board. I'm afraid to push too hard on the tone-arm as there is some noticeable cracking on the surface (and yet it still seems pretty strong). I may end up drilling out the rivets on the hinge (just for ease of servicing) and the tonearm in order to attempt a fix but I'd love to keep this as original as possible and hoping someone has a magic trick. If so I'd sure love to hear it!

In the meantime, the only photos of this machine online are taken from catalogs, none from actual collections (perhaps because they've long been burned or run over with a bulldozer due to the amount of frustration that they cause). So I thought I would post some detailed ones here. Though now that I think of it, I've not included the photos of the reproducer as there is a thread started this weekend where I posted those photos already. Anyway, here they are. Anyone have any info on this machine?

The only image I can find online

The RCA Victrola motor freed from its flimsy housing

Other identifying marks on the bottom of the motor

The governor

Shot of the tiny spring barrel

Can't fully remove the motor board, the hinge is riveted to it!

The paperboard horn

Cleaned up and reassembled it doesn't look so bad...

[alang]

I had good success with Liquid Wrench Dry Aerosol Spray with PTFE. It has helped me reanimate a frozen Columbia tonearm that I was not able to help with anything else. It leaves a dry powdery residue (PTFE/Teflon) when drying, which provides ongoing lubrication. I repeat the treatment every year or two to keep it loose. This has been working for nearly 10 years now.

Good luck!
Andreas

[hydnar]

I had a issue with a pot metal tonearm on my portable. I posted this topic a few weeks ago and the members on this list helped me resolve it. Here is a link to the topic:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=51320

Hope this helps!

Randy

[Dischoard]

Ah, can't believe I missed that, and what a beautiful portable it is! The problem is that mine is fine at the base, it's actually in the U-joint itself that is the problem and it doesn't budge at all. I think mine has actually been pulled out from the joint a little and is stuck there. I can't just hammer it back in because I imagine it would just shatter in to pieces. My thought is that this joint should probably be much more flush...

I was actually thinking about taking a tiny drill and seeing if I could drill into the elbow in order to relieve the pressure until I remembered this great scene from Star Trek IV:

Doctor: "A simple evacuation of the epidural hematoma will relieve the pressure!"
McCoy: "My God man, drilling holes in his head is not the answer! The artery must be repaired! Now, put away your butcher's knives and let me save this patient before it's too late!”

Too dramatic?

[Hoodoo]

Hi,
I recently restored a Columbia Jewel for my neighbour. The pot metal tone arm was, like yours, absolutely immovable. I remembered a tip I read on this forum about freezing the part, so I thought I would try it.
I left the offending pieces outside overnight (it was -25C), and in the morning the parts separated EASILY!
Why freezing should seem to shrink the inner part more than the outer, I can’t imagine, but it worked a treat, so try putting it in the freezer overnight, or for a few hours, anyway.
Good luck

[Dischoard]

I'll try it right now! It's bloody cold outside!

[Dischoard]

I got her working! Video link below. I did put it outside overnight but when I brought it in there was no difference in the tonearm (other than being freezing cold as I attempted to budge it). So I went and got a little hand-held torch that I picked up for repairing instruments, put the torch to the larger side of the tonearm which, I suspect to be of brass or similar as it doesn't have the same cracks and appearance as the little side of the elbow (the on that holds the reproducer).

I was shocked when, after putting the heat to it for about a 45 seconds or so, I reached down and it actually moved to about a 90 degree angle! My hopes raised, I went and sat down with it and just kept working it back and forth. I applied a little Liquid Wrench until I realized that I wanted it to sort of grind itself away and Liquid Wrench wouldn't allow it to do that. So I tried working a little white toothpaste in the gap instead (sort of like lapping compound) and that didn't really seem to do anything either. After about 20 minutes of working at it the elbow finally pulled completely free!

I was so excited. I cleaned it up and took it down to my workshop. I put it on the grinding stone, then the wire wheel, I re-carved a little grease channel (as I had worn that away), cleaned and re-greased it and now it works like new. Is it still a flimsy, cheap little portable? Absolutely. Will I turn to this instead of my VV 2-55? Absolutely not. But it was a fun little project, there weren't many of them made, and I'm happy to have saved this one from the landfill.

Big thanks to Randy for sending me a sample of the stuff he used to form a new throat gasket, the stuff is perfect! I applied a little bit of grease to the throat in order to get it to slide on better and the isolation appears to be pretty good. I replaced the red inner gasket with exhibition white tubular gasket that I had laying around. Seems to work okay but still has the slightest of buzz during some passages. I'll keep working at that. Could be from the missing screw on the face of the reproducer, who knows!

https://youtu.be/4m9P7Bs_1ik

[JerryVan]

Excellent news! BTW, the tone arm is pot metal too, not brass. Lucky that you were careful with the torch! Pot metal has a fairly low melting point. Some pot metal degrades... some does not. Depends how much lead was in the mix when it was made. Lead is the cuplrit in pot metal degradation.

[Inigo]

Very nice! Congratulations!

[Dischoard]

Excellent news! BTW, the tone arm is pot metal too, not brass. Lucky that you were careful with the torch! Pot metal has a fairly low melting point. Some pot metal degrades... some does not. Depends how much lead was in the mix when it was made. Lead is the cuplrit in pot metal degradation.

Thanks, the larger part of the tonearm (the part connecting to the motor board) almost seems to be made of two different materials, there's a bit of a seam closer to where it's riveted down and on the other side of the seam also shows signs of pot metal checking. Weird. Whatever it is, yes, I went slowly and also figured, well, it's a cheap turntable and if I melted the tonearm, no harm no foul

Cheers!