New owner needs info

[Angus555+]

I have a HMV 102D portable phonograph I like to ask what does the D mean in 102D and also can the spring be overwound

[RCA_victrolaboy]

I'm not sure of many of the His Master's Voice models but I can probably input that springs can definitely be overwound if forced.

[Inigo]

Hello and welcome. Some other 102 guru will surely jump in for better details, but the D means one of the variations of the 102 along its long production run (somewhat like 1931 to 1958). 27 years is a very long run for a gramophone model... If I'm not wrong, they arrived to 102H at the end of the production.
If you find any other plaque under the turntable (an ivorine one) it contains numbers and letters that give a better clue of the year of manufacturing of your particular machine. Look for something like this:

IMG_20220110_082228.jpg

[epigramophone]

The "B" prefix on the 102 Serial Number plaque first appeared in 1936, followed by B/1 in 1937, B/2 in 1938 and so on.

[Angus555+]

Yes it has that under ther weather at the moment so thanks to all of you ,I’ll get back later

[EdiBrunsVic]

As to your question about over doing the spring, yes you could have issues so just wind it cautiously and not too close to tight. Replacing springs can get messy.
Letting it unwind when done is a good idea too.

[epigramophone]

By all means let the spring run down after a playing session, but not completely, otherwise there is a risk of the spring becoming detached from it's fixing inside the barrel. A lot of dismantling will be required to re-attach it.

[JerryVan]

Overwound... I've always been unsure about what that really means. Though I believe it's poor practice for a 100 year old spring, you can wind it till the "end", meaning till it's fully wound. I do not consider that to be "overwound". Then, once fully wound, you can force the crank to go yet further, which will most likely cause the spring, or something else, to break. Is that "overwound"? I guess you could say so, but I would just call that "broken". As in, "Is this overwound? No, it's not wound at all. It's broken."

I think the term "overwound" is used more frequently with regard to clocks & watches. Not my area of expertise, (as if anything is...), but I doubt that that's a real thing amongst clock/watch makers. Anyone?

[PeterF]

Portable phonos have small springs and thus seldom have any power to spare. So one must wind them frequently during use, and most likely they need to be wound “all the way” for satisfactory performance.

With practice, one gets a sense of how that feels. Wind it til it gets harder to do so, then stop. Never force it.

If it gives resistance during winding but then gets slack, or suddenly easier to wind (sometimes accompanied by a sound at that point), the spring is broken and must be replaced. If there is little or no resistance, and tension never increases with winding, the spring is broken and must be replaced.

Some people re-use the existing spring in the name of economy, using various tricks, but if one goes to all the greasy dangerous trouble to open up the spring barrel, it’s best to install a new spring while you’re in there.

[Angus555+]

Thanks everyone for your wisdom I am in the middle of maybe not so much restoring but as we say down under doing it up. I’ve just finished recovering the box as it was in a state and falling apart at the joins . The mechanics is next,it works well but very old dust and grease mixed together. I’ll try and post some images.