HELP: Victrola governor unsteady speed issue

[apruizii]

I'm refurbishing a VV-X upright Victrola and have noticed that the speed stays steady at 78 RPM for about 10 seconds and then slows down to about 68-70 RPM for a few seconds and speeds up to 78 RPM again, and then slows down again after about 10-15 seconds and continues this unsteady cycle. I tried changing the governor and still have the same issue. What could be the problem?

Thanks,

AR

[JerryVan]

I've had that happen with a worn gear on the spring barrel. The gear that drives the spindle shaft. Look at the motor. With a magic maker, or chalk, or ???, put a mark on the gear. Do it when the motor first begins to slow down. Then run the motor, allowing it to speed up again. Just as it begins to slow down again, stop the motor and check the location of your mark. If it's in roughly the same spot, then your problem is a worn section of the drive gear. Just replacing that gear may or may not solve the problem. You may find that replacing the spindle shaft is also necessary.

[apruizii]

I tried replacing the brass drive gear and spindle worm gear from a spare parts motor with no luck. I guess there could be something going on with the springs in the double spring barrel?

[Inigo]

A weak spot in one spring, but this would change as the spring deploys... If it persists after some minutes, then it must be the spring arbour or something which might be bent, or sticky with a lump of old grease...

[Phono48]

This is almost certainly down to the governors sticking as they ride along their central shaft, due to old sticky grease and oil. The whole governor assembly needs to be removed (after the spring has unwound completely) . Loosen the screw that holds the weights onto the central shaft and slide the shaft out. Clean the shaft and the inside of the tube that the weights are attached to very thoroughly, re-assemble, and apply a drop of thin oil to the shaft. Job done!

Barry

[JerryVan]

I tried replacing the brass drive gear and spindle worm gear from a spare parts motor with no luck. I guess there could be something going on with the springs in the double spring barrel?

The reason for my advice was based on 2 things. #1, the same thing happened to a motor of mine. #2, the frequency of your "slow down events" matches the frequency of large spring barrel drive gear rotation. I'd still do some close examination in that area.

[OrthoFan]

You've probably already checked this, but just in case....

Make sure that the governor is held relatively firmly in place between the two bushings.

It should spin freely, but there should be no movement sideways. If there is, it can make the turntable slow down, speed up, slow down...

OrthoFan

[apruizii]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I tried cleaning and oiling the governor shaft with no luck. The only area I haven't checked is inside/ouside the spring barrel to examine the springs, arbour, etc. I'll have to find some time for this and will report back.

AR