How to change and re grease springs

[Zeppy]

My personal trick.

Call Walt, George, etc. Place motor in box. Ship. Write check.



I've replaced a few springs in my day, and rebuilt a few motors. I've come to the conclusion, it's just not my thing. That, and I can never get that retention spring that holds the cap on the spring canisters in without fighting it for longer than it took to take apart, degrease, and re-lube the motor.

Good luck!

[phononut]

Hi
I learned the hard way when it came to springs. My first phonograph, the Amberola 30, was my first project. I was 11 when I did this, now 12. Excited to start the restoration I removed the bedplate, spring still fully wound. What better than to take out the governer with a fully wound spring. The mandrel zoomed up to a million miles an hour. Being my first phonograph, and the second day I had it home I was very protective of the unit. I grabbed the gear in an attempt to stop it. This sprayed blood onto the walls and up in the air. I still have a scar on my hand. It stoped. With a shaking hand I replaced the governer.

I continued to restore, now to remove the spring. Clueless, I grabbed a screwdriver and pried. Booingg! The spring expanded to a huge size now slicing my hand. This was a deep cut.

Don't be stupid. Be prepered!

Regards
Brad

[gramophoneshane]

OUCH!
I learned about letting springs unwind a few months before my first gramophone purchase when I decided to try and fix an Ansonia clock just after my 13th birthday. No blood & gore thank goodness, but we were picking up clock parts in the lounge & dining room for a week.
When I got my first gramophone about 4 months later, I was lucky enough to be introduced to a long time collector by my next door neighbour, so a few weeks later my mum dropped me off at his place one Saturday morning, & he showed me what to do & what not to do.
It certainly makes a huge difference when you can actually see how it's all done, as opposed to guessing or even reading a book. It allowed me to be able to pull diamond disc springs in & out of the barrel before my 14 birthday.

I've posted this video here several times before, but might as well post it in this thread too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbPa-VWAzSY[/youtube]

[Lucius1958]

Hi
I learned the hard way when it came to springs. My first phonograph, the Amberola 30, was my first project. I was 11 when I did this, now 12. Excited to start the restoration I removed the bedplate, spring still fully wound. What better than to take out the governer with a fully wound spring. The mandrel zoomed up to a million miles an hour. Being my first phonograph, and the second day I had it home I was very protective of the unit. I grabbed the gear in an attempt to stop it. This sprayed blood onto the walls and up in the air. I still have a scar on my hand. It stoped. With a shaking hand I replaced the governer.

I continued to restore, now to remove the spring. Clueless, I grabbed a screwdriver and pried. Booingg! The spring expanded to a huge size now slicing my hand. This was a deep cut.

Don't be stupid. Be prepered!

Regards
Brad

Made the same mistake with my 30 when I was starting out. Luckily, all I got was a bit of damage on the mandrel gear...

And I had to wrangle the spring again recently, when it came unhooked. Not particularly fun....

[Amberola 1-A]

My personal trick.

Call Walt, George, etc. Place motor in box. Ship. Write check.



I've replaced a few springs in my day, and rebuilt a few motors. I've come to the conclusion, it's just not my thing. That, and I can never get that retention spring that holds the cap on the spring canisters in without fighting it for longer than it took to take apart, degrease, and re-lube the motor.

Good luck!

I think Zeppy's advice is the best route for the casual phonograph collector. Despite the very few that have poo-pooed the danger of removing and replacing springs, it is better to have fingers and bric-a-brac intact than to lose them if you don't feel confident.............

Bill

[Amberola 1-A]

If you are doing an open spring on a clock/phono works, a "C" clamp or a stiff wire wrapped around and twisted at the ends is all that is needed. You have to fully wind the spring before securing it with the wire or the C clamp.
If the spring is broken, there is little danger of the spring going around the room as most of it's power has been exhausted. On separating the plates, there may be a bit of the spring unwinding but it is usually a non issue. A winder is advised to wind and install the new spring if it comes not secured by a wire(very unusual).

Bill

[coyote]

After a Saturday of cleaning and regreasing four springs from a Credenza, I looked back at the threads related to mainsprings. While there is a lot of attention paid to winding/unwinding springs and greasing, I find the most frustrating part tends to be opening (and closing) the spring barrel, whether it be the cookie-tin type or (particularly) the later Victor design. For example, unlike a single-spring cookie tin barrel, a double-spring Victor barrel's center divider between the springs prevents a good angle from being obtained to tap the lid off from the opposite side.

The retaining ring was already addressed in this thread. I suspect part of my problem with the retaining clip was slight deformation of the lid during disassembly/assembly. Does anyone have any favorite or creative methods of removing (and replacing) spring barrel lids, specifically Victor double barrels? Thank you, as I haven't yet come up with any!

[Player-Tone]

I use a bent paperclip to hook on the inside of the deviding lid when pulling it out. The hook can grip the center hole and pop it right off. Same is true for the top after you pop the ring off.

Chances are the metal ring won't go back because the ring itself is bent. A bent barrel would make it impossible to fit the lid back on in the first place. If the ends don't line up you can push them apart with a screwdriver untill they do, causing the warped ring to form flush with the barrel wall (picture below).