HMV 145 Questions

[CptBob]

That's odd, the post above was by me. I thought I was logged in, clearly not.

[Phono48]

I've overhauled quite a few of these motors, and am in the southern half of the UK, so if you want me to do this for you, send me a PM.

Barry

[Guest]

Again, to PROPERLY fix the problem, you MUST remove the spring from the barrel, clean the spring and barrel, and reload the spring along with fresh grease.
Warm rooms, soaking in various liquids, and waving the tail feather of a dodo bird over the motor are quite simply bad advise for temporary fixes or questionable effectiveness.

Ask yourself this-
Would you be happy to pay a professional restorer, and receive your reconditioned springs back to find he had employed one of the 3 methods above?
Would you prefer banana peels or sawdust in your gear box?

[CptBob]

Guest - that's thrown another thought into the mix. I'm really new to all of this and clearly I don't know much about gramophones or who's who in the gramophone world. I would have asked these questions on the UK forum, but my account has been locked out. It's quite obvious that in the UK some people don't trust other people. I don't know enough about who's who or what's what to make my mind up.

Basically, are you saying, do it your self - that's the only way to be sure the job's been done properly, or are you saying take the motor to a trustworthy repairer?

Thanks for your input

Confused of West Sussex



Edited for spelling

[dd2u]

I think you will know yourself whether you are capable of doing it without damaging yourself or the motor. You are in a better position to judge your own competence than anyone here!


I managed fine when I was fifteen. I used a specially made wooden jig clamped to a workbench to hold the spring barrel while working on the spring. A Black and Decker workmate can be OK (as long as you don't tighten it so much that it deforms the barrel, but sufficient to hold it).

One trick I was shown is this: when you have disassembled the motor and opened the spring barrel ready to remove the spring, you should put a large heavy cloth over the open end of the barrel, and push a hooked piece of metal through the cloth and under the spring to pull it out. Then, when the spring flies out, it will hit the cloth, and you can work it free in a controlled manner. This is much better than it hitting you! You may be surprised by how large an uncoiled spring can be.

When winding the spring back into the barrel, make sure there is nothing to trip up on, and take breaks to prevent yourself becoming too dizzy - because the easiest way at first is simply to walk round and round the barrel, feeding the spring through your hands into the barrel. Take control of it, and never let go. Wear gloves, of course!

There are various ways of attaching the spring at its outer and inner ends. You may not need to detach it for cleaning, but if you do, you will need to understand how to re-attach the spring. It is usually obvious and easy, though some are riveted in place. Working with a single barrel containing a double (or more) spring is slightly harder.

There is plenty of good advice on the internet.


If you get someone else to do the job, ask to watch. Good people will be happy to show you. Few people make a living from this, and there are no real trade secrets IMO. You may be even less inclined to do it yourself after you have watched someone else at work. At least this way you will see if they do the job "properly" or not.

Ask any of the major collectors or dealers where they their springs changed. Many don't do it themselves, so will have a contact who does. The world of UK gramophones (especially the CLPGS) is not the cesspit that some like to make out.

[Ian]

I would have asked these questions on the UK forum, but my account has been locked out.

That happened to me also and seemed to follow a scheduled maintenance window that had been announced a few days previously. Trying the "I forgot my username or password" link at the login page didn't help and there didn't seem to be any means to contact the forum's administrator for assistance. In the end I gave up and joined this forum instead.

As for getting your motor serviced, I see that you've already received an offer of help in an earlier post, but if that doesn't work out, you could try Ken Priestley. He's well thought of for his spares service and may be able to assist. Here's Ken's web site:

http://www.fonograf.com/

Hope this helps!

[CptBob]

I would have asked these questions on the UK forum, but my account has been locked out.

That happened to me also and seemed to follow a scheduled maintenance window that had been announced a few days previously. Trying the "I forgot my username or password" link at the login page didn't help and there didn't seem to be any means to contact the forum's administrator for assistance. In the end I gave up and joined this forum instead.

Those are exactly the same steps as I took, with the addition of contacting the administrator via his You Tube channel. I think it's cock up rather than conspiracy and I don't want to enter into any discussion about the UK forum apart from to say that it is amusing to see arguments conducted across two forums.

I've found a good welcome and helpful people here. Thanks.

[CptBob]

I've overhauled quite a few of these motors, and am in the southern half of the UK, so if you want me to do this for you, send me a PM.

Barry

Phono48, many, many thanks. I spent a very enjoyable and informative morning in the workshop, watching and learning. I can't thank him enough for his generosity with his time, knowledge, enthusiasm and lunch! It was exactly what I needed. I think I'll be able to tackle the next one on my own.

Robert