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I just took one of these apart on an L-door XVI to refresh my memory. Take the screw out, then pull off the tapered piece, it's slotted, so it can only fit one way. Underneath that should be a spring then finally the flat plate that's threaded. I tightened that as tight as it would go, then replaced the spring and pressed on the tapered piece while holding the governor lever out. Once you have these together you can put the governor lever back on the tapered piece and begin putting the bottom screw back in. You have to play with that screw a bit to get the speed at 78 while the pointer is pointing at 78. The whole process took me about 15 minutes from start to finish. It's possible that you have a slightly different assembly, but they should be similar. Also note that you have to hold the speed control knob in place while you adjust the bottom screw or you won't really be adjusting anything, the whole assembly will just keep spinning. I hope this helps you a little further.

Sean

Sean thank you again. I am going to go now and try again. It seems like it should be simple enough, but when you stated in your reply, "note that you have to hold the speed control knob in place while you adjust the bottom screw or you won't really be adjusting anything, the whole assembly will just keep spinning.", it makes me think I have some other problem with my indicator disc.

The problem is:
I tightened the threaded disc (using the method you described) and once I did that, the speed indicator disc on the top will not move at all. Neither will the tapered piece once I put it back. Everything seems locked. I put the tapered piece back on, put the bottom screw back on, but there was no need to hold the speed control knob in place due to it being locked in place.

Is that the way it is supposed to work? Is there supposed to be rotation in the indicator disc and the tapered piece even when the threaded disc is tightened? The only time I get any movement on the disc is when it is loosened.

If it is supposed to be able to rotate when it is completely tightened then mine is not doing that. It will not move at all once I tighten it. And that is regardless of how tight I make the final spring loaded screw which goes into the tapered piece.

I can't say for certain, it's been over 20 years since I owned an XI and I think there may be a slight difference in the design of the speed control. Hopefully someone here with an XI can chime in, the machine I was working with is about 4 years older than yours and they may have changed it a little, I know they look slightly different.

Sorry I wasn't able to pinpoint your problem, if I had an XI motor here with that control on it, I could tell you what to do.
Sean

And now we know why Victor moved the adjustment from the underside to the topside center of the knob! On my XI-G (#370333) all you need do is turn the knob-and-arrow to point to 78, for example. and turn the center screw until 78 is achieved, as measured by strobe disk. By this means you can also set the turntable to run at any other rpm within its range, again setting by strobe. Turning the topside screw moves the cam wheel (under the motorboard) up or down, and the follower arm bearing on the cam will transmit the movement to the governor. A neat arrangement indeed, simple but ingenious and effective. You never have to lift the motorboard or remove any plates, etc., to make the adjustment, unless you unscrew too far and the cam wheel drops off below.

Henry - You really know your stuff! What you are saying is, my version of the speed indicator has to be adjusted from below, and once it is all tightened down, it doesn't move from that point? I am beginning to see that the best thing for me to do is just tinker with it until I find 78, then tighten the crap out of everything so it will remain forever at 78.

AMiBlue wrote:I am beginning to see that the best thing for me to do is just tinker with it until I find 78, then tighten the crap out of everything so it will remain forever at 78.

Until you begin to realize that not all discs were recorded at 78rpm

HisMastersVoice wrote:

AMiBlue wrote:I am beginning to see that the best thing for me to do is just tinker with it until I find 78, then tighten the crap out of everything so it will remain forever at 78.

Until you begin to realize that not all discs were recorded at 78rpm

Once you set 78 accurately, by whatever means for your particular regulator, then you can of course vary the speed by turning the knob this way or that. The older dial plates had rpm numbers marked around the face, but mine only says "Faster" and "Slower" on either side of the marked "78." That's why you need a strobe disk!

Right, but you mean by turning the dial from underneath correct? Because my dial cannot turn at all from the top of the machine once it is tightened down. Was this meant to be like that? Anyone know what I am asking? Is the speed regulator supposed to be able to turn using the knob on the top when the turntable is set up? I can only adjust it from under the machine. It is totally locked up on the visible part of the machine as though it were there for decorative purposes only.

Something is not right. The bottom screw is to move the cam up and down. This is so you can calibrate the arrow on top. The arrow would be set on 78 or in the middle and you would use a stroboscope on the turntable. You would then turn the screw underneath and make sure the turntable is spinning at 78 while the arrow is set on 78. Once that is set you would then also be able to adjust the speed faster or slower from the top dial but can always go back to 78 and know its right.

Sorry I have added confusion here---mea culpa! I was, of course, describing *my* XI regulator, which has the adjustment screw (which I should have more properly referred to as "calibration screw") in the *topside* center of the knob, not the location in AMiBlue's earlier XI. I see now that the wording in my post above is not at all clear on that point. And as Bob says, once the regulator is calibrated, by whatever method is appropriate for your machine, the knob is then used to adjust the turntable speed. This is best done in conjunction with a strobe disk, like the one attached below. Use with a 60 cycle light source.

FYI, the source of the disk, http://www.misterphonograph.com/, is no longer active. It seems that Matt Brown has largely withdrawn from the hobby. His other site, http://edisonphonos.proboards.com/index.cgi?, sees some activity, but not much by comparison to this board.