Disc Drag?

[alang]

I've had the same issues with some records, sometimes even one side works and the other doesn't. Soft tone needles help sometimes, also playing on a machine with a stronger (2 or 3 spring) motor. Still there are some sides that don't work on any acoustic machine. I think sometimes a shellack record may have been stored at the bottom of a stack through hot summers. On some records you can see a hint of an imprint from whatever surface it was lying on. My thought is that the groove walls might have been softened and bent or compressed, thus narrowing the groove. This could get a needle stuck I think. Maybe lubrication with wax or similar would help that as well?

Andreas

[VintageTechnologies]

I have tried cleaning the offending records, which sometimes helps, but usually does not cure the problem. I was thinking of coating one with Armoral, to see if the silicon would lubricate things, but it might also may a spectacular mess.

I think you are referring to "Armor All". I have used the original formula on several types of records with generally good results. What I do is spray sparingly a pure cotton rag, such as an old undershirt with Armor All and then wipe the record. It really cuts the grime! I would caution you to not saturate the rag or get the record too wet, or leave it on the record too long. Use another clean cotton rag to wipe the record completely dry along the grooves and let it sit awhile before playing. I found in only a couple of cases that it seemed to soften the record surface. I have cleaned Pathé disks and Edison Blue Amberols with the stuff, and on one occasion, playing the Blue Amberol after cleaning caused damage to the record. I have cleaned scores of them since, with no ill effect, by using the cleaner sparingly. The cleaning will cut drag, reduce surface noise and also shine up the record for a few days until the silicon film drys out. I am not sure I would try it with steel needle type records and would be inclined to try beeswax with them instead.

[RAK402]

Thank you, VintageTechnologies,

I did mean Armor All, but could not remember how to spell it, off the top of my head.

You mentioned it could soften the shellac, I think I will stay away from it.

Thank you for the information, sir!

[De Soto Frank]

The only thing to add is that an out of whack sound box can also cause this problem. If both sound boxes have been serviced with new gaskets, and their needle bar pivots have been adjusted to maximum compliance, then that would rule that out.

While I haven't had any problems with record drag, I made myself a simple counter-weight for playing later 1930s/1940s records on my 4-40. It's a simple device that hooks onto the tonearm, similar to the one described on this page:

http://www.capsnews.org/apn2011-3.htm

Joe

This is brilliant !

I think I will be whipping-up one of these counter-weights for my own Ortho...

Thanks for sharing the article !

[De Soto Frank]

Avoid Armor-All altogether...

It's done bad things to anything I've put it on. It's harmful effects do not manifest themselves immediately, except for making the article slippery as a bar of soap in the bath.

Thank you, VintageTechnologies,

I did mean Armor All, but could not remember how to spell it, off the top of my head.

You mentioned it could soften the shellac, I think I will stay away from it.

Thank you for the information, sir!

[phonojim]

The reason why I chose pure beeswax is because it is a completely natural product instead of one containing unknown chemical ingredients which could cause long term damage to the record.
Johnson's Paste Wax also works well but you can smell the chemical solvents when you open the can, so I have decided not to use that either. If you decide to try different waxes, try them first on beat up records that you don't care about in order to determine at least the short term effects of the product.

As far as your phonograph not maintaining speed on a worn record, if the machine plays 90+ per cent of your records without a problem it probably is not at fault. I have a VV 8-30 wind-up with Victor's latest and greatest four spring motor. It really is a tough workhorse which will play up to six ten-inch records on a full wind. IIRC these were advertised to run 20 minutes on a winding. However, even this motor will bog down on some worn records. This is a machine which has all original springs, everything was rebuilt about 15 years ago and is kept adjusted and lubricated; my daily driver as it were.

Jim

[RAK402]

I solved my problem.

I picked up a Brunswick Seville.

It plays all of my errant records with no problem (sounds better on everything, too!).

I did not know how well acoustic reproduction could sound!

[Player-Tone]

I had this problem on my VV-50 portable at first, it turned out to be the governor bearings. The bearings were pressed right up against the governor and were creating friction so I loosened them slightly to give it ~½ mm of wiggle room. I haven't had a problem since, it will play even the most worn and dirty records.

[RAK402]

Player-Tone,

Thank you!

I would never have thought to look there!

I will check out the governor bearings in my portables!