The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The traditional replacement for that leather is a small bit of the round leather belting used for treadle sewing machines. If you don't have another source I'd be glad to send you some - it's off an old machine and is well broken in and impregnated with oil- guaranteed not to squeak.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I live and work in the UK but have a house in South West France. At the moment I'm a bus driver and have all my holidays allocated for me. The next time I'll be there is at the end of September. I spent last weekend in the house when I made the video. I flew out and didn't take much with me. Had I been driving I'd have taken my lap top and microphone and made a better recording.

I've ordered governor leather from the link above and I'll work through all the suggestions when I'm next back in France.

Edisone, are you saying that's par for the course for a gramophone. I'm clearly not an expert and the only thing I have to compare are my two portables HMV 101 & 102 which both play at a much more constant speed. TBH the variation in pitch sounds much worse than they do on the recording, but to me they're particularly noticeable on the longer notes in the melody line.

I'm now back in France and have tried to get to grips with my wowing 145. It actually sounded worse than last time.

I went armed with a print out of this thread and my replacement governer leather. Sure enough there was play in the governer bearings and I re-positioned them so that there wasn't any slack to speak of. The governer moved freely on its shaft. That made things a little better and I decided to change the leather. It was a job to get the old one out and I was mindful not to break the jaws holding it in. Now the problem is that the replacement I bought is a little too small even with the jaws fully closed. It doesn't fit very snugly. The gramophone still works, but there's still a hint of wow. It's noticeable on sustained piano notes. Dance band records sound fine, but it's sustained notes on piano that are affected.

I've made before and after videos with my phone, I'll post them when I get home. At the moment I'm at McDonalds in Castesarrasin - wifi for the price of a cup of coffee - but it's a bit slow.

Nothing to do with this thread, but I've just had a good little haul of 32 French records at Émaus, a charity shop that you tend to find all over France, it's always worth having a look in. I'm now off home to play them!

Henry wrote:

Joe_DS wrote:
When the motor is fully run down, check to make sure that the governor assembly is not seated too loosely by moving it back and forth in the directly of the bearings or collars.

Joe

Right! I speak from messy experience. There's nothing like the surprise you will get the first time you remove the governor with tension in the motor springs, as the springs release with the speed of thought. Chances are that once is enough, and that you will learn your lesson (as I did!) very quickly.

It was quite a surprise! Another surprise was the bang I got on the bridge of my nose when I dropped the gramophone lid on it. This wasn't on the HMV, I've got a Columbia 117a that I thought I'd check out how the governer was seated, and yes, there was some play and decided to adjust them. What I didn't see, because at that stage I hadn't taken the governer out was that the bearings are little eccentrics. The second time when they came out at the speed of light I noticed it. I've managed to change a slight wow into a prominent flutter. Obviously the governer has to be exactly parallel to the motor and 90 degrees to the housings. This is obviously not the case at the moment. Any advice for achieving this would be very useful. I've had a very enjoyable afternoon, despite rendering a gramophone temporarily unplayable. In the interests of domestic harmony if I don't get it sorted tomorrow the machine will have to go in the attic until after Christmas.

On motors with eccentric bearings, there is an easy way to get the governors correctly seated. Controversial, but it always works for me works for me. We are always told never to play with the governors whilst there is power in the springs, but this is one time to ignore that advice.

Put the turntable on, making sure it is seated firmly. Give the winding handle a few turns, just enough to keep the turntable turning for a couple of minutes, and apply the brake. Holding the turntable with one hand, release the brake, then release both the screws that hold the governor bearings. Bear in mind that the governor assembly will always try to escape at the worm gear end, never the other end. Keeping the turntable captive, turn the bearing at the worm gear end until the worm gear is just engaged with the turntable spindle gear, and tighten the holding screw. Now, holding the bearing at the other end lightly, let the turntable go, getting ready to stop it should anything be amiss. Turn the bearing slowly until the motor runs smoothly. If it doesn't, hold the turntable again, and turn the bearing at the worm gear end a little, then tighten the screw, and repeat until everything runs smoothly. It is essential that the holes in the bearings are in exactly the same position at both ends.Do not let the motor run whilst the bearing at the worm gear end is loose, or the whole governor will shift out of place, with possible damage to the gears. Once you are happy with the smooth running, loosen the bearing at the other end and without revolving it at all, pull it out by about a millimeter, just enough to allow a little end play.

Barry

Thanks I'll try that tomorrow. Do you do that with the motor board upside down?

No, because you need to be able to hold the turntable firmly whilst you adjust the governors. Stand the motor on the workbench, then you can hold both the turntable and the motorboard together with one hand, whilst adjusting the governors with the other.

Barry