The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

What would cause a turntable to stall on a single spring off brand machine I recently purchased? I cleaned and properly re-greased the motor, checked the gov, checked the speed control, used a new needle, tryed a perfect 7" 78 record, etc,,, yet when I set the tonearm down on the record it slowly comes to a complete stop after a few seconds. The unit will take a good 20-25 cranks before I feel the "time to stop cranking" tension, yet the turntable will spin for only 30-45 seconds. Purplexed.

Is there supposed to be a small ball bearing at the bottom of the spindle shaft, and if so is it still present?

I once had a similar problem with a machine. It had been left fully wound since Hector was a pup, and the mainspring had simply lost much of its power. Replacing the mainspring solved the problem.

George P.

If a full winding nets only 30 to 45 seconds of spinning, and you are not trying to play a record, I suspect a weak or possible shortened spring. Jerry Blais

For such a short duration, that would have to be a mighty short or extremely weak spring. I think you'll find this is a friction problem caused by a missing ball bearing at the bottom of the spindle shaft.

gramophoneshane wrote:For such a short duration, that would have to be a mighty short or extremely weak spring. I think you'll find this is a friction problem caused by a missing ball bearing at the bottom of the spindle shaft.

it can still be the spring i had a columbia graphophone type Q and somebody left it fully wound for a 100 years this thing would stop as soon as needle and cylinder touched so... new springy thingy and..''PERFECTION''

greetings
tino