The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I'm rather new to phonograph collecting, so I was hoping that I might be able to get some advice. Recently the motor on my Brunswick 125 has begun to "rumble." You should be able to hear it on this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqnpLTFkrjE

I tried oiling all of the gears and bearings I could get at, but it didn't seem to help, at least not with about five minutes of running-in. Any suggestions of what to look for or what to try would be very much appreciated. I only have a handful of machines but this one is a favorite and I'd like to get it back to running quietly. Thank you!

Frank

The noise occurs with each rotation of the turntable. The turntable shaft has a worm gear that couples to the mainspring. That same shaft should also have a smaller brass or steel gear that couples to the worm gear of the governor, the mechanism with 4 rotating weights. That small gear coupled to the governor is probably the culprit. Check the gear for dirt or dried grease or even damage to the gear teeth. Clean and degrease that gear and the governor worm, then re-lube it with some Vaseline or better yet, black moly/lithium grease from the auto parts store. You should be able to clean those parts adequately with a toothbrush and solvent without removing them. Never attempt removing a governor unless the mainspring(s) is completely wound down!!!

Thank you! I'll give it a try; I hadn't cleaned any of the old grease off of the gearing so I'll get to work on that and hopefully that will do it.