Automatic brake assembly for Victrola 90?

[Mold-a-RamaGuy]

Hi everyone --

Disclaimer: I recently acquired my great-grandfather's Victrola 90, and one of my summer projects is to get it back into fighting shape. Only one problem: I don't know what I'm doing. I've been reading posts in this forum all week and decided it's time to seek the help of the experts! (If that text sounds familiar, it's because this is not my only thread on the topic.)

Today's issue is the brake. The wishbone-shaped automatic brake yoke was missing when I got my hands on this unit, so I ordered a replacement but I'm not quite sure how the heck you attach it to the mechanism. It will happily sit on top, loosely held in place by the round peg on the end, but there's not enough room left to slide that C-clip underneath the head of the peg to hold everything down. See photos below.

Is the yoke supposed to lie UNDERNEATH the top piece that has the spring on it? And if so how do you get the head off the peg to make that possible? In hindsight I'm wishing I'd just purchased a rebuilt brake, but, again, sentimental value, trying to keep as much of the original elements as I can, all that.

And while we're on the topic of the brake, what exactly is that non-metallic part that's on the branch shooting off by the spring? A sad old piece of rubber? Referring to the part that does the actual braking--does that ever need replacement?

Continued thanks, everyone! Photos below.

[Phono48]

The forked piece which you are replacing goes between the two red fibre washers. Be careful removing those washers, they're very fragile, and can easily snap. You don't need to remove anything other than the spring clip, which you have already done. Just lift off the top piece, (with the spring attached), and one of the red washers, put the yoke in, and replace the washer, then the top piece, and slide the spring washer over the lot. Job done!

The piece of leather (not rubber) is the brake pad, which strikes the inside of the turntable when the brake kicks in.

Sorry about the picture quality, but you can see how it goes....

Barry

[Mold-a-RamaGuy]

Phono48, I owe you a beer. I never would've had the guts to force/pry off that top piece--let alone those washers, which were completely stuck together--without your input. Everything popped together exactly as you said and the automatic brake now works perfectly. Thanks for the help!

P.S. Does the leather brake pad ever need replacing or maintenance? When the brake is triggered there's definitely a harsh scraping sound as it makes contact, but that may be par for the course.

[OrthoSean]

I usually rough up the edge of the brake pad using a small file or sandpaper then soak it with some neatsfoot oil, the squeak will go away.

Sean

[Phono48]

The above advice is good, one reason being that although the leather can be replaced with a piece of sewing machine belt, you can almost guarantee that when you try to open the two prongs to get the old piece out, one of them will snap off. Then you have got problems!

Barry