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Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Home Ph
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 5:55 pm
by hangumhi
I've reassembled the machine and without the belt on, the internal gears and the governor spin as they should, the governor adjusts as it should, the tensioner works properly--adjusting the governor's spread. As soon as I put the belt on it does not budge. The belt is not slipping, nothing moves. Any obvious things I should be looking for to rule out? Please note that I bought a rubber belt off ebay and opted to go this route vs. leather....hoping to avoid adjustment/fitting issues. However I don't believe it's because the belt is too small/tight; when I place even the slightest pressure on my belt pulley it stops...it literally can't take any load.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
Re: Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Hom
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 6:28 pm
by ambrola
hangumhi wrote:I've reassembled the machine and without the belt on, the internal gears and the governor spin as they should, the governor adjusts as it should, the tensioner works properly--adjusting the governor's spread. As soon as I put the belt on it does not budge. The belt is not slipping, nothing moves. Any obvious things I should be looking for to rule out? Please note that I bought a rubber belt off ebay and opted to go this route vs. leather....hoping to avoid adjustment/fitting issues. However I don't believe it's because the belt is too small/tight; when I place even the slightest pressure on my belt pulley it stops...it literally can't take any load.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
Does the mandrel move freely when the belt is off? Also, does it have 2,4 minute gearing and what kind of machine?
Re: Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Hom
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 9:01 pm
by hangumhi
Yes the mandrel moves freely. It is setup with a 2min reproduce but I'm not sure about the gearing. It's a home model.
Re: Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Hom
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 9:24 pm
by Phonofreak
Take off that rubber belt and use a leather belt. Leather belts have been used since the 1890's and is a proven design. There are numerous threads in this Forum that discuss use and installation of leather belts. Also, if you don't have it already, get the Complete Talking Machine by Eric Reiss. There is a good article on this subject. That's how I learned to install leather belts.
Harvey Kravitz
Re: Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Hom
Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2014 11:13 pm
by hangumhi
Phonofreak wrote:Take off that rubber belt and use a leather belt. Leather belts have been used since the 1890's and is a proven design. There are numerous threads in this Forum that discuss use and installation of leather belts. Also, if you don't have it already, get the Complete Talking Machine by Eric Reiss. There is a good article on this subject. That's how I learned to install leather belts.
Harvey Kravitz
Oh wow thanks for the book advice I've scoured the Internet looking for a book that talks about these machines and I couldn't locate one so I appreciate that. I'll try the leather belt and see if that solves my problem. Thanks again.
Re: Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Hom
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 12:16 am
by Phonofreak
You can get that book on Amazon, Wyatt's Musical Americana,Phonophan(Tim Fabrizio) and possibly Ron Sitko. That book is chock full of information for both the novice, and seasoned collector. I've used that book thousands of times and always learned something new. It's a must have.
Harvey Kravitz
Re: Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Hom
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 12:33 am
by hangumhi
Phonofreak wrote:You can get that book on Amazon, Wyatt's Musical Americana,Phonophan(Tim Fabrizio) and possibly Ron Sitko. That book is chock full of information for both the novice, and seasoned collector. I've used that book thousands of times and always learned something new. It's a must have.
Harvey Kravitz
Thanks. Now I feel really duped by the eBay seller saying rubber belts are the way to go. There's 10 bucks down the drain!
Re: Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Hom
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 12:58 pm
by Phonofreak
I'm sorry to hear that. That's how we learn so we can guide others so they don't make the same mistakes that we made. In my early years of collecting, I tried rubber bands. What a fiasco that was. For a good ready belt, get them from Ron Sirko. You have to cut them to length, but they work fine. If you have any questions, the other Forum members and myself will guide you through. See if you can get your money back from this seller. I would also leave a feedback saying these belts are junk and don't work.
Harvey Kravitz
Re: Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Hom
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 2:17 pm
by hangumhi
Just ordered the book. Also picked up another book called A complete manual of the Edison phonograph.
Re: Not enough torque to power belt/mandrel/shaft Edison Hom
Posted: Thu Oct 23, 2014 7:24 pm
by hangumhi
I figured out that the belt is the wrong size; I contacted the seller and he/she was very great and is sending out the correct sized belt. I'm very happy that it wasn't something wrong with my machine....that I know of:)
The last thing I'll need to do is repair the stylus; everything has been fixed and appears functional assuming the new belt works. I'll post pictures of the machine once I'm all done....super excited. I'm not sure what to do with the horn, it's not in good shape, it's functional but some of the portions are bent and the paint is all but gone although the decal is still there. It's a really neat 10 panel and the only thing I need for it is a crane. I've heard of guys building their own crane; Anyone here ever done that? My thought here is that the cranes I've seen on ebay (besides costing as much as I paid for the entire machine and horn) aren't attractive. I was thinking of making a cool looking crane out of wood and a chain; maybe some nice milling to make it match the grill on my Edison Diamond Disc machine.