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hi guys im back with a new topic' last week an american lady called to the hurdy gurdy museum in howth co dublin saying she had acquired a small cottage , and that it was crammed with old radios and related stuff in an attic , she wanted us to take in the goodies , but this museum is all ready stocked to the gills, so i was sent around to the cottage and saw this columbia 117a model, i immediately put my eye on it and i've got it at home now , also we found good homes for most of the other goodies,i have polished up the oak cabinet ,its complete nothing missing, but the motor cant be wound, hoping the spring is not kaput, it appears to be a double spring motor theres a shaft that runs across with a gearwheel that should wind the second spring but it appears to be out of its seating, will insert a picture soon , best regards maitiu standun.

Whatever you do be VERY cautious, as motors with stuck wound-up springs are VERY dangerous.

Here is the 1929 catalogue page showing the 117a. As you can see, the motor should be a single spring Garrard No.50, but as Garrard's biggest customer Columbia usually had their own name stamped on the bottom plate.

thanks guys for your input, will be careful about eruption of spring, and grateful for the pics of the 117a, and the info attached,maitiu.

standunmj wrote:hi guys im back with a new topic' last week an american lady called to the hurdy gurdy museum in howth co dublin saying she had acquired a small cottage , and that it was crammed with old radios and related stuff in an attic , she wanted us to take in the goodies , but this museum is all ready stocked to the gills, so i was sent around to the cottage and saw this columbia 117a model, i immediately put my eye on it and i've got it at home now , also we found good homes for most of the other goodies,i have polished up the oak cabinet ,its complete nothing missing, but the motor cant be wound, hoping the spring is not kaput, it appears to be a double spring motor theres a shaft that runs across with a gearwheel that should wind the second spring but it appears to be out of its seating, will insert a picture soon , best regards maitiu standun.

Are you going to list some pictures ?

hi soundgen , have'nt had much luck with the posting of pics on this main forum, but i did get some pics onto the facebook version, ill keep trying anyway regards maitiu

hi , i've now discovered that the motor for this columbia 117a , is a gerrard single spring motor , according to info gleaned from the net, although it has columbia stamped on the case,it does not appear as though the spring is jammed or damaged just that the drive when trying to wind it is out of its seating, not to easy to see into it as the case is still screwed to the wooden board ,i might be able to get at it if i remove it, there 's this little shaft with a drive wheel adrift, anyone on here who has tackled this before could advise me id be grateful, best regards maitiu.

I think pictures would really help you get a good response. Adding pictures is very easy, just scroll down when you write a post, under "Upload Attachment" simply click on "Choose File" and then "Add the file". If you have more than one and want them in specific order then you can use the "Place inline" feature and drop down box. You can also add comments to each picture in the "Attachment" section at the bottom.

Andreas

standunmj wrote:hi , i've now discovered that the motor for this columbia 117a , is a gerrard single spring motor , according to info gleaned from the net, although it has columbia stamped on the case,it does not appear as though the spring is jammed or damaged just that the drive when trying to wind it is out of its seating, not to easy to see into it as the case is still screwed to the wooden board ,i might be able to get at it if i remove it, there 's this little shaft with a drive wheel adrift, anyone on here who has tackled this before could advise me id be grateful, best regards maitiu.

sounds like you've got a broken spring