The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

The A80 didn't have a belt when it came home so I used some of the belting I had recently bought to do my Standard. I roughed the cork on the pulleys a bit, stretched the leather before I cut and glued to size, strengthened the tensioner wheel spring and now the belt walks off the pulleys when running. Anyone deal with this before? The alignment doesn't look bad, I am not sure where to go from here.

Thanks for any help/insights.

Ron in Tacoma.

I would check the alignment of the pulleys again, and perhaps check the angle of the tension idler, to see whether it has any bias one way or the other.

Also, if the belt is not perfectly straight, it might tend to crawl off the pulleys. (I have not encountered this problem on my A-80, but it is an avenue to explore).

Bill

That can be a symptom of the belt being too to tight. Back off a little on your tensioner and see what happens.

In addition to the above very sensible suggestions, you might try putting the belt on 180° from the way it is now (end for end, not back side to front side).

Sometimes it can make the difference in tracking.

Best,
Fran

Thanks. I tried those tips and also respliced the belt as the splice didn't look perfectly straight. With everything aligned and the belt true the A80 is now playing.

Thanks again.

Ron