The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I cleaned and lubed the motor in my VV-VI today. At the 5 minute mark when running after a full wind, I hear what sounds like thumping for about 3 seconds. Maybe 3 or 4 knocks. It will run for 13 minutes on a full wind so, I think both springs are hooking up OK. Both springs appeared to be in good shape when I had them out of the barrels and I used my normal mixture of synthetic grease and gear oil to lube them. What do you think is going on? I never wound it fully before to know if it did this or not. I bought it and sat it aside until I had time to restore it. Thanks

Grease and oil will not work. You need to lubricate it with a mixture vaseline and graphite flake. Oil develops surface adhesion along with the grease and makes the springs thump and slap

Hmmm. Ive never had that happen before. I used Super Lube synthetic which looks and feels like Vaseline. I also add a few drops of Royal Purple gear oil. It work s great in my other machines. If it doesn't straighten itself out in a few days, I'll pull the springs again and follow your advise. Is this vaseline/graphite mixture available pre-mixed? Where do you get the graphite and what ratio is is suppose to be mixed?

Another thing to consider is that the grease won't get evenly distributed unless you wind it up all the way a few times. The winding and unwinding 'squish distributes' the grease to the entire spring. If you've never wound it up all the way, it could be that some of the outer parts of the spring did not get greased. You're problem might go away after a few more full windings/unwindings.

I found the problem. I took both springs back out in order to polish them with some 0000 steel wool. While polishing one of them, I found a slight kink on the edge about ⅓ of the way from the end that attaches to the barrel. I flattened it out as best I could with a hammer and dolly. I also went back to my previous mixture of Mobil One synthetic grease and gear oil. No more bumping! Thanks for the tips guys.

I think the original recipe for petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and graphite was a ratio of 9 to 1. You can buy graphite powder in small tubes at a hobby/craft store (used for pinewood derby cars). At different times, I've used Vaseline and McGlaughlin Petro-Gel (got it at a restaurant supply house) with the hobby store graphite.

Ive seen everything from 2:1 to 1:1 vaseline/#2 flaked Graphite. Who knows. Sounds messy though.