The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I just cleaned and polished everything on a typical late teens Victor Victrola motor, the common style with the large spring barrel which holds two springs.

I hear an annoying scraping sound that occurs at the frequency of the spindle shaft. I hear it everytime the set screw for the spindle shaft gear passes the worm gear of the governor. I tired switching out the spindle shaft gear, but that did not help.

Any suggestions?
Dave D

Mark the spot with a sharpie marker, and observe it as it rotates SLOWLY. You might have developed a burr on the edge of one of the teeth. This can be scraped back with a razor, or a jeweler's file. In the past I have degreased the gears with NO OIL to amplify the noise (to help finding the offending surface easier).

Is the spindle gear upside down?

hearsedriver wrote:Is the spindle gear upside down?

Nope!
Dave

Another way to check is to remove the spindle gear completely. Under a strong light, turn the gear with your hand. If you see a glint of light, then it is either a burr or a bad tooth. A fine jeweler's file will clean it up nicely. I had that problem with my early Victor I, and a burr was the culprit.
Harvey Kravitz

I had a similar problem and found that the location height of the spindle gear was the problem. I had to lower the spindle gear on the shaft.
Blain

Canuk Phonographs wrote:I had a similar problem and found that the location height of the spindle gear was the problem. I had to lower the spindle gear on the shaft.
Blain

Blain,
You were spot on! I moved it and it works flawlessly. I don't understand why, since there is a dimple in the shaft for the spindle shaft gear set screw to tighten down to, but the main thing is that the noise is gone. The motor runs all the way down until there is no tension left in the springs. Thanks so much!

Dave D

Miss-post here. Reposted in "tips, tricks, tutorials."