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I'm thinking of buying an Edison B-60 belt driven phonograph. The 60 is the model without a lid. Does anyone know if the B-60 and B-80 motors are identical? I want to know because my phono mechanic said if the B-60 had a bad gear, he would not be able to fix it.

Alas, Frow only describes the mechanism for the 60 as being "very similar" to the 80 (at least in the A series). Both models were issued with improved motors on the B series; but he gives no specific details.

Bill

From photos I've collected of various machines as well as my own B60, I believe that the B60 has the same motor as the A80. There was an early motor and a later motor used in the belt driven Diamond Disc machines. I believe the early motor was used in the A60, B60, and A80. The other machines use the improved motor. The older style motor has a thrust bearing on top of the belt pulley, a gearbox rather than exposed gears connecting the spring barrel to the crank, and one stage of gearing to increase the speed from the spring barrel to the belt pulley. The newer style motor has a cantilevered belt pulley as the top of the motor (no thrust bearing), exposed gears connecting the crank to the spring barrel, and two stages of gearing increasing the speed from the spring barrel to the belt pulley. This later arrangement apparently works much better.

Steve

Rexophone wrote:From photos I've collected of various machines as well as my own B60, I believe that the B60 has the same motor as the A80. There was an early motor and a later motor used in the belt driven Diamond Disc machines. I believe the early motor was used in the A60, B60, and A80. The other machines use the improved motor. The older style motor has a thrust bearing on top of the belt pulley, a gearbox rather than exposed gears connecting the spring barrel to the crank, and one stage of gearing to increase the speed from the spring barrel to the belt pulley. The newer style motor has a cantilevered belt pulley as the top of the motor (no thrust bearing), exposed gears connecting the crank to the spring barrel, and two stages of gearing increasing the speed from the spring barrel to the belt pulley. This later arrangement apparently works much better.

Steve

On cursory examination, this seems to correspond with the motor on my A-80.

Does the B-60 also have the hole in the underside of the cabinet to regulate the horn height?

Bill

Here is a motor from a B80. I have seen 4 B80 machines and all had this motor.

I have not seen an A60 motor.

Cliff

Steve, I think you are right because why would the B-60 have a new and improved C-60 model put out if it was not the same as the B-80. I wonder what the difference is between the A-60 and B-60?

Yes, my B60 has a hole under the bottom to adjust horn height. This is my understanding of the differences:

The A60 has a metal cabinet and the early motor
The B60 has a wooden cabinet and the early motor
The C60 has a wooden cabinet and the later motor (this is a guess on my part-- I haven't seen pictures of the C60 motor)

The A80 has the early motor
The B80 has the later motor

Here are photos of my B60 motor-- which is the earlier of the two motors I am aware of.

Steve

Here are photos of an A-80 motor and a B-80 motor:

A-80: B-80: George P.

This is a great discussion! Thanks all for posting the pictures of the different motors. First time I've seen the earlier style motor.

Cliff

I'm in the process of buying a B-60. The motor needed a lot work and luckily I have a friend who has experience working on a B-80, including my B-80. The feed screw wasn't carrying the reproducer all the way across the record and my mechanic at first thought I had a worn feed screw. But then he saw a thing that looked like washer was turning in the drive train that should not be turning. So he is now JB welding. He will know tomorrow if he fixed it. The grease inside the spring barrel in both my B-60 and 80 was so foul it stank! It probably hadn't been opened since 1912! Now I'd love to find the matching cabinets! This is my friend's B-80 set: