The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Does anyone know the washer / gasket size for the bearing balls compartments on the Victor Orthophonic reproducer? I ordered the bearing balls but they are not coming with the rubber gasket / hose.

Thanks all!!

I just ordered from APSCO. Comes with!

Go to your local auto-parts / hardware store and check-out their black rubber vacuum tubing.

Bring the reproducer front shell with you.

What you get in the kits is usually a ½-inch length of black rubber tubing that you have to slice "donuts" off of, with an Exacto knife / razor blade.

You might also find neoprene O-rings of the right dimension.

De Soto Frank wrote:Go to your local auto-parts / hardware store and check-out their black rubber vacuum tubing.

Bring the reproducer front shell with you.

What you get in the kits is usually a ½-inch length of black rubber tubing that you have to slice "donuts" off of, with an Exacto knife / razor blade.

You might also find neoprene O-rings of the right dimension.

Thanks for the info!!

I replaced the bearings on both sides of needle arm and installed a new gasket. Adjusted the needle arm screw. Still a no go. Distortion! I give up with POT metal reproducers.

Don't give up quite yet... Here is a link put together by forum member MicaMonster. It is very detailed and even shows how to diagnose various issues. You might find it helpful.

http://www.lagparty.org/~wyatt/rebuild-orthophonic.html

I have over a dozen pot-metal OSBs, and only one brass-body.

The pot-metal units can sound quite good, even with cracked castings, so long as they are air-tight and the spider is well-anchored / sealed to the diaphragm.


Does your OSB have the thin steel washers that go between the bearing balls and the rubber cushions ?

I've found that some boxes have them, others do not. Not sure if they make any difference in terms of sound quality / buzzing / rasping, but I would think that w/o them, the bearing balls would become embedded in the rubber, and the lose their tension on the tapered needle-bar ?

I agree with Dan's suggestion - read Wyatt Markus' treatise on rebuilding the Orthophonic reproducer... read it a couple of times...

Good luck !

Frank

Thanks guys! Sold on eBay as is for $50. Picking up a VV 4-7 for $25 today. Fully functional but body needs refinishing.

melvind wrote:Don't give up quite yet... Here is a link put together by forum member MicaMonster. It is very detailed and even shows how to diagnose various issues. You might find it helpful.

http://www.lagparty.org/~wyatt/rebuild-orthophonic.html

This link no longer works. Does anyone know the new location of MicaMonster's orthophonic rebuild guide?