The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi everybody! I have a Columbia model P-20 Queen Anne Period Grafonola with the electric motor. It works but I think it would work better with new brushes in the motor. Anybody know a source for them?

Thanks & here's some pics:

Cool contraption there! Can't see the end with the brushes in the pics, but I have played with a couple of Victor universal motors in which the brushes are lightly spring-loaded and it's easy to see how much "travel" they have left in them. If yours are still making this spring-loaded contact with the commutator, you don't need brushes. If you need to replace them, take one to an electric motor repair shop and match-up the best you can. Then it's a matter of sawing and filing to size. Then you wrap the commutator with fine sandpaper (not emery cloth) and grind the tips to shape.All this is predicated on the brushes being rectangular bars of carbon as in the Victor universal motor For maintenance, wipe the commutator with kerosene,
or naptha to clean the carbon off it. No alcohol here! If the commutator is pitted or ridged badly, you need to carefully polish it with fine sandpaper, finishing with very fine sandpaper. The shinier it is the less carbon will be deposited on it, less sparking, etc.

I haven't looked for a few years, but Home Despot had a good selection of carbon brushes.

WJW, thanks for the tips, I think I finally got the motor running right! the brushes (which are rectangular bars) were plenty long enough, they were just not making good contact. I wrapped the commutator with sandpaper and ground them to fit. Then polished the commutator till it was nice and shiny, cleaned everything really good, put it all back together and after lots of fiddling with the governor bearings I can finally put the needle down on the record without it grinding to a halt!

I wonder if the brushes from a Columbia Dictaphone would be the same?

Allwoundup, I'm happy to hear it's running! I'm curious- (assuming it has the feature) does the start-stop actuated by the tonearm work?

"does the start-stop actuated by the tonearm work?"

Yes it does, though the stop only kicks in when the tonearm gets very close to the label so most records never trip it. I could adjust it but then some records would be stopped before they are done.

It also has a switch inside the cabinet so it will only play when the flip-down door in front of the horn is open.

Hi AllWoundUp - did you ever find a source for replacement brushes? I have a motor with a similar problem and I think replacement brushes might help.

I had my Columbia electric motor rebuilt by:

Biedler's Electric Motor Repair
194 Hack Wilson Way
Martinsburg, WV 25401

Ask for Philip.

Phono-Phan wrote:I had my Columbia electric motor rebuilt by:

Biedler's Electric Motor Repair
194 Hack Wilson Way
Martinsburg, WV 25401

Ask for Philip.

I’ve dealt with these people before when looking for machine parts for something at work, and I second them. Solid, knowledgeable, competent people.