The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hi everyone,

I have my HMV 102 now tis awesome lol it hasn't played for about 30 years so the seller suggested I take the surface up and re-oil parts etc and give it a good clean!

I can see about 7 screws around the edge, do I remove these to be able to remove the playing surface (of course after I remove the turn table!)

What should I see when I take the surface off? Do I need to remove any of the brightwork that is attached to the top as well ie the brake, auto brake and speed selector?

Does anyone have a photo they can post up of the insides of the machine?

Remove the turntable, soundbox and 7 screws, then the motor board should lift straight out.
Either on the underside of the motor board, or on the inside bottom of the case, there should be a lubrication diagram glued on. This will show you what to oil and grease.
If it hasn't been used for 30 yrs, I'd highly recommend removing the spring barrel, and properly cleaning and regreasing the spring. HMV used a graphite grease that goes hard with age, and leaving the old grease in the barrel will either cause the motor to be sluggish, or can cause spring breakage.
They're only a very "small" spring, so you can easily remove and replace it yourself, as shown in my youtube video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbPa-VWAzSY

Just dig in! There's very little you can do wrong, if you are relatively methodical (ie: put screws in a jar or cup, remember the order things came out in - maybe take some pics?). The best way to learn is to do it, and there will be a ton of guys here with answers if/when you run into something/

Probably the most important thing to remember is to make sure the motor has fully run down before pulling the motor apart, otherwise the energy in the spring can release & strip gears or bend/break bearings. Taking pictures with a digital camera can be a great help too, as you can later reference them to see where things go & which way they sit in the motor.
It's also a good idea when removing the governor (the thing with 3 balls attached) to only remove the bearing furthest from the worm gear on the governor shaft, otherwise they can be a bit tricky to get back into proper alignment later.

Thanks for the help everyone! I kinda guessed it would be easy to do/straight forward as its quite a simple machine unlike some of the cabinet ones!

I will take some photos of it anyhow and post them up so that people can check if there is anything missing lol

Im not too sure about removing the spring though, but I know you can get them cheaply but its just the thought of taking it all apart as many of the sites that I have looked on said to leave it alone if you don't know what you are doing lol I think im in that category!

Hmm where did my post go? lol I just posted up here and its not shown!

Anyhow, Thanks everyone for your help I will remove the motor deck tonight and take lots of photos - just plugged in my camera to charge it whilst im at work etc.

I am not sure about tweeking the motor though, lots of sites say to not touch it if you don't know what you are doing, and I think I might be in that category

I will take photos of everything I do so that they can be used by other newbies that come along!

Is there any way of greasing/oiling the motor without taking it apart? What oil is best? I have read that car oil or a light 3 in 1 oil is ok etc

Thanks for everyones help

Watch gramophoneshanes's video, it helped me out big time for my first spring removal. Get a large plastic bucket and wear gloves. Keep the barrel inside the bucket just in case the spring pops out too fast. Keep a good grip on the spring when removing and replacing it and you should be fine.

It's not a hard job, but it is a very dirty job, so if you're the sort of person who hates getting your hands dirty, you're probably better off sending the motor to someone else to do.
A couple sites have prices listed for a full motor service, which start at around $100, or you can just send the spring barrel, which starts at around $30.
But in all honesty, a spring the size of the one in your motor is very easy to handle, and you'd probably have the job done in 30-45 mins....15 minutes once you get used to doing them.
I started doing springs when I was 13, and I was a weed of a kid, so you dont need any super powers to do them lol, and your motor is the perfect size for a first attempt at motor servicing.

Just taken it out and gave it a clean and re-oil, motor seems fine, just some muck on the speed control arm for the governer, here are some photos of it:




Removed from case



Case with instructions





Horn and motor etc



Motor removed



Looks ok, the arm on the governor had muck on it, so I cleaned that and dried off the friction disk. I also found that the speed arm assembly wasn't adjusted correctly - 78rpm was ar the top end of 'fast' so I adjusted that back using the 2 screws. Really nice bit of clockwork though! It still ticks a bit, but thats becuase it needs some more permanet grease on it, I have taken it out just to check it over etc.

Nice looking 102!
That ivory coloured plastic tag on the top side of the motor board will tell you what year it was made.
You'll see a number written like B/14, and that number will tell you the year.
A "B" by itself signifies the year 1936, and B/1=1937, B/2=1938 etc, & B/14 would be 1950.