The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello all,
I’ve been planning on servicing my C-150’s motor and having the spring serviced, but am not sure how to take the motor out of the cabinet.
Does the horn come out with the motor, or does it stay in the cabinet? From what I can tell, it looks like everything comes out together. How do you separate the motor and horn once they are out of the cabinet?
Also, who would you recommend sending the spring to?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Gerald.

The motor service manual has been posted here. It's pretty simple. The only difficult part may be removing the lifter bar, but penetrating oil will fix that issue.

I recommend Ron Sitko for springs.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=476

I would recommend disconnecting your lid from its prop and tilting it all the way back, resting against a wall, before trying to pull out the works. They are heavy and awkward to handle, and it's all too easy to lose control and have them bang into (and ding) the inside of the lid if it's tilted over them. (Don't ask me how I know. )

I'm kind of surprised you have never seen any Dyslexic Genius videos on this subject. Brett has made literally hundreds of short sweet little videos on all aspects of phonograph repair. check him out!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2xOoutkFCw

All of the above is great info. If this helps to clarify anything, here's a link to an old post which may also be useful viewtopic.php?p=128174#p128174.

Included in the post is a PDF I did some years back in which I tried to simplify and clarify the removal of a Diamond Disc Phonograph Chippendale mechanism by including clear photos of a mechanism and horn, from the underside of the motor plate (known as a "B-Type" Mechanism). This "B-Type" mechanism was of standardized and interchangeable construction after about 1915 for all B & C series Models, with the exception of the size horn used (which was of 3 different sizes; the "100", "150" & "250", depending upon the particular model of machine), and the use of 1 or 2 mainsprings - except for the oddball models 60 and 80 which were constructed differently from any of the other Diamond Disc Phonograph models.

I've included an updated version of the PDF to download if you find it helpful. It includes a section for separating the motor plate from the horn.

Best regards,
Fran

EDIT: Here's also related documentation for adjusting and maintaining your Diamond Disc Phonograph. Especially nice are the clear instructions pertaining to the adjustment of the reproducer height.

Another thought I remembered: DO NOT overtighten the square head screws, they can be pretty easily snapped off when adjusting the reproducer height after reassembly.

Best,
Fran

Watching the youtube Army-Navy restoration videos made me sad. Unless the example was a total basket case I would have left it alone with only the required amount of motor cleaning/lubrication, reproducer rebuild and superficial cabinet cleaning.
I've seen several of these with overdone restoration and you can spot it a mile off.
The historic character and condition of these machines is what makes them interesting, IMO.
Bob

barnettrp21122 wrote:Watching the youtube Army-Navy restoration videos made me sad. Unless the example was a total basket case I would have left it alone with only the required amount of motor cleaning/lubrication, reproducer rebuild and superficial cabinet cleaning.
I've seen several of these with overdone restoration and you can spot it a mile off.
The historic character and condition of these machines is what makes them interesting, IMO.
Bob

Seconded.

George P.

Agreed... the "original" historic character of these machines should be preserved, including original paint, if possible.

That being said, this example had already been screwed up by a previous owner who decided to paint it brown, for whatever crazy reason, and that is not historic nor should it be preserved in that state (IMO). So, there was really no choice but (1) leave it in its horrid current state or (2) repaint it as close to the original color as possible, which was done and was probably the correct choice.

There are several additional steps that should have been taken, after restoration, to make it appear more authentic. First, polishing the brass to clean it is not a bad thing, but it should have been aged to a patina that reflected some age - new shiny brass does not look appropriate. The repaint is good, but an attempt to age it should have been done, also. Maybe some type of thin "dirty" wash over the new paint to give it an aged appearance, along with some appropriate wear to the right places would improve it.

There are plenty of faux painting techniques that can be used to make any object look old and worn, which is preferable to a brand new, pristine appearance since the original painted appearance had already been lost... When done, it should look like it has been through a war and survived intact...

barnettrp21122 wrote:Watching the youtube Army-Navy restoration videos made me sad.

barnettrp21122 wrote:I've seen several of these with overdone restoration and you can spot it a mile off.

phonogfp wrote:Seconded.

I agree as well. The restorer clearly put a lot of time and effort into restoring this Army-Navy Edison phonograph but the result looks well beyond restored. Playing devil's advocate though it's possible that the customer wanted a "new" look which is how this one looks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFwYf7VGwUI