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I have rebuilt a 2 spring motor from a 1912 table top IX Victrola. Neither of the spring barrels had retainer clips, does any one know if this motor had them originally? There doesnt seem to be room for them to fit but the covers dont seem to stay sealed, already had the outside one pop open when testing.

Here is the motor before I rebuilt it, showing no spring barrel c clip

I am not really sure--but the Victor horn machine motors do not all have clips. This motor is early enough it may be closer to that style.

Make sure you didn't accidentally squish the barrels while holding them in the vise. That might have gotten it just enough out of round. Or also, make sure the spring is all the way in (you can get a big piece of wood & a mallet and tap the spring coils down inside the barrel, then put the lid on.)

The barrel covers are a press-fit on those motors. I'm not sure if Victor ever used retaining rings before the Burton motor was adapted in 1917.

Jim

phonojim wrote:The barrel covers are a press-fit on those motors. I'm not sure if Victor ever used retaining rings before the Burton motor was adapted in 1917.

Jim

We know Jonsheff's machine doesn't have them, and it is a 1912; somehow by 1914 they had started putting retaining rings in there. Here is my 1914 Victrola, serial 52XXX, and it has them. I do not know if they were added in a motor redesign in 1913 or 1914; whatever it is, the 1914 motor has quad-cut gears unlike the square teeth on earlier Victor motors.

just out of curiosity, what do you use to clean the old grease off?

With this type of barrel, with the cover in place, I have gently tapped the outside corner of barrel in 3 or 4 spots to lightly "upset" the barrel edge, making it "crimp over" the cover a bit tighter. It doesn't take much and you want to consider that the cover will have to come off again one day, so don't get carried away.

VanEps, thank you for the information. It has been a long time since I have worked on that style of motor.

Jim

dzavracky wrote:just out of curiosity, what do you use to clean the old grease off?

Automotive brake cleaner works really well...

dzavracky wrote:just out of curiosity, what do you use to clean the old grease off?

I strip down the motor and put the chassis, springs & spring barrels in a 5 gal bucket after scraping off as much old grease i can with a putty knife and pour in 2 gallons of mineral spirits (paint thinner) and let it soak for a few days while i work on the cabinet. I then remove and clean in a parts cleaner sink i have in my shop with mineral spirits. The brass and nickel plated parts get polished on a bench polisher and the chassis gets a light sand blasting.

I rebuilt my vv-IX and it's a 1916 model. It had the rings.

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