The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

How tight is the brake on an Edison standard brake supposed to be? Because mine is loose enough that the mandrel can spin when I try to engage it.

There is not much to the braking system, so it's very likely a simple fix.
This is one brief scenario.

First be sure the screw that holds it in place is not loose.
(NOTE: it does not put pressure against the lever, it just holds it freely in place! No use to over tighten it!)

There are only two points of contact noted in the photos.
The pad that does the braking and a little nub that holds the lever in place.

Push the lever to the off position hold it in place, does the motor stop?
If it does you likely have enough pad on the brake.

When you let go, does the lever moves slightly towards the on position and the motor starts up?
If it does, the friction nub may not doing its job.

Give this a try and report your findings.

James.

Is the 'nub' mentioned by James supposed to be present on all Standards? My Model B (serial 537934) does not have it, and there is no indication that it has been filed or worn away.

This machine originally showed a similar problem to Peanut's: the brake would stop the motor, but as soon as I took my hand off the lever the mandrel would begin to revolve again. IN other words, the lever was not stiff enough to hold against the pull of the mainspring. For a while I made do with wedging a pad of folded cardboard between the lever and the front of its slot in the bedplate. Eventually I decided that part of the screw thread was a little worn, and in order to bring a new and unworn portion of the thread into play I placed a washer under the head of the screw and another thinner one between the lever and the pillar behind it. Since then I have never needed to adjust the brake again in more than two years of fairly frequent use.

Oliver Mundy.

Menophanes wrote:Is the 'nub' mentioned by James supposed to be present on all Standards? My Model B (serial 537934) does not have it, and there is no indication that it has been filed or worn away. Oliver Mundy.

Mine is a Standard B, serial no. S-299492

We can rule out a cost saving measure.

James.

This topic led me to searching some past threads as I have been fiddling with the brake on my Triumph for the better part of a year now with it only holding if the spring was almost wound down. I figured that I needed new brake pad or that tension spring was not exerting enough pressure but I found another thread where someone suggested sanding briefly over the brake pad because 100 years of oil and grease gets on it and the sand paper removes it. I tried it last night and it worked like a charm.