The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I cleaned and re-greased the mainspring on my Edison Standard model D
tonight and everything seemed to go smoothly until I tried to run it.
The motor winds up normally but will only run in spurts then dies
even though there is tension left in the spring. I am theorizing that
during reassembly the governor pivots may have been pushed together
too tightly to allow free movement. I did not adjust the pivots yet but
I am planning to loosen them slightly to see if that solves the problem.
Being that this is my first overhaul on a Standard, just wanted to
see if there is anything else I should check that could be causing this
problem. The belt is not too tight and the mandrel spins smooth and freely.
Thanks for any info.

Before I read your post, I was thinking that the governor pivots may be too tightly pushed in. When you said the same, I think that you got it right. Try loosening them (or just one end) so there is a bit of play and I think you'll find it'll run just fine..

Steve

When talking about working on the governor we should ALWAYS repeat ourselves and mention the necessity to run down the spring completely even if you have to manually and repeatedly start the motor. There's always someone new to our hobby that might read our posts.

Good additional comment- Thanks Jerry

Jerry B. wrote:When talking about working on the governor we should ALWAYS repeat ourselves and mention the necessity to run down the spring completely even if you have to manually and repeatedly start the motor. There's always someone new to our hobby that might read our posts.

True, I should have mentioned that in my intentions to adjust the governor.
The governor can fly like a projectile or shatter when under great tension of the
spring. I have been running the motor down manually by rotating the mandrel.

After you let the spring wind down, oil the friction pads with a smal amount of oil. I ran into that problem myself.
Harvey Kravitz

After you let the spring wind down, oil the friction pads with a smal amount of oil. I ran into that problem myself.
Harvey Kravitz

Just an update. I loosened up the governor pivot on the right side just a bit. It
runs now but even at a full wind it won't start on its own unless I give the mandrel
a nudge. I am also still getting the constant speed fluctuations causing a "warbling"
sound. The governor itself looks good, no loose screws or damage to the weights or
springs. All the gears are in good shape and cleaned/oiled. The only thing that
seems wrong is the position of the governor which is a bit too far to the right. The
governor gear teeth are hanging off about halfway from the drive gear it meshes with.
Could this be the cause of all the havoc? In any case its probably best to move the
governor to the left so the gears are square so I will give that a shot tomorrow.

It sounds as if the mechanism is binding somewhere. Sometimes I've found it to be in more than one area. Did you do a complete disassemble and clean or just the spring? If you slip the belt off of the mandrel pulley, do the mandrel and top gears spin freely? You should get a couple of turns after you give it a spin. If not I'd pull the top gears & do a good clean. I use a lacquer thinner soak, followed up by scrubbing with an old toothbrush. If the mandrel itself is still sticky, then you're probably having problems with the center bearing (bushing). These were originally made of potmetal and are prone to swelling. Pretty much all of the phonograph parts suppliers have replacements in brass or in a steel roller bearing. They both work well. If things are still not right, then you could have binding in the motor gear cluster. If it was sitting unused in one position for a long time, you could have an uneven buildup of hardened grease and dirt. In any case, stick with it. You'll find the culprit eventually. Good luck and keep us posted.

Martin

antique1973 wrote:The governor gear teeth are hanging off about halfway from the drive gear it meshes with.
Could this be the cause of all the havoc? In any case its probably best to move the
governor to the left so the gears are square so I will give that a shot tomorrow.

It could very well be. If only half the area is making contact, you're more or less doubling the pressure that's applied to the gear teeth. Even if that's not the problem, leaving it that way will certainly cause premature wear to the teeth.
If that doesn't fix it, also make sure the belt tension roller is moving freely too, or it could be acting like a brake.
But as Martin said, I'd remove the belt & check nothings binding up top. Then run the motor with the belt off & see if it runs smoothly. When doing this, you'll either have to hold the tension roller away from the pulley so they dont jam up on each other, or I find it easier to just remove the pulley from it's shaft so I've still got 2 hands to work with.