The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Hello everyone,

I have an Edison Standard Phonograph model A (banner case). Both when I wind it up and when it plays a cylinder, it "randomly" happen that the spiring slips a little bit. It seems to me the spring can not always slide to follow its natural movement and when it is stuck for a while, then it suddently release all the accumulated tension. The positive thing is that this does not seem to affect the correct movement of all the gearings, as when it happens when a cylinder is playing, the sound is always fine.

I noticed the spring barrel has holes where you can actually see the internal spring.

My question is: is it adviceable to put some grease in the spring through those holes instead of dismounting the spring (which I'd like to avoid if possible)?

Would it be a problem to mix new grease with the already present old one?

Is lithium-based grease a good choiche?

Thank you!!

Doing what you suggest probably won't help much, but it will make a big mess. The grease that you inject through the holes will only be forced back out of those same holes when the spring is wound. The old grease really needs to be removed, since it's dried out and has become hard & sticky. I have had some limited success squirting penetrating oil into the barrel. This has sometimes helped to dissolve the old grease. However, this too will make a big mess, (place several paper towels inside the cabinet to catch the drippings), and it also may not be of any real benefit. The upside is, it can't hurt anything by trying. As to the spring thumping not hurting anything, it will. Repeated use under these conditions can lead to a broken spring and/or broken gears.