Spring and motor cleaning

[trimblealx]

I may be in over my head.
So far…
I cleaned the motor with mineral spirits
The spring barrel has gears screwed onto each end.
I removed one gear and soaked the spring in mineral spirits without removing the spring.
The two spring barrels do not seem to come apart.
I’m not sure how to proceed, maybe try to remove springs one at a time, to clean, regrease and put gear back on? . I’ve never done spring work before.
Everything was working fine but I thought after 100 years it could use fresh grease.
I would appreciate any advice and direction.

This is a phonograph I’ve had since the mid 1960’s.
I previously posted some pictures to try to identify the make/ model.

[Marco Gilardetti]

Did you manage to open also the other barrel, or just one of the two?

[trimblealx]

I was able to open the other barrel.
Now the springs are exposed on either side.

[trimblealx]

I opened the other end of the barrel by removing six screws that were holding the gear onto the barrel.
I am now soaking the other half in mineral spirits .
The soaking has removed the visible grease from the spring.

[Marco Gilardetti]

OK, good that both springs are exposed.

You can rest assured that there still is a lot (and I mean a lot) of dried up rubbish blocked between the spirals, where the coils are tightly packed. However, if you're too alarmed of doing the "full job", you can fill the barrels with grease, close them and end of the story. The grease will spread over all of the coils by winding/unwinding the machine.

Useless to say, fully cleaning the coils would be a much better and also a much more lasting job. I believe the two barrels/springs would detach by simply pulling them apart, or by gently hammering with a wooden/rubber hammer over the central axle. At the other hand, the springs are also hooked at a rivet fastened on the outer rim (the exterior part of the rivet can be seen in your second picture, or so it seems). Pulling the springs out and in again is not for everyone, but it can be done if you have a bit of manual dexterity and cold blood.

[JerryVan]

Did this motor function well before you disassembled it? If so, I would tend to pack the center coils of the springs with grease and reassemble it. I am normally a fan of complete spring removal, cleaning & regreasing. However, if this motor exhibited no real issues, I'd go with a simple grease & reassemble.

[trimblealx]

Thanks for the help Marco and Jerry.
The motor and spring were working fine.
I have to rebuild the diaphragm and polish the cabinet so I thought it would be good to re- grease the motor and springs. The YouTubers make spring removal look easy, but they’ve done hundreds of them. I fear that the spring could break at the rivet if I tried the explode it into a trash barrel method.
I will try to separate the two spring barrels and decide whether to repack with grease and call it a day. I prefer to do it right though since I have it all apart.
That old grease stunk pretty bad.

[Marco Gilardetti]

explode it into a trash barrel method.

This is what is commonly referred to as "the idiot way" of doing things. The coil obviously has to be carefully and strongly handed while unwinding in a controlled way. I understand your concerns very well, as there has been "a first time" for me as well, but by handling it very firmly I had no issues at all. I actually find it more tricky to re-engage the tail to the rivet and begin to rewind, especially with deep double barrels (not your case!).

However, the coils seem quite clean as they are, and I agree with Jerry that if the motor ran smoothly before, you can pack the barrels with grease and avoid the "full treatment" this time around. If you will go ahead in this hobby, most probably you'll have soon the chance to try again with the single spring of some portable, that makes it an easier job.

[trimblealx]

Thanks for the advice Marco. If I do remove the spring I will do it by hand as you recommend.
I’ve had the entire barrel soaking in mineral spirits and have cleaned the springs with a paint brush. They look quite clean now.

[An Balores]

I remember, as an uninformed and inexperienced 14-year old, pulling out a broken spring from the barrel of an HMV 102. It gave me a real shock when it suddenly flew out across the room missing my face by inches! Since then, I have always done it the properly controlled way but it does make my wrist ache, especially re-fitting the spring. And it is a bit nerve-wracking, should it slip, knowing what power is contained in the spring. I have worn gloves to remove re-fit springs as extra protection from the sharp edges of the spring. But from what has been said, and what I can see from the pictures, I agree with others that its probably going to be OK on this occasion to simply pack the barrel with more grease