Columbia BE not tracking

[BigC]

I just purchased a beautiful Columbia BE phonograph from a good friend of mine that's not tracking. It's in great shape and the motor is super quiet but when I engage the reproducer it doesn't go anywhere. He has never worked on a Columbia phonograph and neither have I so I looked on YouTube and I could not find any videos that could help me. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Lucius1958]

Have you checked the upper works? Does the carriage move freely, when the reproducer is not engaged? Is the half nut there, and engaging the feed screw properly? Is the feed screw gear engaging with the other gears?

These are some things that might prevent it from tracking.

- Bill

[ChuckA]

Is your problem that the stylus won't track in the grooves or the whole carriage isn't moving?

Chuck

[FellowCollector]

If the carriage is not moving then there is a good possibility that the spring loaded half nut is seized up or is otherwise prevented from contacting the rotating feed screw. These components are hidden inside the carriage "tube". A very innovative concept when it's all working as designed. But sometimes things get sticky over many years. if the spring loaded half nut not engaging with the rotating feed screw is the culprit then you (or someone familiar with working on Columbia carriages) will need to remove the carriage assembly, clean and lubricate the components so everything works freely and re-install everything. Then it should work just fine. I've done many of my own Columbia cylinder Graphophones that use the hidden carriage / trunnion components. It can be a little challenging but once you realize how everything operates it's pretty simple. Good luck.

[BigC]

Thanks to all of you. Everything moves freely and it was working when my friend got it but after one cylinder being played it stopped working. I'm not at all familiar with this inclosed carriage system and neither is he so he sold it to me at a great price. I'm pretty mechanically inclined if I can just see the works and get an idea on how to take it apart that's why I was looking on YouTube for a video. This is my only Columbia and have no idea how to take it apart.