17 May 2011

Project "His Master's Voice Gramophone Model 102 Disassembly"

i have been noticing that most of the people stumbling upon this blog are actually looking for information about the HMV 102 gramophone i did up a few months ago...today i decided to do a short instructional on how to strip the entire thing down. (please click on the pictures to get a much bigger image!)

you will obviously need a flat head screwdriver, remove all the screws at the side and the two on the tonearm clip. remove the three screws on the tonearm base as well as having the tonearm out of the way would ensure you don't accidentally wreck it while moving the thing around. remove the circlip on the turntable and lift the whole thing off the gramophone.







while doing all this, make sure you put all the screws and loose bits into a container of some sort as 50 year old screws are somewhat quite hard to find nowadays in the event one of them drops somewhere and disappear forever.







once all the screws are..er..unscrewed, remove the whole bottom portion (i call this the motorboard) out of the 'briefcase' portion and put the 'briefcase' somewhere safe (put a cloth below as it might be pretty dirty and oily). the next step is to unscrew the four biggest screws left on the motorboard (the ones with the washers on them) and now the motor will fall (gently) out of the motorboard.








turn the motor upside down and you'll see three nuts that need to be removed. use either a small spanner or a pair of pliers and keep these in your safe place.









the bottom plate of the motor comes right off, but be careful at this point as the spring might/should have some power left uncoiled and might jump slightly if you're not careful (fingers beware).  the spring is kept inside the round container you see in the picture below, you would notice that my spring container has white tape all over it, and i'll explain why later.









the spring container can be removed by simply pulling it upwards off the center shaft. the container is kept shut by a retaining wire that is hard as hell to remove, and once removed, hard as hell to put back without accidentally ruining it (which is what i did). the last time i opened this was to install a new spring, and it looks okay so i won't be showing how to remove it in this blog post (it's a b*tch, but it can be done with lots of patience and/or cussing).








this part of the motor shown in the picture below is the governor and this is what ensures the spring doesn't uncoil all at once with a bang. how it works is that as the spring unwinds, the governor spins and the three metal weights you see would move outwards due to centrifugal force. as they move outwards, they move the disc towards the stopper (the black piece resting on the disc in the picture). the stopper restricts the distance the disc can move and the governor weights can't move any further and can't spin any faster either, thus giving you the desired speed. i realize i can't put it nicely in words so i provided a video for your better understanding.













so, now to put back everything together! starting with the spring container, if and when you manage to get the retaining wire back into the little groove that originally held it in place, it will probably be out of shape and spring out of position the moment you let go and that's where the tape comes in!







put the spring back onto its shaft. put the baseplate back on the motor. screw the nuts back onto the baseplate. put the motor back into the motorboard, and you will get to the picture below (whew!). now, to calibrate the speed of the motor so that it spins at 78rpm when the speed selector is set at..well..78rpm, you'll have to physically move the speed selector by hand as shown below. moving the speed selector to your right would make your speed selection faster, and moving it to the left would make everything slower...you'll have to do it for yourself to know what i mean.








you can check your speed by using a strobe disc with the same hertz as your power mains. as i am in singapore, this would be 60hz. turn on some lights and shine them on the disc while the turntable is spinning. if the lines at the 78rpm mark are stationary then you know you're at 78rpm! takes some trial and error but you'll eventually get there!









that's about it, i tip my hat (if i had one) to the engineers at HMV who designed this simple yet complex machine!

here's 'diamonds are a girl's best friend' by jo stafford:





(link to page 1/3 of HMV restoration)

26 comments:

  1. thats just what i needed, thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you're welcome, i'm glad it was of help to you!

      Delete
  2. Where did you buy your new spring for this?
    I have the same model, and i see that there is no eyelet on the inner end of spring. As my have been broken and somebody have opened and removed the original broken spring I am just wondering, is the spring mounted clockwise or counterclockwise?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hey I bought the spring from this eBay seller in the Netherlands: http://stores.ebay.com.sg/zwarteschijf-holland

      as for whether it is mounted clockwise or anticlockwise I really cannot remember..but what you can do is take the motor out of the gramophone and wind it up just a few turns to see which direction it turns so you'll know which way it'll go when unwinding.

      Delete
  3. Many thanks for your postings on your 102. Gave me the confidence to go ahead and buy one myself: a project :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i'm glad that my post has helped you! good luck with your restoration!

      Delete
    2. It did help! Also your post on rebuilding the soundbox. Have now also cleaned and rebuilt the 5B soundbox, added extra gasket to keep the diaphragm more firmly in place (had no treble). Only two tries at adjusting the pivot screws to remove buzz at loud bits...
      These machines look grand and are a blast to play! Thanks again for the postings :-)

      Delete
    3. again, you are very welcome :) glad I could help you with my posts!

      Delete
  4. 1) Thanks to my uncle who could locate your blog post! :P
    2) Thanks for being so methodical in writing down the repair info.
    3) When I'd wound up the handle in over-excitement the box did blare out some music for abt 10secs when something inside went - badoom boom kattttkaattt... - or well somethingy similar... Now I'll only be able to test out your steps once I go back home in another couple of months :P :D
    Wish me luck! ^_^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I assume you mean that the turntable platter turned with a record on it and it played fine until a few seconds later when you heard all sorts of noises from the motor? it could mean that the spring is slipping and needs to be reattached.. but it could also mean the spring has snapped and needs a replacement! the only way is to dismantle the motor to check.. good luck!

      Delete
  5. I dont know how to remove the plate, where you put the records on. I need the fix the screws under it and need to remove it.....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. it is secured by a circlip (circular clip) which you can just push off the spindle horizontally and you can lift the platter up vertically.

      Delete
    2. I have an 101, and I removed the circlip, but it won't come off. Any tipps?

      Delete
  6. Can you post something or send me something on how to remove the spring, mine keeps slipping after its would just a little

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wim van Druten / The NetherlandsMay 08, 2014 12:06 PM

    What a good and practice information on restoring / service for my HMV 102 5B. Didn't start on it yet bud maybe this will give me a push. Or is there anyone to buy it. I can sent some pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Brilliant project. Started on my HMV 157 and the Netherlands can supply both springs needed. Very pleased.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi, I have just bought one of these at auction. Your refurb article is very interesting. Although mine works the handle turns backwards as the spring unwinds which means it doesn't run for very long. I am sure that is not right. Any ideas please. Peter.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Any instructions for replacing the non return crank spring?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Netherlands...Can you still supply non return crank springs? Please let me know here.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello, the shafts that twists the table has a little notch in it, but mine is slipping do the table will only rotate a bit before slipping out of the notch and stopping. Do you know where I can get a replacement that will fix my issues?

    ReplyDelete
  13. i would like to know how to clean and protect the external skin of the box.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I need to know about the size of the biggest gear. How much teeth & diameter of the biggest gear. My gramophone is his master 102E.
    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I have a "His Master's Voice", 101, gramophone, but the the motor is incomplete. I had gaps in his pieces and I took them out, but no, but they did.
    Where can I buy such a motor?
    Thank you very much if you will kindly respond.
    You can send an email to zecord@hotmail.com.

    José Cordeiro

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I have a HMV 101 gramophone in a very good condition. but it's governor is with broken springs and balls are also not worth. How can I buy these two? or the governor as a whole?

    ReplyDelete