Bc34 has no power

[mickey88]

Recently acquired a bc34 from reading on here it has the larger horn, not that that matters but when I crank it the spring unwinds if I crank it to much and makes a he'll of a noise when the spring unwinds in the case. If I wind it just before the spring goes crazy... Which still feels pretty tight it still won't play a whole record.... Anyone have any ideas thanks... I got 39 records with it as well... Sounds good when it plays.. 

[larryh]

You most likely have a broken spring causing it to unwind under pressure and also not allowing enough power to play a record. You will need to find a rebuilder that specializes in replacing springs unless your handy enough to disassemble it your self. There are a number of people who can do the job. Great Lakes Antique Phonographs is one. Watts Musical Americana is another. You might also try asking on the Talking Machine Discussion Group as more people are prone to being on it now days that would have suggested repair men.

[lucius1958]

The best case scenario is that the mainspring has somehow become unhooked from the barrel at its outer end. In that case, if you can rehook that end to its stud, it will perform pretty much as intended.

Next case: the spring might be broken at the outer end: either at the hole itself, or beyond it. You might get away with clipping the damaged end off, distempering a few more inches of spring, shaping the end, and drilling (or punching) a new hole. This may work, but will result in a loss of power to the motor.

Your best bet is to send the mainspring and barrel off to a good restorer, and have them put in a new mainspring.

BillS

[mickey88]

Thanks for the quick responses. I am very handy and I'm gonna try to diagnose and repair myself. What is the best way to remove the motor from this unit? Repair manual? Take the horn shaft out and then the horn and remove turntable from the top and disassemble the motor from there? 

[lucius1958]

As I remember from my own experience:

- Remove the crank, reproducer, turntable, and grille

-Remove the wooden frame around the motor plate

- Unscrew the support from the lid

- Unscrew the collar securing the lift lever; remove lift lever

- Remove the mounting bolts for the motor

You should now be able to lift the motor out of the case: you may have to tilt it a little, so the feed screw doesn't get caught on the rack.

Hope this helps.
BillS


.

[mickey88]

Yeah..... I did it....works now.. Spring was broke where it connects to the drum. Annealed the end and created a new slot and cleaned and regreased and reassembled... Plays the whole record now.... It seems the more I play it the more the record skips? Could the needle be bad?

[alang]

I had a similar problem with my BC-34. The issue was that the weight with the needle did not move freely horizontally. A complete disassembly of the reproducer, cleaning and lubrication fixed it. Be very careful with the little string that hooks the need bar to the diaphragm. It will also make sense to replace the rubber gaskets around the diaphragm. You can get those cheaply from the suppliers listed above. There should be instructions on the web how to service a DD reproducer. You will need to make a tool to open the screw that holds the weight in place. You can use an old screwdriver and bend part of the blade for that. Clean and lubricate this screw before reassembly, that's where it has to move freely. Good luck.

[lucius1958]

Also, check whether the stylus is worn or chipped (VERY important!). Use a high power magnifier to look for flat spots or chips: the point should be smoothly rounded. Otherwise, you are going to ruin records pretty quickly!

BillS