Classic Hifi Care

At least once a month while I am puttering in the basement I will play the units that I have serviced just to keep them hopefully working. A couple of weeks ago I started out playing the Magnavox Berkshire, then moving to the little Silvertone table top and continuing around the room to get as many played as I could while I was working in the basement. Well, when I hit the off/on/reject control on the Silvertone nothing happened. No motor, no amp, no nothing. OK, not going to see what is going on with it, I will move onto the next unit in line which was the VM 1280A. Put the record on, hit the control and off it went and played the first side of the record. When side one was complete I went back, flipped the record over and hit the control again. NOPE, no changer, but the amp came one. What the heck, it just played side one just fine. I guess this is not may day so I moved onto the next unit and kept on working at what I was really in the basement for.

A couple of day ago I decided I needed to figure out what was going on with the two units that had failed me. I picked the VM first since I at least had an amp and the Silvertone was completely dead. I started by pulling the platter off to see if the motor was running but for some reason was not moving the platter. Nope, the motor was not running so it must be froze for some reason. Time to remove the changer, and it is a big pain in this unit as there is not room to work, unless you are a 4 handed person, and everything is soldered. Finally, changer removed and on the bench and hot wired up so it would work without the amp. I hit the off/on/reject and the motor started to run but sounded bad, a grinding noise. To back up just a little, this was one of my first units to work on so I was very green and was very much finding my way through this new hobby of mine. Thinking as I was pulling the changer out of the cabinet that I had overhauled this unit both changer and amp I could not figure out what could be wrong with the changer. Well, I did rebuilt the amp, but never touched the changer. I guess I figured it was working so don't touch it.

Time for a changer overhaul, but that was not the problem that I experience when it would only play one side of the record. What I found as I pulled things apart for a full changer overhaul including the motor was the upper bearing in the motor was totally wore out. The bearing was gone, not sure why it was gone but it definitely was not there and the tiered speed thingy that is attached to the motor shaft would move all over the place. I have never seen a bad bearing on a VM changer motor before. I would always clean them and lube them as part of the service but never had a bad one. Thankfully I had a spare VM changer I could rob the upper bearing from and now it is purring away back in its case and sounding good as every. Has anyone else found bad bearing in a VM changer motor? One down and a Silvertone to go.

Bill

Wow, Bill, your day sounds like some I've had. I'm a babe in the woods when it comes to changers, as you well know. The only negative experience I have had with the General Industries motors in VM changers is that it seems to me like they run really hot. I can't touch the motor after it has run awhile. I know motors should warm up some in order to work right, and the synchronous motors in record players especially so. How hot is too hot, I can't tell you. Either a lack of lube or maybe running with a lack of lube combined with high heat might have taken out the bearing. How did you fix it? Did you have a spare motor? Spare bearing? Inquiring (nosy ) minds want to know.....

I've got a model 1200GE or 1225GE, a changer on a pan base with GE cartridge. It has a 4-pole motor. It was in background-music service for several years. The bearings are a bit sloppy. Not sure who made the motor.

Chris Campbell

Most of the VM changers I have worked on have had the Alliance motor which also runs hot, it just seems to be there nature to run hot. I have a spare changer that I robbed the upper bearing from. I put the bad bearing in the spare changer just to keep it complete. Gary swears VM never built a changer with a 4-pole motor yet they do exist and are found in GE systems. They have been on eBay before and some day I should buy one just to see how GE made the conversion. What surprises me is that VM did not use a 4-pole motor in their flagship VM-1000.

Bill

When I worked in the fan plant in Boonville, MO back in the 1960's, the fan bodies were made of steel. The body was made so it would wick heat out of the fan motor. The fan motor housing would get too warm to comfortable leave your hand on it, but the motor was using that metal as a heat sink. The motors on record players are not always well-ventilated. It is surprising they worked as long as they have. The toughest motors I have ever done anything with are refrigeration motors. Those blower motors in refrigeration cases like they have in grocery stores run 24-7 for years with very little trouble. Of course, you don't have to worry about them running hot....

I can assure Gary that I have one with the 4-pole motor. I wonder if they are less prone to induce hum in the GE VR (magnetic) cartridge than a 2-pole?

Chris Campbell

I have one of the actual V-M brands from 1955 with
the G.E. tonearm and four pole motor.

It is similar to this V-M 1225 in a pan, with a 1200
series mechanism, but mine has the G.E. tonearm.

At one point, and this has been a while back, there was a GE stand alone component type changer on eBay with the 4-pole motor. I do not remember the tone arm, I was just surprised to see the 4-pole motor. It probably was just like yours, Mr. Mogul. It looked like it should have been a VM but it was labeled GE.

Bill

Mine is labelled V-M. Their model no. uses the GE suffix to indicate that it came with a GE cartridge--a VR II in my case. That includes a tone arm with a plug-in head.

Chris Campbell

Interesting, Chris. The VM-1000 had the plug in head but only a 2-pole motor. Someday when you have time would you please share a photo of your VM with the 4-pole motor?

Bill