Truly Magnficent

[jasonl]

And now after the adjustments RickR showed me how to do, the Magnificent Magnavox with a gentler record change action.

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[westytoploader]

Very cool!!

What was the second song on the track?

 

[jasonl]

"Western Union" by The Five Americans, around 1968. Interesting record. At first glance it's on Atlantic records, BUT it's neither Atlantic or Atco, it's Abnak. Independant label I guess trying to fit in the crowd. Those indie records are IMHO the best from the late 60s. True rock'n'roll without overproduction.

 

[rickr]

Hey Jason, great job on the adjustments! Nice to see that it is working as it should.

 

[jasonl]

Yup, and the wheel was down on the 78 spindle, making it fly through the changes. I couldn't quite get it on the 16 step, maybe if I turned it upside down . The little screw that adjusts the clutch or whatever down in there was the adjustment for the setdown. Now it just lands perfectly on the start of the record. Thanks again for the help.

 

[frigilux]

I do love to see a Magnavox do its thang. Thanks for posting. And it just goes to show, you can find absolutely ANYTHING at YouTube!

 

[jasonl]

Not quite

After the adjustment Maggie ran fine until last night, the automatic decided to fail. I heard the thing click the rubber wheel onto the spindle but no or very slow movement of the tonearm. I didn't take the platter off again to look but I think the idler for the automatic is slipping. Maybe that's why it was set down to "78" because of the wheel slipping. Another coat of rubber revitalizer is probably needed.

RickR, you know these machines. What's the best way to apply rubber rev? I used a soft cloth to cover the rubber with the liquid and let it soak for a few hours, then wipe off. Is there a better way?

 

[rickr]

Hi Jason,
I never use that rubber renew stuff. Seems to leave a greasy feel to the rubber,and causes slippage. I use rubbing alcohol. Just pour a bit on a rag,then wipe all the idler wheels with it.You will find the rag will turn black from the residue.Clean the idlers until they do not leave the residue. Also clean the motor pulley,and the inside drive rim of the turntable platter with the alcohol. The changer should work fine with the wheel on the 33 1/3rpm motor pulley. If it does not, you could use the 45 rpm motor pulley step. Do not use the 78 rpm motor step however. Let me know how it goes.

 

[jasonl]

OK. Thanks again, I'll give that a try. I think I saw some black gunk on the 33 pulley so it's time for a good cleaning.

 

[jasonl]

Abnak records

I did a little research on the label and it's a Dallas based label that produced mostly garage and local bands. One of them was Mouse & The Traps which had a few singles in the day. Very cool to find and collect those little gems.

 

[jasonl]

Wake up Maggie...

OK, I went through a box of alcohol wipes and cleaned the hell out of those rollers, the turntable, and the motor spindle. I found out why the record changer wasn't working. Besides the wheel being slippery, it wasn't aligned just right on the 33rpm spindle.

NOW it plays like a Magnavox should. The turntable jumps right into action, the reject mechanism springs to life when it's needed without slowing down, and the finishing touch is the gentle and perfect needle drop right in the lead-in groove of the record. A great difference between that first video where she struggled to get the first note of "Beat It" right and that clumsy jerky record change. And the music even sounds better without slight pitch fluctuations.

So again, Thank you RickR for helping me get Maggie on her feet again. She's in a good home and she will live a sweet, happy life playing music for me and Helen when we do our wash. Yes! Her home is the laundry room, of course.

 

[panthera]

looks great, sounds great

I am happy you got her back up and running. Was obvious she was going faster than 33 1/3, I wouldn't have guessed 78, tho'.

 

[jasonl]

Yup. It was touching the 78 pulley so yeah it was flying through the record changes. I couldn't put it on the 16 pulley because the turntable wouldn't fit over it. It's wedged onto the 33 pulley and it's fine now.

A good alcohol cleaning was the best thing ever for those rubber wheels. It runs like a brand new machine now.

 

[jasonl]

Still Magnificent

Just played a full stack (10) of 45s today and she sensed, changed, and played them all without getting stuck. Maggie's ready for the (future) wash-in now. I need to find some more 50s records.

 

[tolivac]

Yes on the latere film clip looks great-yes Remember "Western Union--another In my box of DJ records.Need a "Maggie" to play them.And the song before it--"Afternoon Delight" remember that from when I worked in the radio station-played that one every hour when it was popular.Love Rickr's idea of cleaning all of the rubber wheel parts and other moving parts with the alcohol.do that with the radio station TT's many times saves having to replace idler wheels in the TT's.And have the jocks set the TT speed levers in their "neutral" positions to prevent flats on the idlers.Those flats can cause AM transmitters to overload.The LF surges cause AM transmitter overload relays to trip.I did use a rubber restorer once-came in a small bottle-was often called "Bumble Bee juice" one engineer told me it came from bees-you soak a rubber idler wheel in it and it swelled up.It worked well when you used it properly-a tiny amount rubbed on the bearing surface of the wheel.Roughed it up like if you rubbed it with sandpaper.Really smooth wheels can be fixed that way-but don't use the sandpaper method too much-it wears down the rubber.-and the wheel won't work or the TT will run off speed.

 

[jasonl]

On mine, when you switch off the TT, the drive wheel retracts so it doesn't make any contact with the motor or the TT. The changer wheel stays in a neutral position as well until the auto-return trips it into gear or you manually reject the record. Hence, leaving a perfectly round repairable rubber wheel for me to restore. The alcohol restored those wheels much better than that rubber restorer.

 

[jasonl]

DJ records

Care to part with any of them ;-)?

 

[tolivac]

I love the built in "Neutral" on the Collaro TT's forgot about that.No-I don't want to get rid of the "DJ" records I got-they have some of my favorite 60's songs.I grew up to listening to those-probably these were the ones they played for me when I visited the DC area in the summer-and listened to the station I would later work for.