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  #1  
Old 08-17-2015, 01:37 PM
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DavGoodlin DavGoodlin is offline
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Voice of Music record changer repairs

As common as V-M changers seem to be, there seem to be few threads and videos demonstarting the maintenance and repairs needed in comparison to other makes, namely gunked-up BSRs from the 70s.

Often, V-M changers work very well as found. But sometimes they don't operate perfectly and I have learned much in my journey of getting a few of them fully and reliably functional again. This includes disassembly and cleaning, often resulting in losing parts or finding parts missing or seeing parts assemled incorrectly, in what is otherwise a simple and routine process. Then it involves finding replacements from donor units or buying them online.

V-M changers were installed in many 1950s and 1960s consoles and portable players by some of the best consumer electronics manufacturers like Zenith, Motorola, Admiral and Philco. Fortunately, the design seems to have changed little in this era. A V-M is best recognized by the "857" prefix on numbers stamped under the pan and the big sliding plate driven by a gear eccentric. Above the pan, there is a small arrow-shaped drop sensor for 12" records between the tone-arm pivot and the stabilizer arm shaft .

I want to post what I have learned in this thread to help other enthusiasts making lasting repairs without investing too much in parts money.

What are some of your experiences, assembly mistakes made (I offer several teaching examples) and ingenious repair methods?
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Last edited by DavGoodlin; 08-17-2015 at 01:40 PM.
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Old 08-17-2015, 08:23 PM
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Well I have repaired quite a few V-M Record players over the past couple of years mainly in a 1962 vintage Motorola Suitcase record player that is a high end 3 channel unit and on an old mono Hi-Fi unit that I fixed for my land-lord and in my 1967 Zenith console stereo. and I find that they are relatively easy to take apart and clean and relube, I used a can of Standard Cup Grease to relube my turntables and it seems to work pretty good (its pretty similar to the original grease that they used on these units years ago) and anyways I've always found that on all of the V-M record players I've worked on that the trip lever on the tone arm underneath for tripping the changer mechanism at the record is almost always bent so that it doesn't trip the changer mechanism anymore at the end of the records, so basically I have to rebend the trip lever back to a position so that it can trip the changer mechanism again.

Just my 2 cents concerning working on the old V-M record players.
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Old 08-18-2015, 12:35 AM
Olorin67 Olorin67 is offline
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the VM website is a good source for parts, they even have new trip links of yours is bent.
Ive fixed a few, usually getting the old hard grease cleaned out and new motor mounts is all they needed, although a couple of mine I havnt fixed yet will need new idler wheels for sure. I have a couple that worked pretty good as found, and just needed minor cleaning and lubrication of a couple sticky parts. Depends a lot on how they were stored, the ones that were stored in hot attics usually need all new rubber and the grease is like tar. I believe the VM website has new trip links if yours are bent. Maybe i'm lucky but Ive only run into that problem one one unit I was able to bend it back in a couple tries after looking at another one as a guide. its not as cheap to fix these as it used to be, hard to find cartriges sometimes, I switch them to magnetic and add preamps if they have 1/2" mounts. many now need motor mounts. (fairly cheap) and rebuilt idlers (Not so cheap)
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Old 08-18-2015, 12:42 AM
Olorin67 Olorin67 is offline
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They are a good changer to learn on, helps to have a second similar unit as a guide while you have the first one apart. easy to find console pull changers on ebay. i want to get more experience on easy ones like VM and BSR before I tackle my Webcor units..
If you want to know how they work, there is a book by Mileaf - on record changer repair, you can find it on Amazon. Does a great job of describing what functions a changer needs to perform, and some of the different ways some of the various record changer designs did it. Its amazing how many ways they thought of to do the same thing. Another by Ecklund is decent too.
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Old 08-18-2015, 08:18 AM
colectorad colectorad is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavGoodlin View Post
Above the pan, there is a small arrow-shaped drop sensor for 12" records between the tone-arm pivot and the stabilizer arm shaft.
On the NuTone 2073 VM changer I've used, this sensor doesn't work. It drops for 7" records at all times. In addition, when using the automatic function, the stabilizing arm lowers too fast, resulting in the unit thinking that no record is present and shutting off. I have to hold up the arm until the record starts playing, then set it down for the return, which works. Tracking pressure is also an issue.
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Old 08-18-2015, 08:34 AM
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Thanks for the feedback guys. I too am working up to tackling my Webcor units

I made two mistakes when reassembling the Motorola-branded changer from a 1962 Motorola Stereophonic Console. I want to sell this unit as working flawlessly.

1. When removing the spindle plunger as SOP for disassembly, the ball got lost - this disabled the record drop function. The spindle itself was so full of gunk and the ball stuck inside, falling out silently and rolling to parts unknown under my bench.

2. The idler wheel was slipping and rubber was pretty hard on both motor and platter tires, so I decided I would invest $40 in a rebuilt from Gary at V-M. When I reassembled it, the speeds were wrong. Checking vertical alignment of the idler, it was between steps on the motor. It was then I realized I needed to put both standard and spring washers on the idler shaft first only the c-clip goes on top.

3. Here's the best one: The record mat was misalinged on the platter and covered the 10-inch record detection "button", which made it think there was a 7" when I play 33s - this may be your issue, colectorad

I used the exploded view of a V-M 1244 -sams set 646- to figure it out but having a second {working} changer is priceless.
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Old 08-18-2015, 09:07 AM
Captainclock Captainclock is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavGoodlin View Post
Thanks for the feedback guys. I too am working up to tackling my Webcor units

I made two mistakes when reassembling the Motorola-branded changer from a 1962 Motorola Stereophonic Console. I want to sell this unit as working flawlessly.

1. When removing the spindle plunger as SOP for disassembly, the ball got lost - this disabled the record drop function. The spindle itself was so full of gunk and the ball stuck inside, falling out silently and rolling to parts unknown under my bench.

2. The idler wheel was slipping and rubber was pretty hard on both motor and platter tires, so I decided I would invest $40 in a rebuilt from Gary at V-M. When I reassembled it, the speeds were wrong. Checking vertical alignment of the idler, it was between steps on the motor. It was then I realized I needed to put both standard and spring washers on the idler shaft first only the c-clip goes on top.

3. Here's the best one: The record mat was misalinged on the platter and covered the 10-inch record detection "button", which made it think there was a 7" when I play 33s - this may be your issue, colectorad

I used the exploded view of a V-M 1244 -sams set 646- to figure it out but having a second {working} changer is priceless.
My V-M Changer that's on my Motorola 3 Channel Portable is having some issues as well (even though I completely overhauled the thing)

1) the changer doesn't like to trigger at the end of the record like its supposed to unless I use it in changer mode, then it will trigger the mechanism at the end of the record.

2) The changer for some reason doesn't want to activate everytime I trigger the reject switch on the power switch, sometimes it will trigger and sometimes it wont.

3) even though I completely cleaned and relubed the turntable platter and its bearing and the changer mechanism, the turntable platter will still for some reason or another stop mid cycle and has to be helped along to finish the changer cycle, and I'm not sure why it still does that even though I completely overhauled the changer mechanism.


Also my V-M Changer on my late 1960s Solid State Zenith Console does the same thing as mentioned above except the 12" drop trigger doesn't work because its missing its spring, and I can't get the changer mechanism to trigger by turning it to "reject" on the power switch, and also the trip lever seems to be non-functional because it doesn't trigger unless you move the tone arm all the way into the center of the turntable next to the spindle and even then the changer mechanism is kind of funky in how it operates.

Any ideas?
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Old 08-19-2015, 05:55 AM
colectorad colectorad is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DavGoodlin View Post
3. Here's the best one: The record mat was misalinged on the platter and covered the 10-inch record detection "button", which made it think there was a 7" when I play 33s - this may be your issue, colectorad
The 2073 doesn't have a mat.
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Old 08-19-2015, 10:50 AM
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These units are funny - one item missing or out of adjustment, and seemingly unrelated functions will be affected. I have one fixed 100% but three more to figure out...
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Old 08-19-2015, 12:35 PM
Olorin67 Olorin67 is offline
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Common issues with tripping are from bent trip links, or oil on the friction surface. There is a portion of the trip mechanism where one part moves another from friction as a sort of slip clutch. If that gets oil on it, the trip wont work when its supposed to.

If you encounter slippage and the idler tire is good, its usually from parts not moving freely due to old hard grease, or bad motor mounts that allow the motor to sag out of the correct position.
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Old 08-19-2015, 01:43 PM
Captainclock Captainclock is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Olorin67 View Post
Common issues with tripping are from bent trip links, or oil on the friction surface. There is a portion of the trip mechanism where one part moves another from friction as a sort of slip clutch. If that gets oil on it, the trip wont work when its supposed to.

If you encounter slippage and the idler tire is good, its usually from parts not moving freely due to old hard grease, or bad motor mounts that allow the motor to sag out of the correct position.
I know on my 1967 Zenith Console when I got it the motor was completely removed from its mounting bracket because someone apparently was trying to work on it themselves and forgot to remount the motor (I had found all of the mounting screws and nuts inside the cabinet yet along with the 10" trigger button) so I had remounted the motor and the record player spins now and in perfect speed synch but the changer part is the only part that doesn't work and I have still not been able to get it going even with a complete overhaul or rebending the trip lever, and it still doesn't like to trigger with the reject knob being activated, which I'm still not sure as to why that would be the case as the linkage for the reject knob is still intact and everything.
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Old 08-19-2015, 05:30 PM
Olorin67 Olorin67 is offline
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Take a look at Chris Cuff's VM changer videos on youtube. There is a little tab that can get out of position when these things are reasembled. If that tab is on the wrong side it wont engage. it also helps to have a good book on record changers that explains how and why the mechanisms work, like the book by Mileaf or the one by Ecklund. You can usually find used copies on Amazon. Understanding how a Velocity trip works makes finding any issues a lot easier. Another big help is a working changer to watch go through the cycle.
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Old 08-19-2015, 09:03 PM
Captainclock Captainclock is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Olorin67 View Post
Take a look at Chris Cuff's VM changer videos on youtube. There is a little tab that can get out of position when these things are reasembled. If that tab is on the wrong side it wont engage. it also helps to have a good book on record changers that explains how and why the mechanisms work, like the book by Mileaf or the one by Ecklund. You can usually find used copies on Amazon. Understanding how a Velocity trip works makes finding any issues a lot easier. Another big help is a working changer to watch go through the cycle.
I may check into that.
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Old 08-21-2015, 01:33 PM
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The 4-part series by Chris Cuff is very thorough for disassembly. The part where he removes the over-arm or stabilizer arm lever is key to replacing it after the cleaning operation on the slide bar.
I have not gone to the extreme of removing the base plate casting as he does in part 4. Perhaps if a changer is sufficiently dirty and gummed up (like any BSR) , this become necessary.

The most recent issue with the '62 Motorola changer is erratic operation when playing at 78 rpm. The platter stops and starts. The idler pulley alignment and shafts seem OK, so a weak spring that pulls the idler shaft against the motor shaft/capstan is the current suspect. The idler wheel gets pulled toward the capstan AND platter by the pinch-drive action but "bounces" off and slips. BTW the "tire" was rebuilt.
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Old 08-24-2015, 07:11 PM
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The 78 rpm issue was simply alignment of the idler pulley moved down a bit by moving washers from the bottom of the idler to the top just under the c-clips. The Motorola changer is done as it works fully automatic on 78s, 45s and 33s

Now I have almost the exact same model but from the 1962 Philco. After removing, cleaning, aligning and lubing the motor/speed change mechanism, it works OK also. The issue from the beginning on this changer is:
When the stylus sets down on a record to play it, the unit switches off.
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