1873 makes that a very early example of the 50 from 1921, production would run to 1925 in the hundreds of thousands, I forget how many exactly. In it's time the VV-50 was hugely popular, expensive, and the Victor company couldn't make them fast enough to keep up with demand. Loose hinge screws are common with these, you will likely have to tighten up the screw holes a bit with some match sticks. That's the start, just like a 60's era electric turntable that's been sitting for 50 years the motor and reproducer on that 50 will need service. The reproducer will need to be rebuilt with new gaskets, diaphragm, and possibly other work such as straightening bent needlebar and so on. The motor has a hundred years of old dry grease to scrub off, the mainspring needs to come out for inspection and replacement if it's weak, the cabinet wood needs to be cleaned. The early 50's are prone to rear cabinet panel damage when the lid is let flop backwards off it's stay so you need to straighten out that stay bracket if it's bent, and it usually is. These are great machines with amazing sound for that era portable, and well worth putting some time in.

They are nice to watch spinning along, and there is nothing complex in these Victrola portable motors. Victor motors are a simple design, number of springs can change, but the rest stays pretty much the same. Victor had the best patents, and they protected them, still imitators tried to skirt around the patents.

Send me pictures of what happened to my email, rockisland1903victrola@gmail.com We will get it sorted out, and if need be I have a heap of spare motors, and parts for Victrola, they all have that spring. This doesn't need to be a strong spring, just strong enough to force the arm forward as the governor spins up to speed. Properly oiled it doesn't take much tension to do that.

Age and old lubrication with just a touch of mouse urine. Lubricants have their own distinctive smell, anyone who has filled a differential with 80W90 knows what I am talking about. Some smell fairly neutral while others are very noticeable. Some of these machines are old enough to have whale based lubricants used in them. Every single old mechanical item I have opened up has a smell. Cars, clocks, phonographs, sewing machines, phones. Used oils take on a whole new catalog of smells. Don't sniff lubrication fluid cans or grease pots, some of that stuff can be toxic, the smell of old Victrola motors will not harm you. my entire little work trailer smells heavily of it.

The crank escutcheon? Yes, a drop or two now and then will reduce wear.

Has the machine been serviced? Reproducer rebuilt? If not then that is the first place to start. I have known these springs to get weak, but a badly worn record will also stop a single spring, or even double spring motor. Record wear is not always obvious, not if it's hidden down in the grooves. If the motor and reproducer were serviced then maybe it's lubrication time, or time for a new spring. Good news is these springs are available on eBay, springs specific to this machine. The 50 is a great machine, but only if properly maintained and serviced. Not important if it's just a display item, but critical if it's being played.

@@Rockisland1903 thank you!! I will look into it

If all else fails send it to me and I will sort it out. I have done so many 50's I could do one blindfolded by now. Very nice machine to work with, and to learn on.

The VV-50 was not marketed in Europe, no Victor machine was. This was a handshake agreement between Eldridge Johnson, owner of the Victor company, and the board of the Gramophone Company after Johnson bought a 50% stake of HMV stock. Johnson did not own HMV, but the agreement allowed for a lot of Victor patents to be used by HMV. Here I use a super penetrating oil called Kroil, I do not know if it is available in Sweden, but you likely have something similar. You did not say what model VV-50 you have, side crank, or front crank? Front crank machines have a slot in the top of the spindle and the tip of the spindle screws off with a reverse thread. If it's stuck then apply the oil, this will badly stain the turntable felt, but this can be replaced and sometimes there is just no other way. Try and screw it off without oil first, use a properly sized hollow ground screwdriver so you don't ruin the slot. This is a machine screw slot, always use hollow ground screwdrivers to remove machine screws. If you have the later side crank then the turntable slides off after you remove the clip from the top if it's still there, they often aren't. If it's stuck oil it, apply gentle upward pressure with your fingers under the edge of the platter while tapping the top of the spindle with a wood, rawhide, or rubber mallet. Do not use a steel hammer, lead, or Babbitt head hammer would work also but you must take care to tap gently. There are three small ball bearings inside a Victrola motor, one directly u7nder the spindle shaft, and two tiny ones in each governor cap bearing. Take care not to lose them, disassemble the motor over a box to catch loose parts. the motor needs full disassembly and cleaning, make sure the spring is not under tension before you take the motor apart. If you did the HMV 109 then you should have no problems with the 50's simple single spring motor. The 109's motor is a Victor motor made by HMV, another example of patent sharing. All Victor motors from this period are similar and some have more springs than others. If you did a two spring motor then the single spring will be nothing. Motors from this time frame ( Victor design) have springs that can only go in the can one way, you can't reverse then as on some earlier, or HMV motors. Look for a set screw in the gears around spring can, depending on the motor style it's on the winding gear, or the main barrel shaft gears. Otherwise very similar to the 109's motor.Rebuilding reproducers is an art, a lot more to it than just swapping gaskets. Things like properly aligning the needle bar so it's both 90 degrees with the reproducer body while at the same time only just gently brushing the diaphragm surface. This requires a very steady hand at rebending the needlebar arm, and can take some time to get right. Also the diaphragm can't touch the reproducer body, more bending of the needlebar may be required to achieve this. Kroil oil allowed to soak for a few hours or days can loosen the screws, I tiny hand soldering iron applied to the screw head may help. These are brass screws and can break easily, don't force them. When they start to loosen work the screwdriver ( again, a properly sized one) back and forth a little at a time until the screw loosens, apply oil while doing this. Do not try and use the springs to align the needlebar, years of being dropped on records or the floor can bend the bar surprisingly badly. This isn't something I can really teach in a video or message, I have 30 years experience playing with Exhibitions, No2, and N04 reproducers. If you don't want to attempt it yourself there are sure to be places in the UK, or the dealer in the Netherlands who can do it for you. The VV-50 uses either the Exhibition, or the No2, both of these are reproducers used extensively by HMV. This means anyone offering rebuilding services in Europe should be very familiar with them both, or the No4, but 4's are rare in a VV-50. You removed the spindle top, missed that part, that means front crank motor. You need a properly sized brass punch. I take some small wood wedges and stick them under the turntable to apply gentle upward pressure, then tap the punch down. Take your time, soak frequently with oil, soldering iron heat may help here also. No red hot metal, just heat it, don't cook it. I have had some stuck turntables take weeks to remove as I oil and tap over and over until it comes free. Remember to leave a little play in the governor so it can move back and forth in it's bearings just a tiny bit. Over tightening them can cause the motor to not spin even with full spring power. 80% of the Victor single spring motors I work with have weak original springs. Go light on the grease in the can, light viscosity like white lithium grease mixed with a little bit of light oil. A weak spring can be held back by thick grease. New springs can be had from a US supplier in California who sells on US eBay, or any of the larger parts sellers. A weak spring may play one side of a record that isn't badly worn, a strong new spring will play the entire record. Many spring issues aren't spring related at all, but stem from people trying to play badly worn records. If the spring is clean and has fresh lubricant. Record groove wear is at fault, and this can't be seen by eye, only playing will bring the problem to light. With a 78 rpm record from 1935 down they can sustain a great deal of scratching on the surface and still play very well if the grooves aren't worn. Don't forget to replace the isolator gasket on the back of the reproducer. Many of the replacement's are still too hard to work well. but are still preferable to a rock hard original if you plan to play records on the machine.

Rockisland1903 Thanks man! I Will Try This! I Will let the spindle and the reproducer soak for a couple ofdays before i Try again. By the way, i Am about to order new springs for My 109 from Holland . What kind of spring is it in the vv50? Hook or keyhole? How wide?

I got the first model with fullmetal horn

It should be hook, not hole, but as it is possible to swap parts in from earlier VV-IV motors that did use the hole you should always open the can and check before ordering. Check both ends of the spring. I forget how wide it is and I am not near one just now to check. Pull your spring first and see if it even needs replacing. My last three machines turned out to have replacement springs already.

@@Rockisland1903 Hi Do you got a emailadress? If so, please send me a mail to swartlinger@hotmail.com, I need to ask you a question and I want to enclose i image.

Multi layer of bearings, in the end the bearings have to be in contact with the support and the tonearm. I don't have one in front of me to take apart and show you at the moment. I do have several VV-50's with the later tonearm. I forget how many balls there are in these, 10 minimum , that's double the old style. I think they are in three layers, below the first ring, between the two rings, and on top of the second ring. Last five or six VV-50's I serviced were 1921-22, I need to do another new style.

@@Rockisland1903 Thanks. Yes there are at least ten, there are two rings and a flat washer-like disc that goes on top of the horn neck. The one side has a groove on it, so I'm assuming some bearings go there. Just not sure of the arrangement of how many go in each place. I'm assuming it might be 2-4-4 as the rings each have 8 spaces on them.

Bad weather here at the moment so I can't get down to my parts pile in the barn. I might try for my VV-35, they have that same tone arm setup, I will open it and see what's up when I am back near it.

@@Rockisland1903 I was able to do some work on it tonight. Think I got it right. There are 16 bearings (2 rings of 8)

Good, my next task was going to be fetching one of the 50's out of storage to count the bearings. 16 sounds right, I know there was a lot of them . My last late 50 was missing bearings and I was scrounging all over to get enough. Now they can be bought new from the parts suppliers like Walt Sommers.

They all use similar motors, all of them require the same lubrication. These motors are not internal combustion engines, no high pressure steam is involved, manufacturing tolerances are close enough to get the job done, but not Swiss watch perfect. No need to ponder what sort of grease or oil is best, if it works in your car or lawn mower it will work just fine in a Victrola motor, or any phonograph motor. Failure to lubricate these motors will result in increased noise, wear, and eventual breakage of critical parts. For a display item that isn't played, once every few years to keep rust away will do it. Occasional playing a few records now and then months apart will require at least yearly lubrication. Regular playing just about every day, once every other month, full service for the spring every five to eight years, possibly longer as we use modern lubricants that resist drying out much better than the old ones. Lubrication is required by any mechanical device, clocks, watches, tools, antique radios, typewriters, bicycles, anything involving metal to metal contact will need lubricating to prevent wear, or at least lessen it.

Probably the SAAL motor like the one I fixed. The springs in these can be a bit of a pain George Vollema at Great Lakes Antique Phonograph can get that sorted for you. If you're not doing the work yourself then you will have to send him the motor.

These new phones have no mount for the tripod, I have probably five tripods. My Nikon F would screw right onto a tripod, so would my Nikon N80, and I'm pretty sure my early DSLR Canon 50D would also. None of the new cameras will. Both the GoPro and the i14 are supposed to have advanced stabilization technology, but I think my old Sony handycam had a steadier picture. It's not like I am a caffeine addict shaking like a leaf either.