Very interesting and useful methodology for restoring a rubber idler -- IF you have a nice lathe set-up! Years ago I was given a beautiful RCA 45 player in an all brown Bakelite cabinet (with lid) to restore. It needed everything, new cart, new idlers, new caps... the works. I found some idlers on e-bay, the brass ones like you show. But they were expensive, and the client didn't want to pay for them because she wanted to sell the machine after restoration and didn't think she'd be able to make back the restoration investment. So I gave her back the machine and as far as I know, it is rotting away in her basement! Pity.
Unfortunately, most people don't realize the cost of parts & labor that goes into restoring one of these little players. I've learned to cut corners WITHOUT sacrificing quality of workmanship. Note my videos on the cartridges I sell as well as this method of handling the idlers. I'll soon have a video to show how to save the cycle cams without breaking the bank too. You do NOT need a lot of money to set up a small lathe! You should be able to buy a small tabletop wood lathe new OR used for $150 or less. The great thing is that these mini lathes are not only cheap but very small and have many uses for those little jobs. I turn high-end writing instruments as a second hobby and have a couple of my works published as well. You have great videos on the R2R players! I may have you restore one for me in the future!
seeburgsrock That is good info about the small lathes. Anything you can do to help with cycle cams would be great! I never owned one of the RCA players, but I always liked them. I completely agree with you about restoring. It's great that you are taking care of these machines so they aren't lost to history. The other day I had someone ask "What is a tape recorder?" It's interesting. I couldn't blame the guy, he was only about 21 years old. He'd simply never seen a tape recorder! Other technologies have come and gone, but we still have memory of them and what they were. We no longer use horse and carriages for transportation, but we know what a bit is, what reins, horse collars and so on are, and there are places where horse and carriage still are used. We don't use bow and arrow as weapons any more, but there are plenty of archery clubs. Classic guns - plenty of clubs and magazines. But old tape recorders, cassette recorders... an endangered species! The interest in vinyl is helping the record player stay alive. But there isn't the same momentum for magnetic tape. Yet, without the contribution of magnetic tape, our modern technology would never have been born. Yeah, it started with R2R but very few people today can appreciate what a huge breakthrough the compact cassette was. The evidence is all around even today. We can see R2R machines on TH-cam, the RCA cartridge attempts, the 4 and 8 track machines. These pre-dated the compact cassette, but it was the cassette, that little flat pancake of plastic that revolutionized tape recording. The hard drive is still a magnetic device. It could never have been developed without tape recorders paving the way. My videos are my attempt to try and archive this history before it is gone. These machines are finicky and some are quite rare.
The "O" rings come from Bay Seal in CA. They MUST be silicone with a grip! Ordinary rubber "O" rings will not have enough grip to work properly with the 45 players. You will otherwise waste your time & effort. I'll have the rings available in another couple of weeks.
is there a wheel that controls the automatic changer, that engages the changer? mine is not dropping the records. I know it needs a new idler wheel and cartridge already. Help?? It is a 6EY3B model can you tell me how to get going in the right direction? Newbie novice here. j~
Anders Hammer The problems are usually the same for all the RCA's. First, make sure you tear the motors down & clean them well. When assembling the motors together again, use only ONE drop of oil - DON'T drown it in oil or you WILL have an issue. If that didn't do the trick, the next most likely culprit is the idler. You'll either have to rebuild it or replace it - no other option. Seldom will it ever be a problem with the turntable.
Given many of the idlers considered rebuildable here are going soft enough to go flat; are they not close (in the next ~3-10 years) to turning into goo that is incapable of properly supporting an O-ring? If you've got a lathe why not machine something akin to that brass pulley?...You could probably make one out of hard plastic even cheaper than the brass one and still have a better longterm solution than using the original rubber...You might even be able to make them fast enough to make a business out of selling them.
Glenn, great video and explanation. Can you tell me the size of silicone O-rings to use. Thanks and aloha, Lansing
Great video Sir this is such a help to many people.
Travis
Very interesting and useful methodology for restoring a rubber idler -- IF you have a nice lathe set-up!
Years ago I was given a beautiful RCA 45 player in an all brown Bakelite cabinet (with lid) to restore. It needed everything, new cart, new idlers, new caps... the works. I found some idlers on e-bay, the brass ones like you show.
But they were expensive, and the client didn't want to pay for them because she wanted to sell the machine after restoration and didn't think she'd be able to make back the restoration investment.
So I gave her back the machine and as far as I know, it is rotting away in her basement! Pity.
Unfortunately, most people don't realize the cost of parts & labor that goes into restoring one of these little players. I've learned to cut corners WITHOUT sacrificing quality of workmanship. Note my videos on the cartridges I sell as well as this method of handling the idlers. I'll soon have a video to show how to save the cycle cams without breaking the bank too.
You do NOT need a lot of money to set up a small lathe! You should be able to buy a small tabletop wood lathe new OR used for $150 or less. The great thing is that these mini lathes are not only cheap but very small and have many uses for those little jobs. I turn high-end writing instruments as a second hobby and have a couple of my works published as well.
You have great videos on the R2R players! I may have you restore one for me in the future!
seeburgsrock That is good info about the small lathes. Anything you can do to help with cycle cams would be great! I never owned one of the RCA players, but I always liked them. I completely agree with you about restoring. It's great that you are taking care of these machines so they aren't lost to history. The other day I had someone ask "What is a tape recorder?" It's interesting. I couldn't blame the guy, he was only about 21 years old. He'd simply never seen a tape recorder!
Other technologies have come and gone, but we still have memory of them and what they were. We no longer use horse and carriages for transportation, but we know what a bit is, what reins, horse collars and so on are, and there are places where horse and carriage still are used.
We don't use bow and arrow as weapons any more, but there are plenty of archery clubs. Classic guns - plenty of clubs and magazines.
But old tape recorders, cassette recorders... an endangered species! The interest in vinyl is helping the record player stay alive. But there isn't the same momentum for magnetic tape. Yet, without the contribution of magnetic tape, our modern technology would never have been born. Yeah, it started with R2R but very few people today can appreciate what a huge breakthrough the compact cassette was. The evidence is all around even today. We can see R2R machines on TH-cam, the RCA cartridge attempts, the 4 and 8 track machines. These pre-dated the compact cassette, but it was the cassette, that little flat pancake of plastic that revolutionized tape recording. The hard drive is still a magnetic device. It could never have been developed without tape recorders paving the way.
My videos are my attempt to try and archive this history before it is gone. These machines are finicky and some are quite rare.
+seeburgsrock or you can go here to get new idler and or cam's cartgages all at reasonable prices www.thevoiceofmusic.com/
Great idea! And they will last! I bet you could sell a ton of these on Ebay.
what diameter do both outer parts need to be, so that we can do our own calculations
hello great video. can i ask the size of your restored idler wheel? it's diameter with new o rings big and the small idlers. thanks
Where did you get the O rings from?
The "O" rings come from Bay Seal in CA. They MUST be silicone with a grip! Ordinary rubber "O" rings will not have enough grip to work properly with the 45 players. You will otherwise waste your time & effort. I'll have the rings available in another couple of weeks.
seeburgsrock Thank you!
can you tell me what the finished OD for both the small and big circles
Link to the o rings used?
My 45-EY-2 with a RP190 that has a stock idler and is spot on 45 rpm
is there a wheel that controls the automatic changer, that engages the changer? mine is not dropping the records. I know it needs a new idler wheel and cartridge already. Help?? It is a 6EY3B model can you tell me how to get going in the right direction? Newbie novice here. j~
I have 8 different RCA 45 players and I have them working but most of them suffer from a lot of flutter. I'm having trouble figuring out the source.
Anders Hammer The problems are usually the same for all the RCA's. First, make sure you tear the motors down & clean them well. When assembling the motors together again, use only ONE drop of oil - DON'T drown it in oil or you WILL have an issue. If that didn't do the trick, the next most likely culprit is the idler. You'll either have to rebuild it or replace it - no other option. Seldom will it ever be a problem with the turntable.
Given many of the idlers considered rebuildable here are going soft enough to go flat; are they not close (in the next ~3-10 years) to turning into goo that is incapable of properly supporting an O-ring?
If you've got a lathe why not machine something akin to that brass pulley?...You could probably make one out of hard plastic even cheaper than the brass one and still have a better longterm solution than using the original rubber...You might even be able to make them fast enough to make a business out of selling them.
You say "just" and "It's not rocket science" too much.