Bob, for over a year I worked on the Hammond and was taught by a tech from the factory. Many people over oil the organ, it did not need that much oil. The scanner is mechanical capacitor and the small spacer are the dielectric. The reason it stops working or sounds different is because the oil changes the capacitance. It one time I would be in and out of the house under two hours. I had new spacers that I carried with me. I also did not unsolder all of the wires. But, I enjoyed seeing the inside of the scanner once again, thanks for bring back old memories.
Bobmann, what a great help you are to the web community to keep these old Hammonds running. I am rebuilding a scanner for the first time and had no real issues until it came to pulling the shaft out of the "cup" near the very end of you video. I see yours was tough too, but you were able to pull it out. I tried tapping on mine with a piece of wood to break it loose, but the
Just the video I've been searching for!, I think you've helped me muster up enough nerve to attempt this on the C-3 that I play at church. We have had it for approximately 13 years and the Vibrato/Chorus has never made much difference on or off, especially when compared to my personal A-100 at home, THANKS bobmann107!
Thanks for posting parts 1 and 2. I was able to bring the vibrato unit on my RT-3 back to life. The process took me about four hours, not including the few hours of time I let parts soak in lacquer thinner. Unsoldering all the wires took some time, as well as wrestling the unit out of the console. I was also working really carefully and slowly and was able to save all the oil wicks, though I had some heavy cotton thread on hand just in case. I had also bought a Bristol wrench for this job and considered it money well spent. For those who plan to do this job, I say take your time and have a number of hours free in your day so you can do it start to finish.
FWIW...I just uploaded another scanner video that shows a trick for reassembly. For future information, soaking the parts, even the phenolic pieces is not necessary. A rinse in solvent will get the parts as oil free as they will ever be. Besides, the oil is not the culprit here, it is the contamination that the oil attracts. From removal to re-install it takes me about an hour total.
Hi, thank's for your great effort to share your video's here with us. Your video's are a great help how to take care of our Hammond organ's! Carsten P. - Denmark
Thanks for the comment and thanks for visiting! Sometimes zapping works, sometimes not. This only gets rid of the longest "whiskers" and the ones that are actually shorting somewhere. The whiskers will continue to grow and you will be repeating the process at some point...maybe weeks, months, years even. If done improperly, t his process can cause damage as well. I have seen instructions out there that tells people to use the B+ voltage (200+v) for this. The only way to eliminate the problem from ever returning is cleaning scanner and switch box and coating the plated surfaces with paint or lacquer.
I love you! Hahahaha... Seriously though, thanks for making this video. I also like to tinker with Hammonds. I bought a 1958 M-3 and have been wanting to know how to do maintenance like this.
Interesting -- I recently rebuilt a 1952 C-2 scanner, and all the stationary plate screws were all gold-plated. These don't appear to be. What's really fun is when you have to rethread the bearings with new oil threads.
I have had this happen also; the bearing is frozen to the shaft. I was not able to repair it, as I could not get the bearing back under the copper tabs. I suppose if you drilled out the rivets you may be able to reassemble it if you can find rivets to replace them. I would worry about the alignment though, as it needs to be really close. I ended up getting another scanner. They are on Ebay often, you just need to wait for someone to sell it for a reasonable price...motor/scanner for under $20
Hi Steve. I picked up a 1958 C3 with a PR20 tone cabinet. I have a similar issue to another commenter that when I turn on the vibrato I lose about 3/4 of the volume. I have already check and cleaned the tubes out. There is the metal flake growth on the scanner case - but also - someone along the way replaced the left half of the capacitors on the scanner box and cut the bottom leads from most of the yellow cylinder capacitors on the right side so now I have replacement caps on order from TGH and plans to do the scanner cleaning. Any idea why someone would cut those capacitors? Thanks
@patsaxon Unfortunately it was not an easy decision to discontinue making tonewheel organs, but these were much too expensive to manufacture, and the competition too fierce from electronic models made by the many competitors. The company would have gone under much sooner if the tonewheel was not abandoned. Hammond acquired Electro Music (Leslie) back in 1980, many years after Laurens Hammond's passing. Mr Hammond would have never allowed this to happen during his lifetime.
Thank you so much for posting this! After reading everything I could find, and searching to the ends of the interwebs for info on this task, I finally found your video in an old post on organforums.com. Too bad there isn't a way to make this rise to the top of Google searches...maybe a better title (How to Rebuild the Hammond Vibrato Scanner)? I suppose I would've gotten thru the job with just the written instructions, but this video really removed any guesswork and anxiety from the equation. I've read elsewhere that spraying a coat of clear on the scanner is helpful. Is this something you do? I decided not to, because it seemed that the inside of the case already had something coating it--it was completely dendrite free. Maybe by '63 or so, Hammond realized this was a problem? Also, I lopped off the third tube on the oil tray, per the instructions at Benton Electronics, and rerouted the string through the remaining tube. I was hesitant to do this, since they didn't give a reason for doing it, but after 6 hours of vibrato scanner cleaning, my defenses were down. Thanks again for your work, much appreciated!
...but that only resulted in the flaring out of those copper leafs that hold the bearing to the cup. Any ides on to get this out? Soak it in lacquer thinner?
While one will find all sorts of things in instruments this old, Hammond did not use gold plated screws. I wonder if you are mistaking brass screws for gold. I have seen brass screws in many scanners. Coincidently I am also rebuilding a 52 C2 just now. It has brass screws in the scanner. I am guessing that they switched from brass to plated steel later on to save money; Hammond made a lot of minor changes in the interest of saving a few dollars on each organ.
OK, I have my M-3 scanner taken apart. I can't get the 2 set screws off. I used a small phillips jeweler screwdriver and still won't work. I looked for a "bristol wrench" at the home improvement store today and they looked at me like I was retarded. Can I just soak the whole spindle mechanism in solvent or does it have to be taken apart? Thanks for your help!
Bob, for over a year I worked on the Hammond and was taught by a tech from the factory. Many people over oil the organ, it did not need that much oil. The scanner is mechanical capacitor and the small spacer are the dielectric. The reason it stops working or sounds different is because the oil changes the capacitance. It one time I would be in and out of the house under two hours. I had new spacers that I carried with me. I also did not unsolder all of the wires. But, I enjoyed seeing the inside of the scanner once again, thanks for bring back old memories.
Bobmann, what a great help you are to the web community to keep these old Hammonds running. I am rebuilding a scanner for the first time and had no real issues until it came to pulling the shaft out of the "cup" near the very end of you video. I see yours was tough too, but you were able to pull it out. I tried tapping on mine with a piece of wood to break it loose, but the
Just the video I've been searching for!, I think you've helped me muster up enough nerve to attempt this on the C-3 that I play at church. We have had it for approximately 13 years and the Vibrato/Chorus has never made much difference on or off, especially when compared to my personal A-100 at home, THANKS bobmann107!
Thanks for posting parts 1 and 2. I was able to bring the vibrato unit on my RT-3 back to life. The process took me about four hours, not including the few hours of time I let parts soak in lacquer thinner. Unsoldering all the wires took some time, as well as wrestling the unit out of the console. I was also working really carefully and slowly and was able to save all the oil wicks, though I had some heavy cotton thread on hand just in case. I had also bought a Bristol wrench for this job and considered it money well spent. For those who plan to do this job, I say take your time and have a number of hours free in your day so you can do it start to finish.
FWIW...I just uploaded another scanner video that shows a trick for reassembly.
For future information, soaking the parts, even the phenolic pieces is not necessary. A rinse in solvent will get the parts as oil free as they will ever be. Besides, the oil is not the culprit here, it is the contamination that the oil attracts.
From removal to re-install it takes me about an hour total.
Hi, thank's for your great effort to share your video's here with us.
Your video's are a great help how to take care of our Hammond organ's!
Carsten P. - Denmark
Thanks for the comment and thanks for visiting!
Sometimes zapping works, sometimes not. This only gets rid of the longest "whiskers" and the ones that are actually shorting somewhere. The whiskers will continue to grow and you will be repeating the process at some point...maybe weeks, months, years even.
If done improperly, t his process can cause damage as well. I have seen instructions out there that tells people to use the B+ voltage (200+v) for this.
The only way to eliminate the problem from ever returning is cleaning scanner and switch box and coating the plated surfaces with paint or lacquer.
I love you! Hahahaha... Seriously though, thanks for making this video. I also like to tinker with Hammonds. I bought a 1958 M-3 and have been wanting to know how to do maintenance like this.
Classic cable lacing. Looks like marline hitches to me, but that isn't necessarily the case.
Thanks!!
thank you
Interesting -- I recently rebuilt a 1952 C-2 scanner, and all the stationary plate screws were all gold-plated. These don't appear to be. What's really fun is when you have to rethread the bearings with new oil threads.
💪Thankyou....
I zapped mine. It worked.
I have had this happen also; the bearing is frozen to the shaft. I was not able to repair it, as I could not get the bearing back under the copper tabs. I suppose if you drilled out the rivets you may be able to reassemble it if you can find rivets to replace them. I would worry about the alignment though, as it needs to be really close.
I ended up getting another scanner. They are on Ebay often, you just need to wait for someone to sell it for a reasonable price...motor/scanner for under $20
Hi Steve. I picked up a 1958 C3 with a PR20 tone cabinet.
I have a similar issue to another commenter that when I turn on the vibrato I lose about 3/4 of the volume. I have already check and cleaned the tubes out. There is the metal flake growth on the scanner case - but also - someone along the way replaced the left half of the capacitors on the scanner box and cut the bottom leads from most of the yellow cylinder capacitors on the right side so now I have replacement caps on order from TGH and plans to do the scanner cleaning. Any idea why someone would cut those capacitors? Thanks
@patsaxon Unfortunately it was not an easy decision to discontinue making tonewheel organs, but these were much too expensive to manufacture, and the competition too fierce from electronic models made by the many competitors. The company would have gone under much sooner if the tonewheel was not abandoned.
Hammond acquired Electro Music (Leslie) back in 1980, many years after Laurens Hammond's passing. Mr Hammond would have never allowed this to happen during his lifetime.
Thank you so much for posting this! After reading everything I could find, and searching to the ends of the interwebs for info on this task, I finally found your video in an old post on organforums.com. Too bad there isn't a way to make this rise to the top of Google searches...maybe a better title (How to Rebuild the Hammond Vibrato Scanner)? I suppose I would've gotten thru the job with just the written instructions, but this video really removed any guesswork and anxiety from the equation. I've read elsewhere that spraying a coat of clear on the scanner is helpful. Is this something you do? I decided not to, because it seemed that the inside of the case already had something coating it--it was completely dendrite free. Maybe by '63 or so, Hammond realized this was a problem? Also, I lopped off the third tube on the oil tray, per the instructions at Benton Electronics, and rerouted the string through the remaining tube. I was hesitant to do this, since they didn't give a reason for doing it, but after 6 hours of vibrato scanner cleaning, my defenses were down. Thanks again for your work, much appreciated!
...but that only resulted in the flaring out of those copper leafs that hold the bearing to the cup. Any ides on to get this out? Soak it in lacquer thinner?
While one will find all sorts of things in instruments this old, Hammond did not use gold plated screws. I wonder if you are mistaking brass screws for gold. I have seen brass screws in many scanners. Coincidently I am also rebuilding a 52 C2 just now. It has brass screws in the scanner. I am guessing that they switched from brass to plated steel later on to save money; Hammond made a lot of minor changes in the interest of saving a few dollars on each organ.
I can't seem to find video 2 of taking apart the scanner assembly .. advise..
Desensitization can be done without disconnecting any wires.
but how do they work?
All that for a vibrato, dayum :D
OK, I have my M-3 scanner taken apart. I can't get the 2 set screws off. I used a small phillips jeweler screwdriver and still won't work. I looked for a "bristol wrench" at the home improvement store today and they looked at me like I was retarded. Can I just soak the whole spindle mechanism in solvent or does it have to be taken apart? Thanks for your help!
j'aurai aimé en français !
…..I’m not a Hammond Tech….
Well then what the heck are ya?😂
thank you
You're welcome