colocrank
Three Spring Motor
The kid with the most toys wins the game
Posts: 114
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Post by colocrank on Aug 20, 2009 0:24:12 GMT -6
Hello all,
About a year ago a fellow local collector friend was moving from one house to a townhouse but needed some renovation to take place first. He didn't want his collection to go into cold storage over the winter so we opened our home to some of his better pieces. Over a 6 month period we fell in love with his reproducing grand piano in our living room and his Credenza with electric motor created some new and pleasant sounds which, I guess, I got hooked on. His collection went to it's new home and I directly went out and bought a Credenza to replace the gap in sound for our dining room. I bought a spring motor type in pretty nice shape but the lid won't stay up quite like it should. I remember from several years back discussions about the mechanisms (I think they were called "Dash Pots") and what entailed to improve their performance or maintain the lift capabilities. Was there a leather piece inside the "lift"? and do you oil it ?
If completely shot, how do you rebuild them, if possible? Any insights or recollections about the topic would be appreciated. Thank you,
ColoCrank
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DonIV
Three Spring Motor
Listening to Ray Noble collection
Posts: 169
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Post by DonIV on Aug 20, 2009 8:28:08 GMT -6
The dash pots contain a ball bearing that snaps into place when the lid is raised to keep it up. Those may be missing.
The dash pots have leather cups. Nobody that I'm aware of makes specific replacements. I worked Vaseline into the ones on my 8-30 and got them to work OK. One thing to note is that the cylinders are made of aluminum and sometimes they develop cracks at the ends. The cracks can be repaired with epoxy (like JB Weld).
These dash pots don't assist in raising the lid, they only keep it open and allow the lid to close slowly.
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Post by jerryvan on Aug 24, 2009 13:01:10 GMT -6
There is usually an oil hole at the top of each dashpot. Squirt some light oil in there and work the lid up and down several times. You should feel the leather seals come to life. If the lid lowers too fast or too slow, you need to adjust the leak valves accordingly. The valves are located at the bottom of each dashpot. Simply turn the knurled knob on each to allow faster or slower leak down of each dashpot. Be sure to get them balanced well so one dashpot isn't doing all the work.
To lock the lid up, simply push it open a little harder and you should feel the detents lock into place.
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