my rek o kut b-12 has arrived. i have re-attached the motor in its bushings (some harsh impact had driven it out of its moorings). it was turning very slowly for a period of time, then seemed to perk up. there is some sort of strobe effect from a christmas tree sized light bulb in the hand made case; it seems to indicate a slightly slow rotation still. the rotation seems also a little noisy when the idler wheel engages the platter. i have general questions about lubrication of various parts and how to set up the micropoise tonearm. any advice? this is going to be my dedicated 78 player.

I have a B-12H which should be similar to what you have.

Have you cleaned the spindle shaft for the platter and ball bearing and oiled these liberally? The old oil can turn to a sludge which will cause poor platter rotation.

I use fine machine oil for these situations. Sometimes fine machine oil is called turbine oil - has no additives. Sewing machine oil will do. I prefer petroleum based as the synthetics have less "cling" and drain off some surfaces. On occasion, I have used "Gun Oil" to loosen the old stuff by running it with a dose before I clean it out with cotton swabs and such.

i have checked out a rek o kut take down on vinyl asylum that advocates the same process.( http://members.myactv.net/~je2a3/roktips.htm ) this unit is going to be paired with a 500-c.

If you end up replacing your rubber motor mounts let me know. I should do mine at some point.

Hi Pete,
Congrats on the ROK acquisition and it should make an excellent 78 spinner once up to speed.

I have an original letter (1960) to ROK owners of their B-12 owners with hysteresis motors owners that advised adding 5 or 6 drops of kerosene in both ports for slow running drives. Since then this general recommendation has been refined a little with the times by ROK DIYs including myself.
Either a good spritz of WD-40 or fuel injector cleaner (basically kerosene) followed up with pressured air blow outs through these same ports, with a 30-60 minute run sandwiched in between the two (with platter mounted) can go a long way toward removing gunk from these two multi-thrust plate areas. This treatment needs to be repeated as often as it takes to get in back up to speed. When back on speed, a final compressed air blow-out should be followed by four to five drops of a light machine oil in each port. Setting it back to spinning for another 30 mins. and see if it's holding speed. If not, add a couple of drops of injector cleaner and try again.
Getting these, often long-dormant motors sludge free and back up to running speed, may take a bit of time. By being patient and keeping it in active play, this puppy should settle down to its former "come up to rock solid speed in a flash" reputation.

Good luck,
Mario

the motor mounts are good and are said to be still available from lord products corp in erie pa. i'm more concerned with the resiliance of the idler wheel.

i'm going to get after the motor in the manner suggested by mario.

well... after running the rok for half an hour it seems to be holding speed pretty well. i've done the mario process once and will probably do it again a few more times. i've gotten the tone arm wires stuffed back down the stanchion tube. now to get the cartridge wired into the headshell.

Pete,
Consider giving the idler wheel an overnight soak in mild dishwashing detergent (like Dawn or Joy) in concentrate form. Rinse in the morning, spritz a little windex as a final cleaner and see how she does.

- Mario

gentlemen, i have just listened to lightnin hopkins sing about his ex girlfriend and her brand new automobile, followed by elmore james, ella fitzgerald and duke ellington. the b-12 spins to speed after about 30 seconds but i'm going to apply the mario technique a few more times. the ortofon cm78 sounds great. sorting out the headshell wiring took more than one try even though i have a fully functional multitester. note to self: in the future, check out all leads, current paths etc. next up is sorting out the phono section of my Bell 2521 mono receiver.

Once you get it right it should come up to speed almost instantaneously. At least my B-12 does. Which is a good thing when you have no cuing on your arm.

I tried the dishwashing detergent thing on my L34 idlers, and while they look just great, they still make a great racket. If overnight doesn't do it, should I go for longer?

I tried the dishwashing detergent thing on my L34 idlers, and while they look just great, they still make a great racket. If overnight doesn't do it, should I go for longer?

Hi Nat,

Nah. Dish soap is the first try in an escallating arsenal.
Sand down the running edge with a little 600 grit (lightly and evenly) to see if the tire's composition gets softer away from the old surface. If it does, it's probably a good candidate for the next step - rubber rejuvinator.
If the new sanded surface doesn't seem pliable or supple at all, the composition of the tire may have "fossiized" with age, in which case a rebuild may be in order.

Also, is the motor drive spindle metal or that bakelite plastic? Sometimes passable idlers wheels are just transmitting noise from other elements back down the drive train - including the motor itself.

- Mario

After oiling the motor is inaudible when running. The motor pulley is phenolic, or similar plastic -- I remember reading that they cast the phenolic and then machined it on the actual motor shaft for best concentricity, and it looks perfect.
The idlers look very good, but the surface is fairly hard. The rubber itself is somewhat pliant, but not soft. I'll try the sanding thing, but I fear that a rebuild may be needed.

Ah so Nat, sounds pretty good so far - though a rejuvintor might soften the tire a bit more.
Another area to look at (and possibly work on) is the idler wheel shaft and its bushings. In many of the mid-century American idlers, these washers come in two compositions: fiber and brass - presumably handling both physical spacing for spindle alignment and giving a degree of isolation. I have a three-wheel Presto Pirouette and a great deal of the idler noise was coming (and still, to a lesser extent, comes from this area).
Consider replacing any fiber with plastic washers and substitute the old brass for new brass (plumber's friction washers often match the shaft diameter). Polishing the shaft and the inside of the wheel hub is a good idea, up to a point. Using polishing agents and extra fine steel wool on these non-sinctured surfaces is fine, but don't use Emory or other coarser abrasives that might take down any of this brass, as that will only create play on a micro level and actually make them noisier.
While on this micro level, consider stepping up the viscosity of the lubricant (to say, 20W synthetic) on this hub/shaft interface. While this will add a bit more friction drag to the drive train, the thicker oil may well bridge "the gap" between the walls that may have become worn on a micro level because of use.
Lastly, I'm sure you've cleaned up the drive surface of the platter rim, right?

- Mario