Hi everyone, my lovely wife and her friend asked me to have a look at an HMV Caprice radiogram. The radio part works fine. The record changer is the problem and seems all it does is return the tonearm when selecting the ON position. The motor isn't turning.Is it possible something has seized or fallen off underneath?

Any help appreciated.
I can upload photos if you wish.

Thanks in advance.

Does it have a BSR Monarch UA14 changer?

https://www.radiomuseum.org/r/bsr_ua14.html

That reads with a lot of ambiguity. In order for the tone arm to return are you spinning the platen by hand. HMV did use some horrid turntables that were designed, as far as I am concerned, during some sort of drunken orgy. There is one here & its a mechanical nightmare.

If the grease soap dries out and glues bits together: There will be problems. Returning to park, is but only one manifestation of a gummed up mechanism.

Ah, turntables! The grease turns into cement and locks everything in place!

You'll need to remove the circlip that holds the turntable, under the silver coloured disc in the middle. Lift the TT off. It may be difficult to turn, use care and persevere.

You'll see a little rubber-tyred "jockey" wheel. Remove its circlip and remove the jockey wheel. At all costs avoid getting grease or oil on the tyre of the jockey wheel.

Everything that moves or has grease on it, remove, clean, re-grease and replace.

Drop a few drops of sewing machine oil into the upper and lower motor bearings (the motor shaft is that stepped thin metal thing that should spin freely) Thoroughly clean the motor shaft with alcohol so there is NO OIL on the stepped part.

With alcohol, clean and scrub the rubber tyre of the jocket wheel so the rubber is not slippery. Refit the jockey wheel. (Splits or flats in the rubber will render the jockey wheel unfit for service. If you see these you'll need a new wheel)

Clean the inside of the turntable drum and re-fit the turntable.

That may be all you'll need to do to make it work!

If it doesn't turn off at the end of the record, I'll have to explain to you how to clean the velocity trip mechanism.

Monochrome TV, no, most Caprices were fitted with a later model BSR, I don't recall the model number.

I am assuming the Caprice in question is one of the N3 types from the early to mid sixties.

There are two versions of these: N3-4Y & N3-43. The ones I've seen & worked on definitely have a UA14 changer.

The N4-4Y HMV Model Data Sheet has the changer as a UA14. I don't have the Model Data Sheet for N4-43.

Maybe it was the later N3-43 that had the later BSR changer.

Monochrome TV,it's not that BSR changer,must be the other one as others have suggested. The chassis is N3.
I pulled the circlip off as per Ian Roberston.Easy removal of clip and platter. I will have more time this weekend to investigate further.

Once again your advice and help is appreciated.

Monochrome TV,it's a BSR UA25 turntable. (Anyone with a manual?)I removed it from the gram and started looking over it. The stylus needs to be replaced(diamond looks like it has fallen off on one side. and I found a broken earth wire.Nothing else obvious. Will clean as per Ian suggestions.

Thanks.

Anyone with a manual?

There's a guy selling them here: https://www.stereomanuals.com/man/rep/bsr/index.htm

Apparently, according to Radiomuseum, also known as model A11.

I think I may have a UA25 manual. If so I’ll scan a copy.

I do have a manual.

My email contact is not hidden. Get in touch & I'll send a scanned copy.

Diamonds snapping off stylii was a common problem at the time. You should plan on replacing the entire cartridge. They are readily available.

Now remember when you look at these the grease definetely sets as hard as concrete. I remember looking at a part on one of these turntables ( the part was L shaped ) and thought to myself that this design can not possibly work so I took to it with a heat gun and hey presto the L shape turned into a hinge lol which made a lot of sense. I pulled it apart and removed all the old grease and regreased it.
You also need to check the 3 motor mounting grommets ( available on ebay and from tubesandmore) , if these are shrunken then it will effect the speed.

Oh I hate turntables lol.

I'm still making some headway after giving some moving parts a clean and some lube.
The turntable seems to now work as it should. Motor turns when switched to ON and returns tone arm and turns motor off when 3rd switch position selected. No real idea what I did to make things move again.

Ian Robertson,yes the end of the stylus snapped off when I went to have a look at cartridge and stylus and 3 of the 4 wires fell off on cartridge connectors. Fun and games hey!

Can't wait to finish of so it can get out of the shed.

You will need something like this:

https://www.soundring.com.au/kc172-ceramic-cartridge-including-stylus/