Hi Guys

I am trying to get the BSR turntable for an old 50's radiogram working again.
The jockey wheel has turned into a lump of hard rubber, and needs replacing.
I went to my usual parts suppier, WES electronics at Ashfield, and they have deleted them from their catalogue.
Are there still people selling parts for these old beasties in Aus?
The deck is a 3 speed BSR Monarch if that helps.

Mark

Dunno about Oz, but you'll probably find idler wheels in the UK and USA.

Here's one potential source in the UK:

http://www.thevoiceofmusic.com/catalog/phono_wheels_turrets.asp.

In a post earlier this year, Maven described a method of restoring the idler wheel using a piece of bicycle tube stretched over the hardened wheel.
I did this with great success on a Garrard changer and would recommend you give it a try. I used a section about 1 cm wide.
Harold

What model is the BSR unit?

There are 2 sizes for BSR idler/jockey wheels. The earlier models used a 2" diameter wheel & the later, more common wheels are 1½".

Another way of resurfacing a wheel is with a rubber trap washer. For some reason I've found the Caroma trap washers to work the best.

Hi MTV

The jockey wheel is 2 inches in diameter. Getting a replacment isn't a high priority, at the moment the main cam gear only rotates 90 degrees before it jams, which means something has either become stuck together with 60 year old grease, or my late grandfather did something to it when he tried to repair it in the 70's.
(If I rotate the cam the other way, I can get another 120 degrees of movement, before it stops)
I had to replace the pickup unit as the crystal inside had dissolved into powder,
I put in a more modern stereo ceramic BSR unit, and had to modify a Jaycar preamp kit for 30 times the gain to get a decent signal into the amplifier.
Are there any sites that explain how these old mechanisms work?

Mark

Here is a link to the service details of the original BSR Monarch 3-speed changer:-

http://www.radio-workshop.co.uk/service/bsr-monarch.pdf.

The next 2 versions up to the early 1960's are similar mechanically.

Compared to Collaro & Garrard changers the BSR is relatively simple.

Thanks MTV

It looks like I will have to take the mechanism out of the gram to have a close look at it. It's a pity it's such an ugly thing, it's a 50's gram with roll top covers, with that nasty brittle plastic, in baby poo brown....
It seems to attract dust just sitting there...

Mark

I am trying to get the BSR turntable for an old 50's radiogram working again.

Hi Mark,

There is a bloke over here in Perth the re vulcanizes the wheels. I had a few done for BSRs at $55 ea . He does it as a side line to his rubber roller repair . Even got Collaro duel wheels done .

His name is Jim and his number is (08) 9361 4644.

Regards
Vic

New to this site, you will quite often find BSR idler wheels on UK ebay they normally are around the £5-7 mark. as far as servicing the deck you will need to remove it from the gram, remove the platter and the large cam clean with ( I use lighter fuel) re grease bearings and cam follower, making sure trip pawl on the cam is totaly floppy and free of any grease or oil, a little oil on the idler and motor bearings and grease the speed selector, in fact any slider or moving part, then underneath do the same clean re grease, a little oil on the record stabiliser arm so it slides up and down easily, clean and oil pu arm assy remember a little oil goes a long way so be very prudent with it ( I use a darning needle so as to get it where its needed) It should then be ready for another 45 years.
John

I've had some great success by gluing a small VCR belt (the square flat sided belts) around the worn idler wheel. I normally use araldite glue and this has worked wonderfully well (as long as the wheel hasn't warped) I would have repaired at least 5 BSR decks in the last 10 years and to my knowledge they are all still going strong.

VCR belt kits have been used for this for a while, as has been said, the rubber used in these belts are the perfect composition for this task. The problem is that TV repair shops are a rare site now, which means that the humble VCR belt kit is also a rare site.

The good news is that VCRs (Betamax and VHS) are still common sights on council cleanup piles even today and these can be ratted for suitable belts. In fact there can sometimes be two or three units on the one pile.

Wagner Electronics (or WES Components if you have a trade account) sell plenty of sizes of suitable square section belts for "re-tyring" idler wheels. The part number is given by the diameter by section in millimetres, so a belt to suit a 2" idler has the part number 51x2.

I spin the old idler wheel and grind off some of the old rubber until the new "tyre" is a snug fit over the idler, then glue it in place with shoe repair glue for rubber soles.

It is important to keep the new surface centred and square. I mount the old idler wheel on a shaft and spin it in a drill and use a bench grinder to remove some material, whilst checking the reduction in diameter with a vernier calliper. I have done many successfully this way and haven't stuffed one up yet.

http://www.wagneronline.com.au/square-section-2.0mm....