Wurlitzer spinet players

[Larry Fisher]

>From: tunrboy@teleport.com (Eric Leatha)
>Subject: spinet player motor

>I found an old Wurlitzer spinet player (I know, go figure) in the basement
>with what appears to be a bad blower motor.  I'm reading
>only 4.5 volts DC out of the transformer and when checking the resistance
>through the motor, it goes to ground.  Therefore, I assume the blower motor
>is bad.

Checking the resistance of a motor will give you darn near a dead short, or
a reading of an almost dead short to ground.  You're reading the windings,
they're made of wire, and it's all one verrrrry long piece, so it will read
almost the same as a short piece of wire.  It takes a very sensitive DVM to
read the difference, and then I wouldn't trust it.  I know it's difficult to
get to the motor in this unit to spin the bearings because everything is
accoustically sealed.  For now, disconnect the motor and connect your AC
meter leads to the wires that feed the motor.  As I recall, this suction box
runs on AC.  Measure the voltage on these leads and adjust the volume knob,
if you voltage doesn't change, you have a problem in the circuitry behind
the panels either side of the spool box.  There was a series of these where
the resetable circuit breaker (upper right corner of the spool box) was
either under rated or of poor design (Wurlitzer --- poor design --- naw!)
but I won't speak poorly of the ...... uh .... dead, sick and injured.

If you're reading DC out of a transformer, it's either not a transformer or
you have another problem.  If it looks like a transformer, with only two
wires, it's a filter choke, used to further filter the DC.  If it has 4
wires, and two of them have AC going in, you have to have AC coming out.
I've found circuit failures on Wurlitzer's involving some really old solid
state devices that they don't make anymore.  The supply houses I went to
didn't have a clue as to what I was looking for.  That's when I knew I was
in trouble.  The last one I fixed, I had to research the component and
determine what modern day device would work in it's place.

As I recall, DC was only used to fire the solenoids, and the associated
switching circuitry. The voltage was either 35 or 100 volts DC me thinks.
Watch  it though, it's a high current voltage....... enough to put a jump in
your step.  There was a fuse for the motor, and a couple of fuses for the
two banks of solenoids.

Good luck, you'll need it.

Lar

                                    Larry Fisher RPT
   specialist in players, retrofits, and other complicated stuff
      phone 360-256-2999 or email larryf@pacifier.com
         http://www.pacifier.com/~larryf/ (revised 10/96)
           Beau Dahnker pianos work best under water