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Lubrication of a leslie speaker motor

Hello,

My apologies to Hammond organ users, but I could not find a generic organ service group.

The church where I play music has an electronic Gulbransen organ of approximately 1960 vintage, that has a leslie speaker in it (a motor driven baffle mounted over the loudspeaker for the purpose of producing vibrato effects). After the organ sat for a few days at chilly room temperatures around 60 Fahrenheit and high humidity, the leslie motor stuck. The motor could be heard humming at various intensities as the vibrato control was moved, but would not turn at all. We eventually jarred it free by blasting out a chord made up of the lowest two notes of the pedalboard at maximum volume (producing a beat tone of a few Hz), while moving the vibrato control. But we're concerned that it might jam again making the vibrato unavailable during a worship service. (No, we really do not want to simulate a divine splitting of the earth at that time.)

Is it possible to lubricate these motors, and if so with what and how? I am thinking of using a spritz of canned silicone spray lubricant at the point where the shaft enters the bearing, after cleaning all dust and gunk from the vicinity using cotton swabs dampened with naptha. This is what I have done with electric fans that are balky, mostly with success. Would this be OK to do on the leslie motor, or what else could be used on it to make sure it doesn't freeze up again.

Thanks in advance, Dan

Reply to
Daniel R. Levy
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Assuming you figure out how - the "with what" I would suggest neat slic-50 engine oil PTFE additive, silicon is not normally recommended as a lubricant, except for rubber assemblies.

Reply to
ian field

I don't think silicone makes a good lube, at least, not for motor bearings. Assuming that the motor in question is of somewhat standard construction (sintered bronze, oilite or ball bearings). The simplest and usually the best remedy for these types of motors is a couple drops of light machine oil (3-in-one). I've found that if the bearings are oilite or sintered bronze, the motor shaft may have old oil residue that has dried and is gumming up the works. In that case, the best (and usually permanent) fix is to disassemble the motor, soak the bearings in solvent (naptha is good) for a couple days and dry them out in direct hot sunlight or in a warm electric oven, clean all the gummy residue from the shaft, re-oil the bearings, and reassemble the motor.

If you're looking for a fast, emergency type fix, a few drops of machine oil will likely get you through a few services, but you might find that it binds up again. In that case, go for the permanent fix as described.

Cheers!!!

--
Dave M
MasonDG44 at comcast dot net  (Just substitute the appropriate characters in the 
address)

Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot.
Reply to
DaveM

Check for rust on the motor shaft. I suspect it may have porous bronze bearings. There is a special oil for these - check with a local company which distributes lubricants and hydraulic fluids.

-- _____ _ _ |_ _| | | | | | | __ _ _ __ ___ | |__| | ___ _ __ ___ ___ _ __ | | / _` | '_ ` _ \ | __ |/ _ \| '_ ` _ \ / _ \ '__| _| |_ | (_| | | | | | | | | | | (_) | | | | | | __/ | |_____| \__,_|_| |_| |_| |_| |_|\___/|_| |_| |_|\___|_| __ ____ / _| | _ \ ___ | |_ | |_) | ___ _ __ __ _ / _ \| _| | _ < / _ \| '__/ _` | | (_) | | | |_) | (_) | | | (_| |_ \___/|_| |____/ \___/|_| \__, (_) __/ | |___/

...

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Reply to
Homer J Simpson

The motors usually have oil ports at the bearings, or they may be oil soaked brass bushings. I'd just drop a little sewing machine oil or 3 in

1 on the bearings and run the motor for a few minutes.
Reply to
James Sweet

May I suggest that you check with some of the well known Hammond dealers and service techs. I recommend Goff Professional out of Connecticut. They have a very impressive list of clients and I have also bought some parts off them including Hammond Oil. They will tell you exactly what to do and may even have a service manual that you can buy.

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These guys are very highly respected in the Hammond organ world. Howard Page,Seabrook,NH

Reply to
Hp

I had a B3 once do the same thing. Tone wheel organ with a AC motor on the tone wheels. Those motors don't have much starting torque and a little friction will make them a no start. I had one come off a truck once in the winter where it was literally "froze up". I had to put a lamp shining on the motor assy to warm it up. Then a dose of light machine oil in the oil port.

Bob

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Reply to
Bob Urz

I second this, with the caveat that there is probably a wealth of information on the web. By all means, check the available resources. There's undoubtedly a right and wrong way to do this. Leslies have been around for a long time....

jak

Reply to
jakdedert

check

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most Hammond and Leslie service manuals are available on-line there.

Leslie service manuals can be found at

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> Leslie > download manuals

Wrong lubricant, too much in wrong place and you're in trouble. Leslies have been used professionally from 1940's, many of the old ones are still in use.

When servicin a leslie with stuck motors, fastest method is to disassemble the whole motor stack, clean the old oil, saturate the felts with new Hammond oil (no WD-40..) and replace the O-rings (if the surface is too hard / flat). The bearings must be aligned after assembly, and the slow motor position must be adjusted (see service manual).

parts are available from:

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Hope this helps

Reply to
Matti Adolfsen

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