Help please

I have a Columbia graphonola type e-2
We found it in my husbands great grandmothers barn fully intact and in perfect condition. It has run for years without problems. I recently tried to use it at Christmas and now the needle will not progress it just turns and repeats. Is there an easy fix? Any help would be wonderful as we have hundreds of classical music to go through and simply love the sound of this machine.

If this does this on all records you attempt to play, it could be caused by a number of issues.

For instance, the tonearm may be stuck. This is a "not uncommon problem" with Columbia Grafonolas of this vintage. You can test it by moving the tonearm gently back and forth. Be careful doing this, because the Columbia tonearms can get very fragile and breakable with age. If there's any slight sticking, spray the base of the tonearm with a thin lubricant or apply some WD-40 and see if it helps.

In addition to a stuck tonearm, other probable causes would include:

---using a worn needle (A steel needle should be used to play only one side of one record.)
---using a jewel tipped needle.
---attempting to play later-production 78s (post-1940 or so) that were not designed to be played on early, acoustic phonographs.
---a frozen sound box or reproducer (Check to make sure that the gaskets holding the mica diaphragm in place are soft.)

If this has not been done recently--within the past five or so years--it's also a good idea to clean and re-grease the motor. For step by step instructions on how this should be done, you may want to invest in a copy of "The Compleat Talking Machine" by Eric Reiss, which is available from most major booksellers.

Don't know if this will help, but here's a generic Columbia Grafonola owner's manual --

http://www.nipperhead.com/old/colgraf.htm

Just click on the thumbnail images to make the pages full size for viewing or printing.

HTH,
Joe