Magnavox Micromatic has trouble dropping 78's

Hello.

I have a Magnavox Micromatic, which seems to be a fairly popular find on these forums. It works well, although the sound's a little distorted if the volume is high, and it could probably use a new needle.

One problem I've noticed is that it has trouble dropping old 78s onto the turntable. There are a few records that simply will not drop. I have to close the pins on the spindle with my fingers to get the record on. Others will drop just fine, unless you stack more than two or three at a time.

My guess is that the holes in some of these records might be a little tight, so they're not able to rock down below the clips when closed. I also suspect that the weight of a few 78's is just enough to cause the same problem (i.e., record can't "rock" past the spindle clip).

Does this match anyone else's experience? Is there a way to prevent this? (Other than using an MP3 player -- ha ha). I would love to be able to stack up a few of the old records and let them spin for 15-20 minutes at a time.

Thanks for your advice.
Eric

Unless you're playing the newer 78's made from vinyl, I never fancied stacking those older, brittle shellac 78's.

You're taking your chances on ANY changer to let them drop.... one good carefully initiated drop on an angle will snap it.
And if you're not nearby, once the needle sets down it'll get shaved right off.
I suppose it all depends on how much you value old 78's.

As far as the high volume distortion, have you had the chassis re-capped?
Using old equipment with the original dried-out capacitors in place is also asking for trouble.
You'll know something's up when you smell something funny cooking inside.

78s are thicker than microgroove records. Older 78s are thicker than newer ones. And 12" 78s are thicker than 10" 78s.

No record changer can drop the Edison Diamond Discs.



Note that Collaro spindles (and all overarm spindles) do not release the record from underneath. They push the record off a shelf. Observe the animation to see the effect.

The record pusher rises into the record hole, and then pushes the record to the right, until it falls off the shelf. The record guide (or latch) hangs down into the holes of the other records, and keeps them from moving to the right with the bottom record. The record guide slides up to allow the records to be removed.

The original Collaro Conquest has an adjustable record thickness setting under the plinth. It adjusts the height of the record pusher, and the height of the record pusher adjusts the height of the record guide. Also, if the pusher can't move forward, it raises until it can. Thus, it can handle a variety of record thicknesses.

In 1962, Collaro made a newer spindle. The record guide does not move, and the shelf became two spring-loaded fingers. The record pusher works in the same way, but it is not adjustable for height. So it cannot take the thicker records. It was designed primarily for microgroove records. The shelf retracts for removal of the records. but does not otherwise move.

Only 78s made in the 1950s will work on the newer spindle. Collaro/Magnavox used this newer spindle until they stopped making record changers in 1993.

It is not a good idea to drop any 78 made of shellac or Bakelite (the Diamond Discs) from a changer spindle. They are too brittle to survive very long. The most fragile records are those made of substitute materials during World War II.

Many 78s made in the 1950s are made of styrene or vinyl, and can be dropped from changer spindles.

I found only a few changers that dropped 78s in a way that kept them from being damaged. One surprising one was the Philco design from the 1940s and 1950s, including the M22. M24, and M26. These drop all kinds of 78s and do it very gently. The spindle is sloped, so the record slides down it, instead of dropping. And the entire spindle nods to drop the record.

Universal camera made a changer that lowered the records slowly to the turntable instead of dropping then.

Under no circumstances should any shellac 78 be dropped from an umbrella spindle. The expanders will damage the hole. The one umbrella spindle I would trust with 78s was on a changer lacking the 78 speed - The Garrard Lab 80.

A little more on this.

You can blame RCA for this problem. RCA started making its records thinner in 1966 to save money. They made the record thinner, except at the rim, where they added a thick bead ending in a sharp edge.

This gave Magnavox/Collaro problems to solve, because:

1. A spindle designed to drop 78s would drop two of these new RCA records.

2. The Collaro multi-size index could not be adjusted to simultaneously play 45 rpm records correctly and to keep the stylus from sliding down and off the sharp edge of the RCA LP.

The result was the 3-size index and a spindle that could not drop 78s.

I discovered that I could make a changer with a removable spindle drop 78s by buying a second spindle, taking it apart, and grinding a little metal off the record guide. But it is still not a good idea to drop shellac records.