Binson Echorec: Work Update!

Retaking the Binson restoration! Big steps have been taken and I hope to get done with it in a few days. Take a look at the recording unit before cleaning and properly greasing.

You can see old grease where the drum support fits to meet the internal ball gearing, the reading and recording heads, the magnets, the transmission wheel and the support for the missing spring. It took a while to clean every part, grease as needed, calibrate the spinning parts and build a new spring so the transmission wheel would have the proper friction with the magnetic drum.

The next step was reviewing the electronics and replacing wiring and components if needed. Most of resistors and caps in the signal path and tubes’ bias were replaced with quality components. I found some mods which made no sense, even some bridged resistors, as soon as I find out its purpose I will let you know the solution to this mystery.  Thankfully the wiring was not in a very bad condition which is a surprise in a Binson Echorec. One of the effects of time in this unit is some deterioration in the original LESA pots, but thankfully not enough to need replacing.

It was time to turn on the unit after all the electrical restoration included the power supply circuit. It was a good feeling to measure good readings in all the plates and bias voltages. Also checked the oscillator signal to make sure it was correct, getting a nice sinusoidal of nearly 52KHz.

It was the right moment to loose the right side plate and replace the Geloso connectors with ¼’’ female jacks. It is a good idea to use a solid support for the jacks, in this case two aluminum plates were mechanized to fit in the Binson’s plate and use new rivets to hold them in place.

I have now to rewire the front lighthning and replace the broken lamp holders, also the magic eye needs rewiring. Afterwards cleaning and adjusting the cap-motor deeply and the most consumming time operation, calibrating the recording unit. Lets speed it up!