Wanted: RCA Victor turn table

[bachernick]

I have an RCA Victor stereo console from 1968. My turn table has a bad motor and I'm looking for a replacement. The console model number is VJT54W. I have a repair man here in Seattle that can repair mine or make one good one if I have another turn table with a good motor. Any help would be much appreciated, I love this old stereo and want to try to keep it original. I believe there are several variations of this turn table, a similar one may work.

[Ron Rich]

I am totally unfamiliar with that motor, and may be way "off base" here, and will eat my words, if so--- but I find that most AC TT motors never go "bad".
Has your repair person attempted to "oil" that motor? If not, I think I would find another repair person, for a "second opinion", prior to locating another motor. Ron Rich

[bachernick]

He has tried oiling. He was surprised it was the motor as well, It took me taking it in a few times and him trying different things with the motor mounts, etc. He thinks that the upper bearing is out of round. The motor runs very weak and has a hum that you can hear through the speakers of the stereo. Thanks for your quick reply.

[Ron Rich]

The bearing can be replaced--try a "small motor shop", or a "machine shop". Ron Rich

[Bobby Basham]

I just love these cabinets...back in the day when furniture was furniture. I do have GE and Zenith consoles with very similar styling, the Zenith has adjustable front louvres over the speaker grilles. I don't know about those TT motors, but is there anything special about this particular motor that couldn't be swapped out with somethings else? Did these big name manufacturers (GE, RCA, Magnavox, Sylvania, Westinghouse, Webcor, etc.) make their own motors or did they get them from a common supplier? Surely, there has to be a suitable replacement out there somewhere. Just my two cents. --BB

Bobby Basham
Tucson, Arizona

[bachernick]

This is a picture of the motor:


and this is the number on it:


To me it looks like a standard motor but for all I know there may be several variations on a motor like that. For example the way it mounts or the rpm. If it is something off the shelf that I can get easily or just get bearings for it that would be great. I will have to do some research on it.

[Record-changer]

I AM familiar with that motor. I changed out three of them when I was a turntable repairman. I remember the extra pink wires that other phono motors don't have. And my parts supplier had a large bin full of them, indicating he sold a lot of them.

It was a combination motor and power transformer for the electronics. Every one of those RCA changers I had in for repair had a bad motor.

Two of them had bearings that wore out. I have never before or since seen a phonograph motor with bearings that wore out to the point where the shaft wobbled (and these things were 6 years or less old when I was repairing turntables). One of them had also chewed up the idler wheel because it was so loose.

The third one had a burned out secondary winding.

Because the power transformer was in the motor, it also ran when the radio played, explaining the quick failure. You put the drive in neutral to keep the turntable from spinning. And that transformer got rather hot, causing the lube to fail.

RCA really blew it with that one.