Revisiting the Hammond L-102 Organ

[@Maxxarcade]

Playing notes doesn't load the motor. However each tonewheel has its own clutch, so certain notes will sound bad if one or more tonewheels have dry bearings and can't spin freely. Put a couple spoonfuls of oil in each generator funnel (slowly), and a few drops in each cup on the motor. It takes quite a while for the oil to reach all the bearings. And the run cap is definitely questionable. Hopefully anyone who's been in there hasn't messed around under the generator and broken any of the tiny oil wicking threads that lead from the main trough down to each bearing.

[@uxwbill]

Thanks for the information! I wasn't sure how much oil to put in the generator funnels, so each one only got about ten drops (delivered very slowly). I am hoping that no one (myself most certainly included) has done anything I'll be cursing them out for. The organ was happy today, and played without failure. I find it kind of amusing that the run cap will probably come from an HVAC parts distributor of some sort.

[@PastPreserver]

Cool I was hopeing that you would work on the organ again. Don't know much about them but I always thought they were cool. Good video glad you are taking on the project for the church. I will bet that woman really appreciates it. 👍

[@raym9691]

That is mighty nice of you to donate your time and resources to the small church I too do the same at my church great effort good sir!

[@rodneyerdmann1545]

I love your sense of humor!

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

Today on this episode of this old Organ with uxwbill...

[@life5161]

Dude u fix Everything. It's incredible

[@SpeakerFreak95]

Filter capacitors can certainly still be good, and if they’re not giving signs of distress and they read relatively close to their intended value, I’d leave them be. That being said, I’d replace any audio output stage coupling capacitors, even if they test fairly. As they break down and age they allow more and more DC to hit the plates of the output times causing them to be driven harder (biased on more) and the tubes really don’t like that too well, if you replace the output tubes go ahead and find the coupling capacitors in the schematic and replace them with 630V film types. If anything it’s preventive maintenance that will increase your safety factor.

[@uxwbill]

I haven't removed them from circuit to test their value (and I don't have any fancy capacitor testers, at least not yet). My main concern is safety of the power transformer. If I were to invest the effort of half-disconnecting them, going the rest of the way wouldn't be much of a stretch. The Canadian-spec version of this organ had a power fuse, and I will probably add one.

[@mattandrews8502]

5:46 "This is probably not the best idea in the world." This makes me nostalgic for pre-internet problem solving.

[@laarshegdish6016]

This was definitely an interesting video, and I'm with you on plugging in something that I'm not sure of. I do what I refer to as "Chicken Testing", because I'm never ready for explosions. I just get a very long extension cord and place the victim under test either just outside the door or in another room, the plug in the power. Then I carefully walk over to the unit and inspect the result, or carnage. But the dim bulb test at least avoids the fireworks! Anyway, I just finished getting an Am/Fm tube based radio working, which had the original can electrolytic cap on the chassis, but a group of more modern caps wired in circuit to substitute for the electrolytic cap. Only my friend overlooked one wire, and that's what fixed it. I'd definitely replace the starter cap for the tone wheel motor right away.

[@1marcelfilms]

i used to be a whole lot more scared as a child.

[@SudosFTW]

Yep, time to do an order from Arrow. definitely worth it since it's free overnight shipping on any order before 5PM any day. so to you in the sticks, probably a couple days, meaning you'll have them ready this week. Akbkuku is the most recent person I've turned on to Arrow and in his recent revisit of a calculator that can play Blackjack with weird-value caps, he praised them heavily.

[@benh.635]

Every time I see something about organs it reminds me that I want to learn to play organ at some point.

[@zx8401ztv]

I was waiting for the key keeper to shout BANG!! when you powered up the tester :-D. That start/run capacitor would be the first thing i would replace. Don't forget to jiggle the valves.. sorry tubes while it's on, just to see if there are any other bum joints on them. I would snip one lead on each capacitor and test with the meter, tubes are quite forgiving as long as the caps have no bad leakage or way off there capacity. The resistors may still be carbon based, i would not be supprised if some have gone high.

[@uxwbill]

Had he done so, it's likely the organ would have needed replacing, after I banged my head hard enough to knock the cabinet apart. At least they'd have another organ ready for my funeral service. :-P I did wiggle the tubes/valves and the only one that ever caused any disruption was the rectifier. Other than overall manufacturing tolerance, or differing tolerances between manufacturers, I can't think of a good reason why the GE rectifier tube was loose in the socket and the RCA tube was not. My main concern would be that of a capacitor failing shorted and killing something like the power transformer. Interestingly, the Canadian version of this organ appears to have had a power supply fuse as standard. I may well add one to this organ.

[@jefferyb304]

It's too bad the organist that likely has played that organ for several years isn't with you to test it. They know how it reacts. Someone played a banjo a tad during a KZbin interview they recorded some songs with several years ago. It was like I recognized it from the first pluck. It is one of a kind 10 string banjo that has the same tuning as the common 5 string, only in sets. I had no clue it is a special banjo owned by Curtis McPeake until recently.

[@jackcasey7037]

The dim bulb tester is very helpful if you have a fan with old or questionable wiring

[@ednasmemories6884]

I've been working on these for 25 years. My advice woulf be change the motorcap"it is not original,they were soldered at the factory though. I doubt you're tester is correct at all usually these tubes don't fail in a hammond because they operate at a lower voltage. The oil can take as much as three weeks to get to all the bearings. Many will disagree with me but the only option I would consider to speed it along is removing the motor and generator and oiling all bearings directly.I agree with changing the rectifier,but I would not recap this amp it sounded strong and clear to me. I would clean the conectors though.I doubt you're multisection caps have been restuffed you can still get them at antique electronic supply. This is an expensive amp to recapp. Even if price is not a consideration I would not not be inclined to recap this amp. Thank you for you're time and donation.

[@uxwbill]

Thank you for the suggestions. The tube tester bears a second look -- it only reported the two 6BQ5/EL84 tubes as weak .Every other tube in the organ tested very strong. It may not be dead-on accurate, but on that basis I believe it still works acceptably well. I might remove the motor for a better look at it. Going so far as to remove the tone generator looks to me like it'd be chancing a major disaster, and I don't want to be known as the guy who wrecked the organ. As for the recap, I have two reasons for it: avoiding any potentially fatal short circuits to the power transformer and dealing with a very occasional hum that the organ produces. Since it's rurally situated, there are lots of disturbances on the power line and I want to give it the best chance to filter them out. When it has happened, the humming has usually kicked off right after the switch contacts open on a sump pump elsewhere in the church.

[@andymann1231]

Old capacitors can still be good I just repaired a 60 odd year old Dansette record player and the 2 capacitors in the can were right on value and are still in there happily working top video

[@uxwbill]

It's true that they _can_ be good. Given that the older capacitors can be failure prone, and new ones made of far better materials are cheap, I don't think it's worth taking the chance.

[@andymann1231]

I agree but its my own record player if I sell it I will replace them I have done all the capacitors in the audio stage so if that can does fail it won't trash the valves it will just hum it's tits off

[@CharliesHammondOrganvideos]

On my L-102 since I got it, the capacitor for the motor seemed fine. But then it gave out. We replaced it and it sounded 50 times better.

[@douro20]

Oh, and don't skimp on the motor run capacitor...in other words, don't use a Supco one. Use an Aerovox or Arcotronics one.

[@minty_Joe]

I was waiting for you to start busting out some old Genesis tunes (Seven Stones, Supper's Ready, etc.). Play it like Tony Banks did. :D

[@Rock-Forehead]

16:40 The Brown Note

[@zx8401ztv]

I have an old mallory cap that's as big as a coke can, being made in the usa i know it is worth keeping :-)

[@PuffyDonut365]

Hi Bill, how did this project ultimately turn out? Was the Organ able to remain in service? Out here on the West Coast we miss your videos. Curt Hayward, Ca

[@uxwbill]

The organ continues to work fine.

[@matthewbestdfghy]

I dont hear any filter hum which leads me to believe those metal can capicator are still pretty good and I believe are original. If you feel like taking the trip Gateway Electronics in St. Louis they should have the capicators you need.

[@rangerpru]

Wonderful project. I think your viewers would enjoy supporting your efforts financially. Maybe via PayPal?

[@CommodoreFan64]

Yeah that's not a bad idea to be honest, because even if all someone can give is $5 then that's at least pays for the better part of an order of caps.

[@rarbiart]

8:43 percussive maintenance!

[@johanbrand8601]

How is this lovely L-102 doing nowadays?

[@uxwbill]

Still going strong!

[@johanbrand8601]

@@uxwbill Fantastic! Just as I suspected. These Hammond tonewheel organs are extremely reliable. They don't give in. And they sound great! Rich sound. I love vacuum tubes so much. They give such a rich sound. Unfortunately I don't have any technical knowledge about tubes. But I do know quite a bit about the Hammond organ and I play one at church. Wonderful instruments. Nothing like a tonewheel Hammond. You can feel the quality in the organ the minute you touch the keys. These organs can go on and on. All they ask for is their annual oil service. Thank you for sharing these wonderful video's about the work done on this L-102.

[@selah62]

Perhaps xraytonyb would have some insight on this type of circuitry.

[@nonsuch]

So funny. I have an L-102 Hammond and a Sencore MU140 tester. What are the chances? lol

[@uxwbill]

Getting better all the time, I'd say.

[@mercuryoak2]

Oh i wish i had a tube tester myself. i have a Reel to reel that seems to have something wrong where my left channel is not working when it used to before the motor capacitor blew, and it maybe a transistor or something along more caps.sigh Akai M-8 headaches lol . But anyways great video.Nice save on that organ

[@uxwbill]

Don't start with a tube tester. Vacuum tubes are generally quite reliable, and you can at least test the filament terminals for continuity with a multimeter. Look at the passive components first.

[@robertedwards2414]

If you are near central va I will test you're tubes for free.

[@aguiristante]

another funny entertaining video. thanks uxwbill

[@johnbonham7515]

Interesting project. There's a stain on the shield below the chassis, which may be due to one of the capacitors in the eyelet board leaking electrolyte. You're lucky it isn't one those early 70's transistorized Yamahas and the likes of it, plagued with noisy 2SC438 "low noise" transistors. Good Luck.

[@BetamaxFlippy]

This is gonna make everyone in the circle mad, but drug store vaseline oil is a completely valid substitute for hammond oil. Put 12 drops in each of the motor's capped funnels and 2/10 oz. of oil in each of the two white plastic funnels located on top of the tone generator chassis.

[@mspysu79]

Another good video. I just sent you an email about the capacitors in the amplifier.

[@matthewbestdfghy]

If any of the tubes start to red plate its capicator change time.

[@uxwbill]

I'm rather more familiar with that warning sign than I'd care to be, as my Knight/Allied Radio stereo amplifier has developed that problem.

[@damonabets3779]

is it a pipe organ? What's the Motor for

[@douro20]

Electronic tonewheel organ.

[@damonabets3779]

douro20 thank you 😀

[@christineayres5339]

Fun Fact Metallica use Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier amplifiers which have tubes in them too

[@luvdady]

the key keeper got a hair cut ?

[@uxwbill]

Why would this be unusual?

[@luvdady]

@@uxwbill just never seen him jazzed up :)

[@themaritimegirl]

23:08 - millifarad? :P

[@uxwbill]

Didn't feel like drawing the letter mu.

[@jackcasey7037]

2:10 Smart girl! LOL

[@theedrstrangelove]

Just buy these dinosaurs an organ made in China off of Sam Ash or Musicians Friend. Funniest thing I've seen in quite a while.

[@Foolishpleazure]

Keykeeper NEEDS to go to church,and pray :P :P :p...lol

[@Buy-n-large]

huh. first?

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

Darn you😡😠😠 Just kidding 😉