Rek-O-Kut Turntables - ROK

So I decided to go full out on this thing. I just sent my idler wheel to get restored, and today I received all the new grommets for the motor mount and idler bracket assembly. I have taken apart everything minus breaking down the motor, which I'm hoping I can flush out with electric motor cleaner and compressed air (I read to do that on this long thread, please alert me if I should do something different). Like I said previously, a lot of corrosion, but it all cleaned up nicely.
 

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Here's a couple pics of some before and after shots of with corrosion and cleaned up. The new grommets were much more buttery then the old ones, which were difficult to remove because they were so hard. Also, the frame which was pretty filthy of cig smoke and years of use. It cleaned up really well, almost making me want to polish the original aluminum, but I'm thinking paint. A little too humid for painting today, but I'll keep you posted.
 

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Here's my progress so far. I got my rebuilt idler wheel and started to piece this thing back together. It is fairly simple with the schematic and I took some pictures along the way. I pretty much took it down to the last screw and cleaned and put everything back together. I still to do a few things like flush the motor and put the wiring back together, but here's what she looks like so far.IMG_1102.JPGNot too shabby! My painting skills suck, so this is actually a vinyl wrap. I chose gloss black, but I might switch it up. We'll see after I polish up the platter. I really hope this thing will sound good because it looks great. I'm thinking a plinth with a black wood veneer is coming next...
 
Fellow B-12H owners - I have a question for y'all. I really like the look of the box plinth that came with mine, but it really would profit from some mass strategically added inside.
DSC_4307 by fiddlefye, on Flickr
The glory and bane of these tables is the monster Ashland motor and one of the issues I see with these motors is that even when running well they do tend to get a bit warm and need some breathing room. In building a plinth for one just how much space should one leave around and below the motor to keep them from cooking themselves? Any tricks to help airflow around the motor to help with cooling?

Also - one can slightly hear the sound of the motor running in between tracks and in really quiet passages of classical LPs. Any good way to dampen that at all, or does it just go with the territory and live with it?

Still my favourite of all of the tables I own I must say.
 
I don't have a B-12 but I do have a CVS-12 that had the same problem as you. The solution for me was a sand filled plinth. 40lbs of sand did the trick. View attachment 988321 Whisper quiet now. View attachment 988318
That one is very cool! I remember when you did that project. It would certainly quiet things down nicely. The biggest issue for me with the B-12H is motor cooling. Even with the completely open box sitting on feet there is a fair bit of warmth develops over a long listening session.
 
That one is very cool! I remember when you did that project. It would certainly quiet things down nicely. The biggest issue for me with the B-12H is motor cooling. Even with the completely open box sitting on feet there is a fair bit of warmth develops over a long listening session.
You can do what I did to my 124. Not only bottom cooling but I added some side cooling as well with some pipe. Whatever size you see fit. See the 3 holes in back. IMG_0794.JPG
 
You see in the picture of the sand box I ran a pipe for the power wires. You could use a 2" PVC pipe out the back. With the bottom open and 2" PVC pipe running thru the back I would think there would be plenty of air. Something to think about.
 
You see in the picture of the sand box I ran a pipe for the power wires. You could use a 2" PVC pipe out the back. With the bottom open and 2" PVC pipe running thru the back I would think there would be plenty of air. Something to think about.
I clearly need to give some thought to things. The rest of the question is if I could make something that would fit as an insert into the original box. I do like the original look.....
 
Hello everybody.
I need help with the restoration of ROK Rondine.
I disassembled the motor for cleaning and lubrication.
Began to collect back, but photos of the disassembly lost in my phone ..
Now I do not know if I collect it correctly.
The upper thruth bearing is poorly fixed (move when clicked) and creates noise and vibration if I do not pinch it with my finger.
In the photo, the consistent arrangement of the parts, as I collect.
Can you say whether this is right?

Many thanks,
Igor


P.S.
The idea with the paint was bad, now I have removed all the paint from the motor.
View media item 11861
 
I'm back to this thread after about a year. My wife and I have been playing our Rondine Jr. L-34 a lot over the past month and she's been complaining about it getting up to speed... I finally replaced the capacitor, which didn't fix the problem. Someone mentioned that it could be the dried up oil in the motor, which seems like the last real hypothesis here so I'll probably do that over the next few months. I really appreciate the motor clean out pictures. If I go through with that, I'll collect some and add to the tremendous wealth of knowledge here.

I've also never built a plinth for it. It currently lives in a 3/4" thick piece of plywood sitting on 3 varnish cans. It's a very utilitarian look that was really just meant to get me through testing, but it kind of fits the character of the table along with the tube amp I'm using with it. I'm hoping to build a plinth asap since I think that'll help more with the sound than anything else, but the motor clean out could do that as well (especially if it needs new bearings).
 
I ended up doing a bit more than I originally bargained for today...

I went ahead and took the motor out of my L-34, separated the top and bottom halves, cleaned out some gunk from within the motor, and then decided I might as well complete the process while I'm in here. I used a 7/64" bit to drill out the rivets, used acetone to clean the oil pads, baked the brass bearings in oil in a 150 F oven for 1 hour, and then reassembled the motor and turntable. I did a bit of cleaning on other parts, but figured I would go back when I get the new motor mounts that I decided I need. Overall it went well, but 2 points to remember when you reassemble the tables: the motor doesn't have directionality except in relation to the table. I kept the label in the same place, but failed to install the grounded rod at the back of the motor when I reassembled it - so I had to take everything apart again to move it. I also didn't screw the button at the front far enough into the table, which again meant removing the motor from it's mount to tighten it a bit.

I need to get to sleep so I only played part of a song - it now gets up to speed almost instantly (rather than taking 2-3 minutes). It may have been a touch quieter, but it was tough to tell. I'll put in a long session this week and report back about the rumble. I also took some pictures that I'll post for anyone that plans to do this.
 
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After letting it spin for awhile yesterday, I can say that the sound floor has decreased some. I went ahead and ordered new motor mounts for both of my Rek tables (even though my Rondine B12-H probably didn't need them). (Cheapest price I found was $22 for 7 with free shipping on ebay.)

Interesting note: I have 2x S101 motors that I disassembled at the same time. The motor shaft in the older motor didn't utilize a ball bearing at the base while the newer one did:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/phT0Hsyx9vrWGoR72
phT0Hsyx9vrWGoR72

lpNBY1vL6d68w9bS2


This image shows the spring and bronze bearing with the oil sponge that you see after drilling out the rivets and removing the metal cover:
AdSlZS21E5h1Bg802

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Xmxtz4nAoCnQkiSA3

Finally, here you can see the top of the motor assembly disassembled and laid out in the orientation which you'll use to put the pieces back together:
iFpANP7kk6QzRAUE3

https://photos.app.goo.gl/22wdxVO55mcHgYMr2

The top and bottom are mirror reflections with one slight difference. The bottom is slightly more complicated in that it has 2 pieces of material that the motor shaft sits on. In that last image you can see that the top of the motor case has a hole. The bottom of the motor case is solid and within that bowl, these 2 pieces of material sit - it is on these that the motor shaft rotates. I should have taken a picture on that side, but I didn't.

Luckily I only rebuilt one of the motors so far so I plan to take a few more photos before putting the other back together. Post here if there are any particular shots that you want before I reassemble it - that'll probably be this week sometime.
 
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I tried to upload those photos in several different ways (uploading with the image upload button, adding
, and then adding as a link), but wasn't able to get the images to show - sorry.
 
Thanks for adding your experience taking a ROK motor apart. The more we add to the knowledge base the better.

To help folks down the road do one-stop shopping here's link to a thread where @dtut does service on a ROK motor:

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/rebuilding-a-rek-o-kut-s101-motor.748206/

I'm in the process myself. I'm worried about damaging the stator coils so I'm trying to do everything without removing the stator.

Cleaning the felt pads with acetone really took out the old oil. The jar on the left is acetone and the old oil. The jar on the right is the cleaning jar with acetone:

IMG_2778.JPG

IMG_2780.JPG
 
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Yes indeed.

Hull Rust, Beer and Bourbon, nice going both of you.

Thanks, but I'm not quite there yet.

Stupid question coming up..

I'm having a dickens of a time trying to get the screws in place with the stator in the housing. I should remove it.

When you removed the stator did you place the PVC on the coils and apply pressure to free up the stator? Are the air holes you mention the ones above the coils? I was thinking of using thin screwdriver on where the two bolts that hold the housing together are and tapping evenly.

I'm sleep deprived, so chances are I'm missing something simple here..

Thanks for any help.
 
Hull Rust,

I found working on the bearings was easier with the stator out of the way, but I made sure I had guide marks for reassembly

I just noticed you removed the stator with the bottom can half. I started by separating the bottom can half from the upper half and the stator, but either way should work. I worked from the outside to stay away from the windings. I did that by putting the edge of the small diameter PVC pipe in the vent holes and tapping. I did the same for the upper half, but also used the edge of the can to tap it loose. Tapping through the bolt holes might work, but I might try using something soft like a dowel.

I found the upper bearing had locked slightly out of position and was binding so I took that one apart, too, after pulling the capstan and removing the rotor.

Just to remind myself about what I had done, I checked the motor I rebuilt and then just for the hell of it fired it up. It came up to speed in about 30 seconds and is quiet.

Hope you got some good sleep.
 
Thank you, Doug.

I'll make a run at it.

This motor is from a K33 I have in parts, no base. I'll report back. Thanks again for the guidance.
 
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