Have You Forgotten Your Password or Username?

**Guest** · 09-28-2008, 11:28 PM

Re: ALLEN 631 Repair - Advice/Parts/Speaker Cabinets

I have some schemartics and technical information. Let me know what you need.

Those Amps are 100Watts continuous. They are very good amps, but You can use almost any high quality amplifier. I run my Allen through a multi channel mixer and good quality amplifier. This way, I can use the audio system for CD, Guitar, Solo and more.

You need to add reverb to the organ. I am using a 4 channel Lexicon FX unit but Alesis Midiverb units are good and readily available on eBay.

Those relays, are they 61 pole or 73 pole units? The relays are available from OSI and other pipe organ supply houses. Sometimes on eBay. Just clean and lubricate the mechanical linkages, be careful you don't bend the contacts. You could use a good quality electronic spray cleaner. Don't use WD40 as it will gum up the contacts.

The large speaker is for the 32' channel.You can get the speakers reconed or get some newer guitar amp speakers.

Good luck,

Al A&W (Allen & Whistles)

[email protected]

**johnepalmer** · 09-29-2008, 09:43 AM

Re: ALLEN 631 Repair - Advice/Parts/Speaker Cabinets



Date: 09/29/2008 Time: 07:39 

Al A&W (Allen & Whistles);



I have sent you an Email at your address, I will post it here if you would like as well...thank you for your prompt response. I love the Internet, we can all share and learn from it...JP

**myorgan** · 09-30-2008, 08:25 PM

Re: ALLEN 631 Repair - Advice/Parts/Speaker Cabinets

[quote user="johnepalmer"]Also, when I got the six cabinets down, I discovered that the surrounds for all of the woofers were deteriorated, I could literally touch them and they disintegrated into dust. There was an additional cabinet with a single large speaker (I haven’t looked, but it’s probably 15”), it is probably for the “Chamade” feature on the organ.

They do not have any model markings on them. They are all the same except for the woofers. Four of the speakers have a small cone in the bottom of the main cone that is approximately two inches in length, and two of the speakers have a cone that is approximately four inches. 

When I draw down the 32’ stops, it is mostly distortion from the speakers. I am pretty certain I have the polarity correct, but I am not sure about two things:

<LI>
<DIV style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in">Which speaker should go to which division. I am assuming larger cone, more need for bass, so the pedal and great were given the large cone speakers, and the Swell and Choir got the small ones. Did I mess up here? Are the original speakers actually the 4 small-coned speakers? Does anyone know the model number of these two different cabinets, and which ones I should actually be using for each division? </DIV></LI>
<LI>
<DIV style="MARGIN-LEFT: 0.25in; TEXT-INDENT: -0.25in">The wiring on the back of the speakers leads to two different crossover systems (I believe). There of course is the common ground, but since I may have used different cabinets for the divisions, does anyone know what the correct crossover wiring should be for each division?[/quote]</DIV></LI>

I hope the following link will help you with identifying your speakers. Just click on Next until you find the speaker you're looking for.

http://organforum.com/photos/myorgan...ture64017.aspx

A good test of polarity is to take a 9V battery, and to touch it to the left two terminals of the HC-12 (or HC-14, etc.) speaker. Notewhether or not the woofer goes in or out when the connection is made. Just don't leave the battery on too long. Test all your speakers this way to make sure they have not been cross-wired when the speakers were replaced. Allen puts the purple dot on the speaker where the purple wire connects to the woofer. 

Use the two left terminals to connect an HC-12 speaker. The third is for a sub-woofer, or for series/parallel (not sure which is which) wiring of speakers. The crossover should not have been tampered with at all. I can send you a wiring schematic ofan HC-12 speaker and what the third terminal is for, if you wish.

You probably received 6 speakers--4 for each channel, and 2 for antiphonal. That's how my organ worked, and I received 12 speakers.

[quote user="johnepalmer"]I have a question of space. Finding a place for this amp rack will be very problematic. I had considered another method – that is, purchasing a new, 4-channel power amp, and getting rid of the Allen amps entirely. A new amp could easily be placed inside the organ console, and my spacing problem would be solved.

I have asked several people about this, and have gotten several answers. One builder said it didn’t matter, an amp is an amp, there is nothing special about the Allen amplifiers. I also had two people (an Allen representative, and an organ repairperson) say that it did.[/quote]

The S-100 is probably the correct amp for your organ. However, Allen did make an AM-100 amp which had a2-channel output. Not sure if the 4-channel outputwill suit your purposes. I heard just yesterday, that when the 4th channel is used, the output actually falls significantly below 100 Watts. That's why in some of the many-channel ADC organs, you'll only see 3 channels used at the most.

While people will tell you that you can use any amplifier on the organ (which is technically true), I'm of the opinion that Allen did what they did for a reason, and for the best results, I'll stick with what they engineered and designed. I have this thing about OEM parts and supplies.

My repairperson did suggest placinga shelf inside the console to hold an extra AM-100 (for my antiphonal), but so far I've not done that.

[quote user="johnepalmer"]Lastly, I have one mechanical problem, and it is in the couplers, and it is common to all of them. Basically, they engage/disengage slowly or not at all. I have found the coupler rack, and found that all of the relays move quite slowly, either disengaging or engaging. I am suspecting that this is because they have sat so long and not been used. I am wondering if taking the coupler rack off, and placing some very fine lubricant, such as sewing machine oil, on all the movable points, and seeing if this frees them up.[/quote]

I've had a couple of suggestions--one from this forum:
<UL>
<LI>Use a VERY SMALL DAB of WD-40 (water dispersant) where the stop tab pivots (unless it's drawstop--in that case, I don't know). The disagreement came from my repair person, who said that it will migrate, and may cause problems for the logic board.</LI>
<LI>Use 3-in-1 oil (sewing machine oil) to lubricate the stop tab pivots (unless it's drawstop--in that case, I don't know).</LI>[/list]

I do hope these things/resources will help you in your endeavors.

Michael

**johnepalmer** · 10-01-2008, 07:09 PM

Re: ALLEN 631 Repair - Advice/Parts/Speaker Cabinets

<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
Date: 10/01/2008 Time: 09:35 <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
Hello Michael,<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
First of all, thank you for answering my post, I appreciate it. I love your photo gallery, especially the Hook and Hastings Organ. I had the pleasure of playing, and help to rebuild a 2-manual H&H (cannot remember the year) approximately 20 years ago, when I was the Organist/Music Director at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Seattle, Washington. A very nice 12-rank instrument in a beautiful room (high ceilings, brick wall, stone floor, no carpet anywhere, personally I think it has some of the best acoustics in the city, or it did when I was there. I loved that instrument…there is nothing like a H&H Diapason. Beautiful, smooth, lush. <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I saw your pictures of the HC-12 and the speaker cabinet. Two of the four speaker cabinets have exactly the same woofer as was in your picture (they only have one midrange, does that make them HC-10’s? <o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
However, the other 4 look like this (this is one of the speakers I have not re-coned (please excuse the poor image quality). Notice the size difference in the center of the speaker. Note, I could not post the picture…That’s what I’m wondering, should I use the 4 woofers that look like this, or 2 that look like this, and the 2 with the larger middle.<o:p></o:p>
<o:p></o:p>
I hope this makes sense<o:p></o:p>

**myorgan** · 10-02-2008, 03:52 PM

Re: ALLEN 631 Repair - Advice/Parts/Speaker Cabinets

John,

Sorry, couldn't see the speakers there either, so guess I'm beyond help. Is it possible to find a photo online and post the link?

Hope that helps.

Michael

Welcome To The Organ Forum

Have You Forgotten Your Password or Username?

How To Recover Your Username and Password

Forum Top Banner Ad

Ebay Classic organs

Announcement

ALLEN 631 Repair - Advice/Parts/Speaker Cabinets

ALLEN 631 Repair - Advice/Parts/Speaker Cabinets

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Hello!