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L-103 Tonewheel Generator Removal

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  • L-103 Tonewheel Generator Removal



    Ok... so I got bored waiting for my Howard Industries 1800rpm self-starting motor to arrive and deceided to have a closer look at the organ... after shining a bright light through the "oil" slots on the board directly above the generator I noticed extensive corrosion on the brass cover around the oil cups/funnels. Most of it was a dark tarish substance but green calcium/lime-like deposits were concentrated in one particular area which I'm hoping isn't from a failed capacitor.</P>


    So after removing and cleaning both the reverb and percussion amplifiers I only had to remove the generator's power terminal, unsolder two wires which restricted the removal process *something like a ground wire and another wire I have yet to research*, and break a few of the vintage stapled paper tie-downs *what did they expect me to do?* The actual removal itself was made much easier by positioning an old sturdy wooden chair next to the back of the organ, however, I don't recommend that anyone try the way I stradled the chair and used my back to gently cradle the beast out of it's home. The first attempt was fruitless because the ancient *and deteriorated* rubber mounting gromets wouldn't push through and had to be torn in half to free the unit, then of course came the long gentle extraction.... lol. Anyone got a Lor-tab? So, now I can start meticulously cleaning and looking over the heart of the Hammond...</P>


    Question: Although they seem intact visually, the capacitors have me a bit concerned. Should one or a group of them be bad, is there a popular or preferred type/brand of capacitor I should use to replace these on the generator with? I'm not worried about inductors/electrostatic pick-ups, those can be easily found on eBay for the time being. So tonewheel generals, now that I have this out and accessible... what other official Hammond tech methods can I use to tune this beauty up? Andalso, is it possible to test the new motor/organ in general with the generator outside the chasis as it is now? I don't see whythis would be a problem and in fact leads my imagination into all sorts ofcreative dementia. Please enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed taking them ;)</P>


    Hammond L-103 *Serial#: 9333*</P>


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  • #2
    Re: L-103 Tonewheel Generator Removal

    i too have had the idea of playing the organ with all of the guts in a different case, it would make things much more portable, and if it were possible to ditch the massive bundle of wires and encode everything with midi......one wouldn't even need to keep the manuals....would it be possible to make a midi controlled tonewheel organ? oh my mind is just swarming with ideas

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    • #3
      Re: L-103 Tonewheel Generator Removal



      None of the photos came through on my IE6 browser.</P>


      Bob M.</P>

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      • #4
        Re: L-103 Tonewheel Generator Removal

        Sorry kcbooboo *winks*. Geocities finally complained about the bandwidth so I migrated the photos to the forum's image gallery. Should display now ;)

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        • #5
          Re: L-103 Tonewheel Generator Removal



          Much much better now.</P>


          When you said TWG Removal, I thought you had fully removed the TWG, not just slid it out the back, still tied to the keyboards. You still have all 80+ wires to mark and unsolder, followed by a lot of cleaning of all the metal parts you can get to. I'd replace all those capacitors; you've gone this far, might as well make it look and play like it did 50 years ago.</P>


          A friend removed the TWG from his A100 15 years ago and I ended up putting the Goff Professional capacitor/filter kit into it. That seemed to fix the clicks and gargles my friend's wife was complaining about. He had to put it all back together again, and only made one wiring error which was easy to do and just as easy to fix.</P>


          Bob M.</P>

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          • #6
            Re: L-103 Tonewheel Generator Removal



            Thanks for the insightful information Bob. I took it to heart and browsed a lil' bit on Goff Professional's site and saw that you can order replacement filter caps for any tonewheel generator, provided you e-mail them with your model... *they mentioned having to hand match the capacitors with your particular tonewheel generator as the generator revisions over Hammond's history changed the physical/electromechanical properties ofthe generator's structure design *e.g. tonewheels movedto different "galleries" *compartments*within the generator to improve overall fidelity. I wasn't sure if that $90.00 price includes the inductors AND capacitors, but when you think about all the trouble one would have to go through just to buy 43 special purpose caps...../action sighs. I noticed all the caps on my particular generator are 105mF at 200VDC.</P>


            And also... I came across another lost soul on Google who has the same question I've been dying for an answer to? Why are some of the capacitors a dark brownish red? They have the same values it seems... different tolerance? The assemblers ran out of stock caps? I've seen this on other generators...</P>


            Anyways.. here's my progress so far.. lots of Q-Tips... some of the oxidizing on the brass generator cover is permanant it seems... anyone know of a bad-a** cleaner short of solvent that will kill those stains? Any tips on cleaning the inductors? They're very fragile.... How yall' like my nifty vintage Hammond oil can? ;)</P>


            </P>

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            • #7
              Re: L-103 Tonewheel Generator Removal



              I think the Goff Prof kit contained all new capacitors, but there were two or three values. The lowest generated tones had bigger caps. If there were any inductors, it was only one or two, and they were added to the terminal strip along with some other filter components. The main magnetic pickup coils (inductors if you want to call them that) are not to be fooled with. The wires are very small and fragile. Treat them with great care. The capacitor values would not be 105mF, but probably 0.105mF. The decimal point may have faded away. Different colors probably mean different manufacturers, but they will all go bad eventually.</P>


              It was a long time ago in a galaxy 30 feet away. I now have that A100 that I recapped and am looking to sell it.</P>


              Bob M.</P>

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