someone wants to sell me an organ that "stopped working in march"

[Fenrirlupus]

i want to know what questions i can ask that can narrow down the causes. it's an m-100 series (which one they didn't specify, but it should not matter i guess)</p>

i know that neglecting to oil the organ can cause the tone generator to make noise</p>

but what are some other problems that can stop a hammond from working, and how do you identify them?
</p>

[toasterDude]

Re: someone wants to sell me an organ that &quot;stopped working in march&quot;



Neglecting to oil the organ can not only cause a noisy generator, but can in fact cause the organ to stop functioning entirely. The tonewheel generator can seize up completely, resulting in no sound output from the organ. In this case the tubes usually light up and you may hear some hiss from the speakers if you floor the volume pedal, but that's all. This condition is not fatal! Many a Hammond has been brought back from this state simply by a generous application of oil, followed up with patience - it can take 3 weeks or more for the oil to wick to the bearings, and free up the stuck generator.</P>


However there are other "non-working" symptoms that are far more serious, e.g. blown transformer etc. So it would be very helpful to get more info from the seller. What exactly happened when it "stopped working?" In any case don't let the seller try to convince you to pay him much for it - a non-working spinet, even a *nice* one like an M100, shouldn't go for more than $50 IMHO. Anyway post back with more details if you learn more. cheers, TD</P>

[Fenrirlupus]

Re: someone wants to sell me an organ that &quot;stopped working in march&quot;

he wants $25, i just wanted to know the questions to ask to see if it was worth it (because that's all i can afford, if it just needs oil or something, that's fine, but if it's more serious, i wouldn't be able to get it fixed and I'd have a nice non-working organ...)

[Hammondlover]

Re: someone wants to sell me an organ that &quot;stopped working in march&quot;

25 bucks doesn't sound to bad. Most Hammond issues are dealt with more time than money. Have you seen the organ yet?

[toasterDude]

Re: someone wants to sell me an organ that &quot;stopped working in march&quot;



I'd go for it, for $25. The L100 and M100 series also had RCA connectors between the vibrato and reverb amps, and the power amp, etc. By now (~40 years later!) these are quite often badly oxidized, to the point that no audio signal can get through at all. Result = no sound, even if the TG is turning. All that's required to fix this condition is to pull the connectors, spray them with some ordinary electronics contact cleaner (avail. at Radio Shack or even Lowe's, etc.), and re-seat. I've told this story a number of times, but the L111 in my avatar was advertised as non-working, and this was all there was to the problem. Again, it could potentially be something worse... but in my experience, Hammonds are pretty well bullet-proof. So if the story of its demise doesn't involve smoke or fire, you could be onto a really nice organ for $25! Again, just ask when was the last time they tried to crank it, and exactly what happened. good luck-</P>


TD</P>

[Fenrirlupus]

Re: someone wants to sell me an organ that &quot;stopped working in march&quot;



they still haven't replied to my email...</p>

</p>

oh well, maybe not :|</p>

i hope they do get back to me though, it sounds like hammonds don't really need much if they weren't abused, and if it was working earlier this year, maybe it's just an oil problem.</p>

i mean, oxidized contacts could stop it, but wouldn't that be more of a gradual process? (unless someone spilled their drink inside the organ...)
</p>

[toasterDude]

Re: someone wants to sell me an organ that &quot;stopped working in march&quot;

Sure, you'd think it would be more of a gradual loss of signal. But with my L111 anyway, it was a case where no one had even tried to turn the organ on in several years, until they got ready to sell it. So I'm imagining a similar situation here. "It stopped working in March" could mean it worked in February and suddenly quit working in March; but it could also mean it wouldn't start in March,when (and I hear this all the time) "it had worked fine the last time we tried it". --But whatyou come to find out is:"the last time we tried it" was actually14 years ago at Christmas, and the thing has sat in the corner of the garage since then. So again: odds are it's an easy fix, but you just don't have enough info to go on yet. Here's hoping you hear something back from the sellersoon. TD

[Fenrirlupus]

Re: someone wants to sell me an organ that &quot;stopped working in march&quot;



hmm...</p>

"oil - we tried adding oil this spring when it did not work - we used oil
for Hammond organs. The organ still had oil.</p>

tubes - most or all of the tubes light up. A couple had some type of
metal cover and we could not tell if they were lit or if they are even supposed
to light up.</p>

pilot light - yes, the orange light on the front side of the organ lights
up</p>


<div>motor shaft - it spins freely by hand; it does not spin when I try to start
it</div>
<div>there is a slight hum when I try to turn it on, so it is getting some
power</div>"

what's this mean?


</p>

[toasterDude]

Re: someone wants to sell me an organ that &quot;stopped working in march&quot;



Hmm, this sounds like it might not be a quick-fix type of problem.A problem with the start motor, maybe?Anyone else have relevant experience with M100s? It's hard to say what else could be wrong... if the shaft spins freely it's not an oil problem. Did you get the impression that these people have owned and played this Hammond for a long time? If not, e.g. if they inherited it from Aunt Mildred and just tried it the one time, it's possible theysimply don't know the correct procedure to start it. Believe it or not this does happen, I've encountered it twice: once with a CV that the guy said wouldn't start, but it started right up for me; and once with an M3 that the guy tried to start for me - he was flicking the switches back and forth really fast, pretty much at random! Not to make too much fun - if you'd never started a Hammond I can see where it wouldn't be immediately intuitive how to do it. Anyway...not sure what else to say without seeing the M myself. Good luck-</P>


Scott</P>

[Fenrirlupus]

Re: someone wants to sell me an organ that &quot;stopped working in march&quot;



i think they know what they're doing somewhat, but maybe they started it wrong... i don't know...</p>

</p>

i guess i'll pass on this one, i'm sure i'll likley get the organ from my other post (transporting an m100)</p>

</p>

that one works (they wrote instructions on the inside of the seat, forgot, then found the instructions after i asked if it worked)</p>

and it has the same price tag...</p>

</p>

i had a thought that hammond spinets might go up in price in a few years, but i forgot, they're too reliable for that.</p>

people will die, their relatives don't play organ, they give it away to someone who plays, they die, their relatives can't play organ... and so on and so forth to armageddon...</p>

strange that suzuki hammond tries synthesizing instead of real tonewheels... the new b3 isn't much lighter than the old b3, and probably more likely to break down in the future...</p>

ah well, i suppose that means i'll be collecting "not working" hammonds, oiling them, giving them to other players because i have one.....</p>

i know someone who said they'd love me forever if i found a free hammond for them. unfortunately, it was a guy, and i'm a guy, and i'm straight. luckily, he was only joking, he's straight too. If it was a girl though...
</p>