Allen Organ Rotating Speaker Electric Motor Replacement

[dgibney]

Hey all,

Recently I acquired an old Allen Organ Rotating Speaker cabinet and have been attempting to restore it. This is an awesome piece of equipment outfitted with an incredible amp, great Jensen speakers, and a very unique rotating design to get around the Leslie patent. I included some crappy pictures to give you an idea of what it is all about.

To begin the restoration my friend removed the death cap on the amp and added a grounded power cable. Unfortunately, the speed control for the motor, the box on the bottom left, is missing parts. So we removed it and added this speed controller between the motor and power. With that new speed controller, it is currently working, however, the motor is not working optimally, and makes more noise than it should, and after being used for a while, it stops spinning.

My question is does anyone have a suggestion for a quiet DC motor for this thing? The specs on the current motor are 115v, 1/6 HP, and 1140 RPM. I'm also wondering if the mismatched voltage between the motor and my new speed controller is causing the noise issues. Any help is appreciated!

I'll be sure to post more information and pictures of this amazing device as I get it restored.

 

[user 130681]

If it is a DC or Universal motor, it won't like a chopped waveform from your cheap dimmer.
I think they had a variable voltage speed controller.
Have you got more information on it? Schematic etc?

 

[capacitor]

This isn't immediately helpful, but I had two of these cabinets (one missing the Allen amp) in the past. Unless there's a bearing lubrication issue, it's likely you are spot on about the speed control.

 

[capacitor]

Here's the schem for the nice sounding Allen amp. Also, the Jensen RP302s are pretty valuable in the audiophile world. The C12R speakers are pretty fragile, but good sounding in a low wattage guitar amp.

 

[dgibney]

Here's the schem for the nice sounding Allen amp. Also, the Jensen RP302s are pretty valuable in the audiophile world. The C12R speakers are pretty fragile, but good sounding in a low wattage guitar amp.

Oh wow, thank you so much! That is really helpful. You wouldn't happen to have the schematic for the original speed controller for the Allen Organ would you?

 

[user 133784]

If it is a DC or Universal motor, it won't like a chopped waveform from your cheap dimmer.
I think they had a variable voltage speed controller.
Have you got more information on it? Schematic etc?

Hello! I am the friend who has been working on this project with Danny. From what I've read, PWM AC-DC converters are the way to go for quiet clean work.

Here is one I found on grainger.

https://www.grainger.com/product/DART-CONTROLS-DC-Speed-Control-PWM-38EG40.

I wonder if this will be cleaner and more effective than the QWORK amazon controller. When you say the motor won't like the chopped waveform are you implying the Qwork controller is SCR?

 

[capacitor]

You wouldn't happen to have the schematic for the original speed controller for the Allen Organ would you?

Sadly, I don't. It's been about a decade since I had them or I would dig into it.

Fwiw, only one of the pair had a speed controller. I wonder if the old/original design was not as reliable as the rest of the unit.

 

[capacitor]

Howdy @dgibney and @user 13384 Just a heads-up that I found two of the original speed controllers during a move. Let me know if you need pictures/info/whatever. PM me since I'm temporarily limiting the time I spend on non-work forums (I'll get an email with an alert)