Echoplex EP-3 Voltage drop

[phelar]

I´ve got a EP-3 echo here that have a chance to buy for 300 bucks, it needs all the serviceparts.....but i am affraid that i found the deal breaker. There is a huge current draw over the motor, a voltage drop of 40v. Any clue about this? The motor is spinning though, when i spin it with my fingers i cant really feel any grinding or scraping. This is the first echoplex i look into so i dont really have anything to compare to.
I,ve heard people rebuild the motors but what does that mean, bearings? If the windings are open or shorted the motor is beyond rescue right?

 

[CJ]

that motor sits right on the power line, are you sure you are dropping your voltage by 40 volts?

if the motor is bad then there might be other parts to replace as a worn motor might mean long hours,

you can get a new motor for 50 US.

are you sure you want a tape echo? for 300 you can get some really nice stomp boxes that will do the same thing with half the noise, and a lot less hassle to maintain.

or you could make your own echoplex from a tape recorder, the advantage being that you have a much longer tape so it does not wear out and sound bad, Ritchie Blackmore used this trick for many years,

we had an EP-2 (tube model) in the shop last week with low hours on it, sounds incredible, t better than the solid state model,  especially when you crank it into self oscillation, but those go for 700 to 1000 US.

you could always convert the EP 3 into a tube model, but i do not know if they both use the same coils for the oscillator,

pull the belt off the motor and see if it still sucks current, if not then all you may need to do is clean the bearings in the fly wheel.

 

[phelar]

Yes, positive. It steals the volts the solenoid needs to work....and the rest of the circuit of course. When i disconnect the motor the secondaries of the transformer are back to normal. I,ve run it alone without the belt, same same. I have a 60w bulb before the echo and it lights up good when i run the motor. This is a 110v version so i run it with my 100VA ac ac.

I´ve already got a echocord super 65 and a solid state mini, i like working with tape echos
But i´ve got a feeling this one is goin back to its owner.