Classic Hifi Care

I took on this project for a nice customer who said he really
wanted it working.
The player was not real clean when received !

I've never worked on an RP-190 changer, but I heard they
were not that difficult.

The amp is a hot-chassis 3 tuber, so I didn't worry about
sustituting out a lower output ceramic cart for the dead
crystal cart.

Thanks to Mr. Chris Cuff (rest in peace) for his series on the
RP-190, that part was fairly straight-forward.
Chris did mention some important service tips that you would not
know about from looking at an RP-190 manual.

The bottom plate of the cabinet is attached with 4 long
narrow bolts.
The amp is seated in the bakelite case, held in place with 4
bolts, attached to brass inserts nicely molded in the cabinet.
The changer sits on 3 rubber cone cushions secured with bolts
and washers.

I wasn't sure how I'd remove the amp/changer, as they are
hardwired together.
I finally saw that once the mounting bolts were removed, the
changer and amp could be moved through the cabinet
changer opening for service.

Taking the switch along with the motor, off the motor board
gave me more wire length to service the amp.
I don't cut/splice wiring unless absolutely no other recourse.

The 2-value paper covered capacitor can sat in a standard
type clamp.
The clamp was used to place the 2 new
replacement e-lytic filter caps secured with a cable tie.
I replaced the 120 ohm sand power resistor, as I've seen them
deteriorate.

The tube dates were from mid 1951, so I would place
selling year at 1952.

The amp has acceptable hum, and I re-flowed
many connections. Resistors all checked wnl,
and tube voltages well within schematic values.

So, now the RP-190.

Once I had the slide removed, the idler and drive wheels
revealed rock-hard rubber, though they still would run
the mechanism for its evaluation.

After you get the slide out, then comes the service where
you need patience and slow going.

The spindle and platter are one piece, held on the motor
board by 2 regular head bolts accessed under the platter.

Holding the spindle cap while removing the bolts, keeps
the internal parts from popping out.
When removing the spindle cap, there will be a thin spindle nose spring.
The spring needs to be carefully removed without bending it.

Then the spindle separator knives and spring loaded shelfs
can be carefully removed, so they don't jump into oblivion.
Clean these parts well, with NO lubrication on them.
There is also a separator shaft/cam that will come out of
the center of the spindle.

I cleaned the platter bearing race with 2 thrust washers,
which along with other parts, appeared to have graphite
lubricant used.

When the above is re-assembled, you can pull down on
the separator shaft turning it to observe it the knives and shelves
work smoothly.

The motor was different from any GI or Alliance I've seen.
It almost seemed primitive, but it cleaned well and
has 2 reservoir oil pads to use turbine oil on.

I then took to replacing the old crystal cart with a new
Chuo Denshi cart. I used the method of removing the
"fork" from the old cart, to use as a fastener to hold
the new cart in the tonearm.

The crystal cart mount holes are 5/8 inch wide, so a
standard 1/2 mount cart wont work. You would have
to custom cut some washers to be able to mount a
1/2 inch cart in the tonearm.

New idler and drive wheels were installed, and the changer
and amp were tested before placement back into the cabinet.

It was fun to see that changer cycle smoothly like a clock.

After soap/water cleaning, I had limited success with some
Brasso polish on the rougher areas.

But overall, it looks MUCH better than on arrival.

The 190 is an upgrade to the 168 like the one I have. I don't see a star wheel on the 190, so that is a plus right there. Chris Cuff's videos are still valuable when rebuilding a 45 player many years after his passing. The little RCA 45 players aren't too bad to work on if you are careful and work slowly. Nice job, Mr. Mogul!

Great job, Mr. Mogul. I love the RCA player in the Bakelite cabinets and with the one you just worked on having 3 tubes it was a deluxe model. I have two RP190 changers that all of a sudden stopped cycling. They worked just fine when I finished with the overhaul and I was enjoying them for several years before kind of locked up. They are on the list of things to do.

Bill