[HAM] A noob with questions

[Ray Buck]

Howdy.  I'm a noob at this Hammond thing.  Not new to tube-type 
electronics, nor electro-mechanical gear (I started out on a military 
vacuum tube radar/computer (analog) system in 1966) but this is my 
first foray into the tonewheel organ area.

Quick background.  I started playing an electric bass 3 years ago at 
57.  Never played nuttin before.  I play mostly blues and rock.  I 
ran up against a wall where I needed to learn a bit of music theory 
and sight reading.  I bought a cheap digital piano (Casio WK-3300) 
and started in.  What I learned more than anything else is that I 
prefer the sound of a Hammond organ MUCH more than a piano.  After 
that things just tumbled into place and I ended up with an M-101 for 
the princely sum of $50 US.  That's 20 percent of what I paid for the 
cheap dkb.  Strange.  I was the only one who answered the seller's ad 
and was willing to pick it up and since she said, "make an offer...." 
well, I did and she took it.

It was one of those, "It ran when I parked it" things.  Ok...I can 
deal with that.  First problem I had was that the tone generator 
would spin up on the start motor but wouldn't keep running on the Run 
motor.  Everything I found seemed to indicate that it was a 
lubrication issue, so I started lubing the bushings and threads and 
filling the oil cups.  Now it spins up and stays 
running.  Great.  (I've been using Singer sewing machine oil until my 
web order of Hammond oil arrives.)

But there are a couple more issues.  First there are one or two 
bushings (bearings) that are squealing like stuck pigs and have been 
since I started working on it a few days ago.  I'm wondering if this 
is something that should go away as the oil wicks through the threads 
to the bushings?  Are they what we used to call "Oilite" bronze bushings?

Is it safe to run it for periods of, say, 10-15 minutes at a time 
while it's howling like that or will that result in severe bearing or 
shaft wear?  I can't see how running it would help the oil to 
saturate the bearings any quicker, but....???

Finally there's one key (lower rank, 2nd B from the right) that 
didn't sound right.  I just fired it up for a minute to make sure I 
had the correct key in mind...and...and now it seems to be 
working.  Spooky.  Just like a kid who feels better as soon as he 
gets to the doctor's office.  Anyway, I turned the vibrato off to 
verify and to this old man's ears, it seems to be creating the 
correct sound.  It didn't am 2 am.  Hmmm...  On another forum I read 
a post where a guy used the phrase "cyphering tonewheel" and thought 
that might have some relevance to my problem.  I have no idea what it 
means, although my guess would be one that has zero output.  If 
anyone can shed some light on that, I'd appreciate it.

Well, that seems to have exhausted my questions.  The B key fix sure 
was an easy one.  Hope it stays fixed.

Thanks in advance,

Ray Buck,
Taylorsville, Ut