[HAM] Availability of a replacement vibrato scanner.

[Scott Hawthorn]

At 06:57 AM 6/17/2008, Jim Shanks wrote:
>The old Hammond B3 has one problem that can't be resolved with elbow
>grease, solder and capacitors.  The vibrato scanner was completely stuck.
>
>I pulled it apart to see what the problem was, and it seems in a previous
>repair, the oil wick to the outer most bearing had been removed.  The
>bearing had gotten hot enough to cause the brass to turn blue.  Now, the
>plastic (or bakelite) driven gear in the scanner spins freely on the
>shaft, and unless the bearing and gear can be changed, I can't see any way
>that it will ever work again.
>
>So.   I need a different scanner . . . or at least the center rotor and
>shaft section of the scanner.  They keep coming up on eBay, but it looks
>like the oilers have been pulled from them too.  Guess the guys that take
>them out don't know what the stringy things are for.
>
>So, does anyone have a source for the part or the whole scanner, with the
>oil wick intact?  Or, can the oil wicks be reinstalled in those bearings?
>I can't see a way to get the bearing out short of drilling the rivets.

Bill Brown Organ <http://www.bborgan.com> sells scanners for, last time I 
looked, $79. They have not necessarily been rebuilt, according to a phone 
query I once made.
Puget Sound Organ Service <http://www.pugetsoundorgan.com/> sells 
refurbished scanners for, last time I asked, $129. Be very specific with 
them about which parts you want included.
I'm sure there are more sources than this and I'm sorry if I left somebody 
out, but these are the sources I'm aware of.