L -101 no sound?Their use to be!

[Swamprat111]

I just got an L-101 spinet.First it had a weird grinding thing going on.Oiled it prooperly,and seems to have gotten much quieter.it has taken several weeksto do so.So i didnt leave the power on for more then 30 or 40 seconds.the only time i let it run for 3 or 4 minutes iheard a pop ,almost like a lightbulb breaking ,like a high pitch "tTIIIIIIT" or something like thatthen afew seconds later the exact same sound.now i have no sound on the keyboards.The folks i got it from saidit has never been played by them and they,ve had it for years.so What do you think old Capacitors?are they expensive to replace?tubes? how do you check they all still light up,but i think they would still do that anyway?right Any help would be great.this cosmetically mint L101 was free so hopefully it would be worth fixin if its not to expensive.It sounded wonderful for a few minutes before it died.Thanks Sam

[albaners]

Do some searches on the internet about filter capacitor replacement.The main amp needs like 500volt-dual section 50 microfarad can capacitors.2 cans like this.New ones can cost like $30 each.Search around tubesandmore.com in the electrolyte capacitor section..you might get older ones on ebay for alot cheaper but they may be old also and not so good or you might get lucky.What state are you located in?there are books also on tube amps.Your tubes might be good still.That big noise was a bad thing though in some way.Good luck and be very carefull.The best thing to do is run a wire from inside the amp and touch it against the wife.If she dosen't fly across the room your probably safe to work on it.

[Ethel Smith]

Start the organ, if you can hear the tone wheels spinning, and the tubes light. leave it on for several hours. keep trying to get sound out of it. as long as the tone wheels are spinning and your there to keep an eye on it. let it on for the afternoon. it runs as much electricity as one -100 watt light bulb. you don't have to play it, just leave it on.
Here's an old saying about Hammond organs," the more you play a Hammond, the better they sound!"
don't be afraid to pour the oil to the points where it is to be oiled. and don't be afraid of sewing machine oil, after all, fractional distillation is fractional distillation. the grade of oil is more important that a claimed type on the label.

Ethel