So glad I found these videos. I have a 1972 454 Rockola 160 selection that a friend gave me 20 years. Some parts of it would work but others would not. I've wanted to repair it but didn't really know where to begin. These videos should really be a good guide for me. I worked summers at Ocean Drive Beach in the mid to late sixties for a small 2 man amusement company but never worked on any of the machines...just helped move and deliver them. I sure wish that I had paid more attention back then.
Mike you can absolutely fix it. Get your hands on the manual for it, by the way the first Jukebox I ever owned was a 454! I love the look of those (and the 453's). I've owned about 4 of them, such a great box. If you get the manual, it shows you step by step how the machine works, so you can start right at the beginning and see what's working and what isn't. Follow the manual steps until it's not doing what the manual says it should do next, and that will help you figure it out. Let me know if you run into a dead end. You can also get a lot of help from a message board online called "Jukebox Addicts", look it up!
@@LyonsArcade Thanks for the quick reply. I bought a repair manual and a parts manual after I first got the jukebox. Watching your video gave me some direction on where to begin.
Thanks for the help. I was looking at my mums 1967 Rockola 431 which was stuck, and your tip about the thumbwheel on the end of the motors was all I needed. I could feel one motor rotating freely like you showed, but the vertical one was frozen stiff. A gentle tap with a screwdriver handle while turning it and it fixed it! (ok maybe not fixed but freed up for now - I'll check the oil as you mention). Mum now thinks I'm a genius.
I REMEMBER THIS MACHINE AS A KID. I'M 56 YEARS OLD AND WATCHING YOU WORKING 💪ON IT BROUGHT BACK SOME FOND MEMORIES. KEEP ON RESTORING ( AMERICAN MADE ) HISTORY.
Whew! I can't thank you enough for this video. I had my rock-ola 442 that would not play a record. It turned out to be the cam in the back that you showed how to fix. This was it and now the jukebox is playing sweet again. Thank you!! Vince
Yes!!! Thank you!!! I was struggling with the write in on my Rockola 444. Low letters would work, mid letters would almost/sometimes work, end letters never worked (write in arm spun forever). Once I found the wiring schematic for Sequence 9 in my manual, I started to suspect voltage drop across the letter buttons. So, I googled it a bit and found your video and said "AHA"! So, I metered the resistance in the series chain across the buttons and after the D button I picked up 70 ohms resistance and by K it was in the 200 ish ohm range and then high letters was reading open circuit. Contact cleaner didn't work for me but vinegar and q-tips did. I cleaned each successive contact until resistance dropped. I then had 7 ohms total over full series circuit. It worked perfect on first try (keyed in N5). So, thank you for taking the time to post this video last year!
Glad you got it Chris, we need more jukebox repair videos on here... I just filmed some more I'm going to be uploading soon. Yes all of those push button switches are connected in such a way that if one is dirty it kills the connection all the way down through! The things get pretty tarnished, glad you got yours up and going!
I’m watching all the repair videos on pinball and jukeboxes I can find. All of this is in preparation for buying these items for a game room. I’m assuming I’ll need it. Thank you for contributing your time and effort on the videos.
Thanks for this. I was about to start a restoration on a Rockola in a far worse state than that and found the manual completely unfathomable. You explained everything great. I'm no longer intimidated by the project and am now eager to have a go at it.
Quiero aclarar que esa rockola rs de amplificador a transistores , La mejor rockola que existe es la modelo 445 con amplificador de bulbos y muy facil de componer Que buenos recuerdos de cuando iba a los bares a componerlas
Thanks dude trying to get a rockola 449 going was running and bought home on trailer and got jarred a little over streets now just comes on and quits great video thank you.
I was thinking of grabbing an old Juke but now that I see whats going on in there I'm starting to shy away from the idea. Mind you, I was following through fairly well and only got lost a couple times. I had to laugh though. When you were showing the selection switches I was telling my wife how "There's a lot going on" there at the -exact- same time you said "There's a lot going on". It came out in some weird kind of 3D stereo. LoL
Nice jukebox repair video to being with. I like the illuminated button colors and design. I remember seeing jukeboxes more on 1970's tv reruns than in person. I might have used one once in a bar, maybe? Now on to part 2!
Gee I've learned alot in your video, compared to reading the manual and getting a headache..I own two rockolas that are in the same shape..I can force them to play but the buttons or pinball doesnt make it happen..ok now I'm going to spray the daylights out of the selector buttons and hope I move forward as you did..great teacher btw..thank you!
I have his exact model at home, it plays but is very clunky and laboured so I intend to attempt a service at some point to try and improve things very instructive videos thanks
This is a really awesome video. I like how you record, explain, talk candidly and even joke. Thank you so much! I'm 51 year old and just picked up a Rockola 440 for really cheap that needs a lot of love. Your videos will help me a lot! All I ask is that maybe you keep the camera rolling when you do any work on it, i.e removing gear/pin/cleaning contacts, etc. I would just like to learn from you and that would help! Anyways, I appreciate this video. I've liked and subscribed. I have this 440, an Atari Race Drivin and a couple of dart boards needing project love. ;-)
Thank you for watching ITMonolith! I try to record some when we work on it but the main problem I run into is it takes hours and hours to do some of this stuff, and if I have a camera recording and have to worry about everything being in frame and then later edit it all together, and still end up with an hours long video it's just a lot of work to try and pull that off. I do try to do a little bit of it though because I know people want to see more of that. Good luck with those games, all those are a lot of fun and you'll get them going :)
@@LyonsArcade Thanks for reply and Merry Christmas! I just want my 440 to be a cool shop jukebox for my buddies and me to enjoy. I dont want to make a show piece. From you videos it looks like most of the repairs are just cleaning up 50 year on contacts but your troubleshooting steps will help a lot if more. My coin and buttons do not work presently. Can I but you for advice? Would you recap the amp and possible replace old speakers?
Yes and Yes. Definitely recap the amp, not just for sound but the thing may burn up if you don't.... if the speakers look physically damaged I would definitely replace them, you kind of need to use the same ohms though if you can help it because it's all balanced with them amplifier....
Beautiful machine.. I have the Rock-Ola 444 The bigger version of the one you have in the video.. It takes a lot of TLC and Contact cleaner but usually after that they just work perfectly .. Not sure why someone would have turned that cog on the back spindle.. unless it came loose over time and desunk its self. It's funny watching you do this cause i see my self going through the same motions with mine you are with yours.. They sound incredible when they work, nice bass and nice high tones .. just incredible works of art ... I'm watching these as time allows me to lol but i'm loving everything your doing. :) These are the Electromechanical versions of Rock-Ola Jukeboxes .. To respond to what you said in the beginning of your video , Sadly people are destroying them cause of the one simple fact. they can't see the record .. it's really sad i wish they would stop destroying them just cause they cant see the record being put on the platter, they are incredible works of engineering they all should be saved and enjoyed for decades to come . Stay Awesome my friend !
Ok, just watched the video' (Great by the way) and hopefully they will help. We have this same exact model, we got it from my wife's Dad when he sold his vacation house in NH. I had to replace the bottom board with 3/4" plywood and put better wheels on. A year or so a go it jambed when it did not pick up a record played another, they fell out and jambed the mechanism. I had to manually spin the motor back to start. Now it just writes in and stops. I also noticed the mechanism is gunked up with white lithium grease. I'll try to remove and clean like you did. I'll also check the breaker you mentioned in a later comment.
I’m a car collector and always hated that answer it used to run no Crap it’s pretty hard to sell a new car that doesn’t run ! Looking at the internals of this machine and that the old oil gets gummed up over time makes me wonder if brake cleaner and a parts brush would be a good way to clean it all up ? It’s operation is a little more mechanical than I thought which is why I tuned into your channel to find out what make and model I want to purchase and may have the ability to work on and repair myself THANKYOU for your knowledge and expertise this channel and video has given me more info than any thing else I’ve found inmy research on top of it all I like this style and era as well as I would like a Juke Box that could be displayed with some of my vehicles and motorcycles
Man if you're into tinkering with cars then you can absolutely fix one of these up. They look like they're intimidating but really once you get into them there's just a few 'systems' all working together, once you understand what's doing what it's easy to repair. Get you a cheap one to mess around with and you'll figure it out in no time. Good luck with it!
The way the pin plate works is on the inside what all those levers are is what is called a Wobble Plate. When one of those levers are moved, it shifts the plate a fraction thus tripping the small switch o the edge of that pin plate on top and towards the back. Clean the wipers and adjust them. It sounds like the read-out solenoid isn't kicking the lever back
I worked for AMERICAN Amusement and vending Corp in Bay City MI for 4 years I have seen cigarette paste wreak havoc on these old juke boxes being they were in bars and pubs. DeOxid may clean up the contacts along with contact cleaner
I just got a Rockola 429 Starlet from 1965. I got it to the point where it would put the record on the table but then everything stops. Also the scan switch doesn’t spin the cage.
I did a video series on fixing the Rock-ola model 443. This the same as your model just like 1 year older. It took like 14 parts to finish the repair but got it working pretty good. Rock-olas are a good jukebox to start repairing sense they are all about the same with little change per decade.
Absolutely... most of the mechanical stuff is all the same, they changed a lot of the cosmetic stuff though but usually you can track down about anything you need. I'll check out your series!
It would interesting to see the conections behind the selection buttons - checked for voltage and overcoming a problem of the circular block not get pushed in which activates the motor.
Hay Joe, very interested in the PDF schematic you used to diagnose problems. I like the step by step explanation of what to look for when the unit cycles through it's operations. I have a Rock-Ola 490-2 Super Sound 2 with issues and a NSM Prestige E160 . can you tell me where I can Get that step by step trouble shooting guide for my two jukeboxes. ( if available). Thanking you in advance. Jerry
@@LyonsArcade Thanks Joe, this is a great site. I have the Schematics but not the others that are shown. I'd like to get your advise if I could. my 490-2 was playing just fine the other day and yesterday I turned it on entered my song selection, the number of the record stayed on the display for 2 seconds and went off. The Record magazine did not rotate to the home position. when I put the selector switch from "Operate" to the "Scan" position the turntable rotates by the Magazine does not. I have no idea of where to look or start. such as : where to check voltages, components , or if it's the IC's chips. Thanks for any help.
Can you please tell me what is the first thing that happens when you push a button to select a record? I have a 1960 Rockola Tempo II, and when I push a selection button, sometimes nothing happens. I don’t hear that click and the selector buttons are spongy and just bounce up and down but don’t click. I think something is just dirty, but I don’t know where to start. I really appreciate your help. I’ve seen quite a few of your “videos” and they are very helpful. Thanks very much for posting them!! JoJo
Hi JoJo, I'm not sure on a 1960 model but there is a 'latch' solenoid inside the keyboard that is supposed to hold that first button down... what I would do is try to find a copy of the manual for the Tempo II or one in the few years surrounding it (they'll have similar mechanisms) and then in the manual there is a theory of operation, it shows exactly what happens each little step of the way down to what switch does what, what relay pulls in, then what happens next, etc. I don't have a manual that old unfortunately... also you might want to check out the forum at jukeboxaddicts.proboards.com/ all of the folks who know how to fix all these things hang out there and answer questions! Good luck!
If you have a problem with the read motor there is a relays in the power unit with a lamp , you can replace or repair. But i think that one is working fine
I have made some progress on my Rockola 454. The gripper mechanism was all gummed up but with a lot of penetrating oil, 3 in 1 20 wt oil and a heat gun it has finally freed up. I was able to move the gripper bow to its home position and it will now select a record and move to the turntable. The problem now is that at the end of the record, with the gripper bow toward the tone arm, the bow hits the tone arm when it is first taking the record back to the magazine. Did you experience this? I know I have to disassemble the gripper mechanism to clean and lubricate but is there a place in the tone arm that needs lubricating? Thanks
When the tone arm sets down on the record, does it sit down before the song starts, or does it sit down a little late? It may need adjusted back a little bit.
@@LyonsArcade Thanks for the reply. After removing the gripper mechanism, cleaning, oiling and reinstall, the gripper bow and tone arm work as they should. I still need to do a lot of cleaning of the contacts. I will also need to do some work on the amp. I have really enjoyed your videos and have gained much knowledge from them.
Any info or suggestions you can give me for a 1972 Americana model 3800 would be helpful. Made by Wurlitzer I understand they were some problems with these.
Most of the problems I've seen on them is there is a plastic cam that breaks on it that won't allow the record to be transfered to the turntable, you can replace that lever and it fixes a lot of the issues... the amps didn't sound all that great on them though but a Wurlitzer of any age is pretty cool :)
OK after watching I found a Rockola 464 that "needs a Motor". All is there and I am going to get it today. I will need manual- any ideas of where to get all the paperwork?
I have a buddy that has a Wurlitzer Zodiac that’s been a pain in the ass ever since he bought it. Hopefully by seeing your order of operations we can figure it out.
working on a Rock-ola 433 similar to the one in your video. Greatly appreciate you time and effort and skill I have the service manual and was trying to move the cam to adjust the micro switch - removed the two set screws as instructed but it does not budge - even tried a wrench at one point (ever so carefully) and nothing - I can get most things to work but not altogether Anything I am missing regarding the CAM? thanks your video was veryr helpful but I am a ways to the finish line
Hey please check if there is a metal relays box under the record counter unit. replace the cap and resistors, if they are burned up clean the contacts on the relays . These will cause the arm to go to slow and burn in the motor and relays .
I have a 1960 Tempo II that when it's time to pick up the record, the arm starts to lift before being pulled in (actually looks like it opens even more) so it misses the record. Any thoughts? I have the service manual but can't find it addressing that problem with any repair.
It has dried grease inside the gripper arm making it stick as the cam rotates, and it lifts it up in the air a little bit instead of allowing it to lay flat as the cam rotated and pulls the piston in. You need to take the arm apart and clean all the old grease out, we have some videos on the channel showing how to do it
@@LyonsArcade found your other video which was specific enough for me to follow. my machine was a little different, but close enough. I took it all apart, cleaned all the parts and lubed with the Blue 3in1. Put it all back together, and it works GREAT! Thanks so much.
Thanks for video. Is there a way to test solenoids outside of the circuit. I have a credit unit solenoid but it is not hooked up to Jukebox. I have a transformer that outputs 26 volts AC .... looking for instructions on how to test the solenoids to make sure they work. Appreciate any help.
Sure all you need to do is test the resistance between the two lugs of the coil... a bad one either will have very high resistance 1000 ohms or more.... or very low resistance like less than an ohm (shorted).
@@LyonsArcade Hi, I measured 13.4 ohms on my plunger solenoid. Not sure if that is good or bad? Do these work on Dc voltage. Can I just hook up say 12volts and get solenoid to move so I can test? Thanks
I need your help. I got it to work but then once the recorded stopped I can’t get it to cycle or play again and everything stopped moving. This one has a lot of meaning and I’m trying to fix it for my dad
Look on the back by the power supply and see if a little red or yellow button is sticking out, they have circuit breakers that will pop open if it gets in a bind or anything. If you email me some pictures I might be able to tell something too.
Hi jo , I have done everything you said looked at the second part of the video done everything it said but still not going any more suggestions pleaseee Pam
I just got the same juke. Having problem with a lot of the selections not playing. A lot do though. What did you clean the write in bands with and the wipers? I love the videos by the way.
The wipers and discs you can clean with light sandpaper, you're just trying to get them shiny again but don't go crazy and wear away a bunch of metal. On ours I believe we ended up spraying contact cleaner on the selector buttons too (behind the keyboard where the metal touches the actual contacts) Thanks for watching Thomas! By the way, check out the forum at jukeboxaddicts.proboards.com/
Just had a quick look at old jukeboxes here in the UK. You say you can pick them up cheap... Here, we have no-name boxes going for around £380.00 up to Rock Ola's and the like for around £4,000.00!!!
A Bacchus are those for broken ones? Over here you can very easily get a broken jukebox for $100 or so. I believe it or not have turned down many of them for $50, there's just a ton of them, they're heavy, nobody wants to work on them, etc.
@@LyonsArcade Almost all of them are "needs some TLC" or "might be fixable for someone with knowledge" which normally means there's chunks missing or it's caught on fire a couple of times 😆 $50? Wow! Everyone here knows retro stuff is worth money but little know what the items actually worth so they price it ridiculously! 🙄
Hey Ron! Love all of your videos. You have gotten me into wanting to refurbish both pins and now jukeboxes...I'm considering buying a 1966 Rockola Coronado 431 or a 1963 Wurlitzer 2710, or a 1964 Wurlitzer 2800...all are similar in price. Any opinions on each model or sound quality?...or should I look at something else?
If you get a deal on them any of those three are pretty cool. I like that vintage of Wurlitzer, they probably still have tube amps and they have Wurlitzer's cool mechanism.... I think I own all three of those jukeboxes but haven't brought them in to do repair on them yet. I haven't worked on a Rock Ola of that vintage so i'm not positive what those sound like. The one in my living room at home is a Wurlitzer 2410, slightly different mech than the 2700, they used to play them standing straight up in the air on the back. I'm kind of the wrong guy to ask, because I like all of them, haha.
I know this is a older video but ive always wanted my own Juke box and I’m trying to figure out which one is for me i do want Vinyl records and Vintage as i was a Bartenfer in the 1980s and most of the places i worked had one parked in a corner somewhere BTW I’m pretty handy with mechanical things and I’m pretty sure i will be inside of mine at one point so my hunch was TH-cam would have some info on the older ones and i was right your video explained more than i thought i would find and ironically that one of the models I’m interested in buying like you mentioned you can find those for sale all over the place non operating but mostly complete ! I’m a retired Woodworker by trade so i can easily redo the cabinets I would like to get my hands on original manuals and any other printed products on the unit are there any places that offer reprints or copies of them and if so who ?
Hi Craig! Your best bet to get manuals is on ebay, they have about everything. It's hard to find a scan of most of them online for free, but you can usually buy the original ones on ebay for $20 or $30. Sometimes you get lucky and the machine you buy has the manual with it.... If you're not afraid to get in there on them you can probably fix one no problem, the manuals do a good job of explaining step by step what's supposed to happen, all you have to do is watch what's going on and walk through the instructions in the manual until you find the point that it stops at. There's like a 100 step process it goes through, if it stops at step 45 or whatever in the manual you can look at the part that's supposed to be working and figure out why it isn't. If you stay older than the CPU era too it's all mechanical switches and relays and things that can be fixed by anybody without special equipment....
Just picked up this exact model a couple days ago from a private seller. Started doing some basic checks and found the MECH 1.6 AMP fuse was blown... the only fuse blown. Then I found the motor used to start the system through it's steps is really hard to turn... and really appears to not be moving the process along. I decided to hold off to ensure I'm not making things worse. Do you think doing the standard oil 'bath' in this instance will help? Also do you happen to have a link to the service and owners manuals? Thank you so much for these videos! Definitely got me started with this.
Yes it sounds like it's frozen up to me, same issue they almost always have, the fuse blows because the motor keeps trying to move the gears and can't..... This is the manual for the model before this - dokumen.tips/documents/rock-ola-442-443-all-files-combined.html
@@LyonsArcade Thank you for the quick reply. Found your other videos as well showing how to disassemble. Guess I know my first steps while waiting for the 1.6A slo blows to arrive.
This is a fascinating process, and I'm looking forward to your continued success. In the abstract, would you say the approach to the repair of this machine is similar to the approach one would use when diagnosing/repairing EM Pinball machines? I'd certainly be interested in learning more about this machine... Would you happen to have a link to the manual you're using to repair this machine (since it appears to contain a comprehensive 'Theory of Operation' section)? So you've gotten it to a point where the 'selection' process is working, but the mechanism stops once the record is paced on the turntable. Does the motor that runs the mechanism stop (electrical), or does the mechanism seize (mechanical)? The tone arm appears to move freely, so I'm assuming it properly returns to home position as the record is being replaced (as that portion of the cycle appears to be working as well)? Of course, we (you) have yet to address potential issues with turntable speed, or anything to do with the sound system, but I imagine all that will be covered in subsequent episodes. Again, I look forward to your continued success with this repair, and look forward to the chronicle of your progress... :-)
I've got a manual but I don't remember where I downloaded it from.... the motor was stopping electrical and not seizing up but we didn't know that yet at the end of this video :) All will be revealed.... tomorrow :)
I have the same problem with the read-in "thing". It turns around an don't stop. Thank you for this video, i hope i can repair it. Only the cleaning with a contact spray wasn't successful. I think i have to clean it all thoroughly. You don't have a keyboard for sell, do you? 🙈
Dude first of all it's called the rockola boy they knew how to name things back then. :-) every so often you run into it today but not as much as it used to be.
I have a volume issue with the Rockola princess 461 everything is playing as usual but no volume but you can hear there is power to the speakers ‘where do I start To resolve this issue ?
It may be a broken wire going to the volume pot, or a broken wire going to the pickup on the tone arm, usually if the amp has trouble you only lose 1 side of the audio and the other two speakers still play. That's where I'd look first....
Hey all, been working on my 445 rockola and im stuck on the read out mechanism finding the right selection after it is selected. Basically it will continue spinning and not find it. So far I have completely cleaned the contact rings and fingers that ride against the. Both relays have been removed and cleaned. I am now testing the hammer coils on the selector assembly but getting a reading of 53.3 on an auto range multimeter (i think i need a better multimeter for one). Does anyone know what the proper reading on these coils could be or something I might have missed otherwise in troubleshooting?
Hi Matthew! The hammer coils aren't actually necessary to play the record, they just reset the selection. Your problem is you're not seeing the selection, so you're just before the point where you need the hammer coils... If you can find a copy of the manual or a similar one it describes step by step what happens. You're to the point where the read out is rotating, the way it can tell what's selected is yes, it uses those rings but it also physically touches the pin that's tripped, which creates a circuit through the rings. So since you've cleaned the rings and fingers, look on the other part of the arm, where the coils are there is a metal piece that actually touches the lever if it's tripped for the selection. Make sure that is clean too. It will make a circuit through the wipers/tracks you cleaned, which makes the interlock trip coil underneath the turntable 'trip'. When that happens it brakes the read out arm, and at the same time turns the mech motor off and the gripper motor on. This makes the record go over to the turntable. When the cam rotates to lay the record down, it touches some microswitches on the end of the cam, and one of those microswitches is what makes the hammer coils activate to reset the pin. So if you're spinning around, it doesn't have anything to do with the hammer coils yet, you need to clean the contact that actually touches the pin as it spins, try that and see if it gets you going. I've had a couple with that needing attention! Thanks, Ron BTW the relay that makes all this happen is inside a box hanging underneath the turntable, if you're only pulling out the play relay and the other cube relay there's another one inside that box called the Interlock relay.
Hey Ron, thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my post, very helpful and informative. I did actually take off the box under the turntable and clean it as well. What I'm going to do next is re-clean all the components listed above in case I missed anything and give it another try. Thank you again!
@@LyonsArcade Hey Ron, aside from moving the needle arm to cancel a play, should the reset button do this? Heh, now its stuck attempting to play a record and I'm having issues getting it to reset. Thank you man.
As a follow up, the record would not cancel due to the bow and cogs not being reassembled properly. So the issue above with the write out had to do with the 'alternating dog.' Each time I tried A sides (which was all I was testing in the beginning), the read out would spin continuously. After some research into the schematics I found the issue was with the 'alternating dog.' After removing the 'gripper reversal bracket' and cleaning the 'dog' which would not rotate, both sides worked. I also cleaned the grooves really well that the dog rides in to ensure it would not get gummed up again. BTW this issue is also documented by Joe's Classic Video Game here: th-cam.com/video/3T_i-6uLXYs/w-d-xo.html Thank you so much for these videos! I went from a fully non working machine to now working about 90 percent!
Hi Joe, Really enjoy the videos you post. Very helpful. Do you know where I could find a song title glass for a Rockola 437? I've been checking ebay for over a yr.
I've always been fascinated by the mechanics rather than the electrics in a jukebox. . I've never been able to figure out how that arm grips the record, rises & then TURNS to place the record down (& vice versa for returning it to the rack). How does it go up & then turn?
@@LyonsArcade No but now I want to look! I'm a software guy fascinated by old computing machinery, and electromechanical calculators from the early to mid-20th century worked along a lot of the same principles as this stuff. I remember those jukeboxes with the remote wall units in the local pizza joint when I was a little kid.
If you ever get time Matt, look into the Seeburg Tormat memory system, it's how they kept track of selections way back in the 50's all the way up to the end of the 45 era... It's a magnetic core memory, brilliant design.
Jukeboxes originally came out way back in the day when everybody listened to singles and were designed like that, but in the 60's people started listening to albums more than individual singles. So the jukebox companies tried to implement that option. This box and most of them around this time could play albums too, they made special albums that ran at 33rpm and were only 7" in diameter like the 45's. If you install one of these albums in the box, that whole row of the selections is now an album and you move that jumper to make it cost more to play that record since it'll run for 20 minutes or whatever. The way the machine can tell what speed to play it is when it lays down the record if the hole is small it will push some little plastic pieces into the turntable and turn on the 331/3rd speed instead of the 45 speed. They didn't release all that many 7" albums though so it didn't really catch on.
Thanks I was not aware of 7 inch albums makes sense now.. a few years back i rebuilt a 1947 Seaburg Symphonola model 147 jukebox for my parents..pretty simplistic compared to this Rock-Ola.. Thanks again fro all your videos...
I like those older ones like that alot, I've got several old AMI's sitting around the shop i'm going to redo eventually. I always liked the Seeburgs because of just how cool that mechanism is on those things!
True..luckily it was already converted from 78 rpm to 45 rpm before i worked on it...it was built like a tank and weighed as much...the main problem was that it used a steel needle...which means once you put a record in it it would play fine but you could never play that record again on a modern player since the steel needle stretched out the grooves...
I have one more question about this Rock-Ola how does it deal with duplicate selections...i.e. person 1 selects K1 K2 K3 K4 and person 2 selects K4 ..person 3 selects K2..while K1 is playing... separate comment: also it seems that to me from the way it looks like it works is that it plays records in order of the records in the box not in the order selected or maybe i have that wrong
Those are nice little boxes.... if you don't even get the lights on there's likely a problem with the fuses or circuit breakers in the power supply, you'll probably need to get a copy of the manual and start tracing the power through the machine to see where the issue is, that one's likely going to need some time spent on it if it doesn't even light up yet!
My parents have a Rock-Ola 442 and the buttons on the right side stopped working, yet the left still plays the music. Would anyone happen to know why or/and how to fix it? Thanks
Well, I have a 1957 Wurlitzer model 2150 -200 Ive been looking for a vidieos like this on getting it up & running for years now any help would be appreciated thanks.
There may have been Coca Cola spilled accidentally onto the selector panel causing the problem Nicotine and cigarette paste will cause problems in the selector panel and wobble plate assembly and micro switches
I did get it to work, if you look on our channel the next couple videos were of it... WD40 is good for cleaning things but it's bad for lubricating things, so as long as you wipe it off after you spray it on something it's fine, if you try to use it to oil something, after about a year it dries into like cake batter then after about another year it hardens like a candle wax. So we get jukeboxes all the time that have been sprayed down with WD40 and after sitting 15 years the gears are held tight by the dryed up WD40. The same company makes 3 in 1 oil which doesn't cake up like that and is really good for doing the same thing.
I've made thousands of videos showing people how to do things for free, you haven't made any and yet you still complain. Go complain somewhere else, I don't need negative losers on my channel...
@@LyonsArcade well on freeplay the challenge to set a new record it's not the same as we had back in the day's with my friends and we had limited coin's or maybe it was the last and we had a bet if someone can break the record with that last coin. No cellphone game's can give back that fun with the friends.😉 Anyways hope that you can save the old technology for the next few decades. Thanks for the videos!
well Jukeboxes in denmark has never been cheap and as rare as they are here, the price has keep going up, to a point where it at 2k usd dollars for a used one, that plays cds, not records, the records ones are even more expensive, my dad at his 2nd wedding rented one, the old school record one, paid whopping 1k usd for 2day rent. not cheap lol
Wow that's crazy. I know Coin Op Warehouse ships them over there constantly, are they really popular in Denmark right now? Over here Jukeboxes aren't very desirable at the moment.
@@LyonsArcade well due to price no they are not high demand here x), always been expensive to use one at the local waterhole, all from little over a dollar to almost 4dollars.
@@LyonsArcade what to hear your opinion on this one, older jukebox, not working, price little over 100dollars. www.dba.dk/andre-samleobjekter-jukebo/id-1045018976/
Looks good to me, especially if you can't find many over there. I've never heard of a Jupiter, but it looks similar to Seeburgs that were around over here (we have a few that look almost identical)... I found a picture of the inside of it and it looks as if it's a French company that made Seeburg-like Jukeboxes. The Seeburgs have an amazing contraption inside that plays the record, and it seems like that Jupiter has a very similar setup. If it were me, I'd definitely buy it at that price and try to fix it. Just start with the power supply and work through it, the hardest part will be getting the Mech to work right, but again if you look into how the Seeburgs are repaired you should be able to pull it off
@@LyonsArcade thanks for the answer, waiting on my money from paypal now, so i can buy it, 100 dollar in freight sadly, anywho i actually found a danish made jukebox from 1956, made by Ami Jensen. but its expensive as hell, semi working order, problem gears. 2nd i found a bunch of jukebox records people are selling, so that should be easy to fill up, everything from danish,british,american,etc
Nice. Thanks to you, I now know how the electro-mechanical memory works on the Rock-Ola and (from another of your videos) a Seeburg unit. And (from the Technology Connections channel), how Wurlitzer machines work (th-cam.com/video/o1qRzKuskK0/w-d-xo.html). I find this all fascinating. Thanks for showing us how it works. I have a question for you. A relative of mine once had a different model Rock-Ola juke box. The mechanism looks very similar to this one. I'm pretty sure I remember that unit playing selections in the order they were entered, but the mechanisms I've seen so far all work on a principle of a single switch/contact per record. They can, therefore, only know what you've selected, not the order you've selected them. Do you know if later electro-mechanical juke boxes actually were able to play tracks in the order entered or is my memory just wrong? If some can remember the order, do you have a video of how that mechanism works? I'm really curious about how such a device would work.
I don't believe any of them would remember the order, even the CD boxes I believe would play them in the order they came to them instead of the order they put them in... the Electromechanical ones I'm pretty sure there's no way would do them in the order entered, it would have to be something computer controlled, but even if they could they probably wouldn't make it work like that, because playing them in the order the mechanism reaches them is more efficient. The digital jukeboxes (like the download boxes that are connected to the internet) DO play them in the order they're entered though.
@@LyonsArcade Thanks. I must be misremembering then. Maybe because I would usually enter tracks in the order they appeared on the index cards which, mostly, matches the order used by the mechanism. One interesting thing I noticed is that different models have different orders. The Seeburg and Wurlitzer will play all the records in order - the A side of the first record, then the B side of the first record, then the A side of the next record, etc. The Rock-Ola, however, looks like it plays all the A sides first followed by all of the B sides.
The smartphone has replaced the jukebox. The smartphone holds hundreds of songs and has no moving mechanical parts. The digital jukebox has replaced the commercial mechanical jukebox They also have no mechanical moving parts except for a hard drive and dollar bill acceptor
Thanks for this nice clip. Looks quite familliar to me. I restored a Rock-Ola 1971, some 25 years ago. It took a lot of contact cleaning and a bunch of new capacitors in the amplifier. The biggest chalange was the busted glass panels, wich I had to remake.
So glad I found these videos. I have a 1972 454 Rockola 160 selection that a friend gave me 20 years. Some parts of it would work but others would not. I've wanted to repair it but didn't really know where to begin. These videos should really be a good guide for me.
I worked summers at Ocean Drive Beach in the mid to late sixties for a small 2 man amusement company but never worked on any of the machines...just helped move and deliver them. I sure wish that I had paid more attention back then.
Mike you can absolutely fix it. Get your hands on the manual for it, by the way the first Jukebox I ever owned was a 454! I love the look of those (and the 453's). I've owned about 4 of them, such a great box. If you get the manual, it shows you step by step how the machine works, so you can start right at the beginning and see what's working and what isn't. Follow the manual steps until it's not doing what the manual says it should do next, and that will help you figure it out. Let me know if you run into a dead end. You can also get a lot of help from a message board online called "Jukebox Addicts", look it up!
@@LyonsArcade Thanks for the quick reply. I bought a repair manual and a parts manual after I first got the jukebox. Watching your video gave me some direction on where to begin.
You can get it going man, good luck!
Thanks for the help. I was looking at my mums 1967 Rockola 431 which was stuck, and your tip about the thumbwheel on the end of the motors was all I needed. I could feel one motor rotating freely like you showed, but the vertical one was frozen stiff. A gentle tap with a screwdriver handle while turning it and it fixed it! (ok maybe not fixed but freed up for now - I'll check the oil as you mention). Mum now thinks I'm a genius.
I REMEMBER THIS MACHINE AS A KID. I'M 56 YEARS OLD AND WATCHING YOU WORKING 💪ON IT BROUGHT BACK SOME FOND MEMORIES.
KEEP ON RESTORING ( AMERICAN MADE ) HISTORY.
Thanks for watching William we appreciate it!
Whew! I can't thank you enough for this video. I had my rock-ola 442 that would not play a record. It turned out to be the cam in the back that you showed how to fix. This was it and now the jukebox is playing sweet again. Thank you!! Vince
Yes!!! Thank you!!! I was struggling with the write in on my Rockola 444. Low letters would work, mid letters would almost/sometimes work, end letters never worked (write in arm spun forever). Once I found the wiring schematic for Sequence 9 in my manual, I started to suspect voltage drop across the letter buttons. So, I googled it a bit and found your video and said "AHA"! So, I metered the resistance in the series chain across the buttons and after the D button I picked up 70 ohms resistance and by K it was in the 200 ish ohm range and then high letters was reading open circuit. Contact cleaner didn't work for me but vinegar and q-tips did. I cleaned each successive contact until resistance dropped. I then had 7 ohms total over full series circuit. It worked perfect on first try (keyed in N5). So, thank you for taking the time to post this video last year!
Glad you got it Chris, we need more jukebox repair videos on here... I just filmed some more I'm going to be uploading soon. Yes all of those push button switches are connected in such a way that if one is dirty it kills the connection all the way down through! The things get pretty tarnished, glad you got yours up and going!
Saving the world. One jukebox at a time!
Thank you for listening and watching Ray :)
I’m watching all the repair videos on pinball and jukeboxes I can find. All of this is in preparation for buying these items for a game room. I’m assuming I’ll need it. Thank you for contributing your time and effort on the videos.
Thank you B W, have fun!
Thanks for this. I was about to start a restoration on a Rockola in a far worse state than that and found the manual completely unfathomable. You explained everything great. I'm no longer intimidated by the project and am now eager to have a go at it.
Well there you go then :) Have fun with it, just walk through the diagrams in the manual and you can see where it stops working.
Quiero aclarar que esa rockola rs de amplificador a transistores , La mejor rockola que existe es la modelo 445 con amplificador de bulbos y muy facil de componer
Que buenos recuerdos de cuando iba a los bares a componerlas
Thanks dude trying to get a rockola 449 going was running and bought home on trailer and got jarred a little over streets now just comes on and quits great video thank you.
What's the mech doing when you select something?
Nice video.
Years ago I renovated a similair Rock-Ola 1971.
It took lots of Contact Cleaning (and new capacitors)
Thanks for watching Jan, these things are fun to get going again!
I was thinking of grabbing an old Juke but now that I see whats going on in there I'm starting to shy away from the idea. Mind you, I was following through fairly well and only got lost a couple times.
I had to laugh though. When you were showing the selection switches I was telling my wife how "There's a lot going on" there at the -exact- same time you said "There's a lot going on". It came out in some weird kind of 3D stereo. LoL
Great minds think alike :)
Good looking work-through. I hope it gets working properly for you.
We'll see soon :)
Nice jukebox repair video to being with. I like the illuminated button colors and design. I remember seeing jukeboxes more on 1970's tv reruns than in person. I might have used one once in a bar, maybe? Now on to part 2!
Gee I've learned alot in your video, compared to reading the manual and getting a headache..I own two rockolas that are in the same shape..I can force them to play but the buttons or pinball doesnt make it happen..ok now I'm going to spray the daylights out of the selector buttons and hope I move forward as you did..great teacher btw..thank you!
I'm glad you're getting them up and going again, they can be repaired!
I have his exact model at home, it plays but is very clunky and laboured so I intend to attempt a service at some point to try and improve things very instructive videos thanks
Thanks dord1954 we appreciate you watching!
This is a really awesome video. I like how you record, explain, talk candidly and even joke. Thank you so much! I'm 51 year old and just picked up a Rockola 440 for really cheap that needs a lot of love. Your videos will help me a lot! All I ask is that maybe you keep the camera rolling when you do any work on it, i.e removing gear/pin/cleaning contacts, etc. I would just like to learn from you and that would help! Anyways, I appreciate this video. I've liked and subscribed. I have this 440, an Atari Race Drivin and a couple of dart boards needing project love. ;-)
Thank you for watching ITMonolith! I try to record some when we work on it but the main problem I run into is it takes hours and hours to do some of this stuff, and if I have a camera recording and have to worry about everything being in frame and then later edit it all together, and still end up with an hours long video it's just a lot of work to try and pull that off. I do try to do a little bit of it though because I know people want to see more of that.
Good luck with those games, all those are a lot of fun and you'll get them going :)
@@LyonsArcade Thanks for reply and Merry Christmas! I just want my 440 to be a cool shop jukebox for my buddies and me to enjoy. I dont want to make a show piece. From you videos it looks like most of the repairs are just cleaning up 50 year on contacts but your troubleshooting steps will help a lot if more. My coin and buttons do not work presently. Can I but you for advice? Would you recap the amp and possible replace old speakers?
Yes and Yes. Definitely recap the amp, not just for sound but the thing may burn up if you don't.... if the speakers look physically damaged I would definitely replace them, you kind of need to use the same ohms though if you can help it because it's all balanced with them amplifier....
Wow, I have a 1961 Seeburg and the system seems more advanced!... even with tubes. This juke is really vintage technology.
Beautiful machine.. I have the Rock-Ola 444 The bigger version of the one you have in the video.. It takes a lot of TLC and Contact cleaner but usually after that they just work perfectly .. Not sure why someone would have turned that cog on the back spindle.. unless it came loose over time and desunk its self.
It's funny watching you do this cause i see my self going through the same motions with mine you are with yours.. They sound incredible when they work, nice bass and nice high tones .. just incredible works of art ... I'm watching these as time allows me to lol but i'm loving everything your doing. :)
These are the Electromechanical versions of Rock-Ola Jukeboxes ..
To respond to what you said in the beginning of your video , Sadly people are destroying them cause of the one simple fact. they can't see the record .. it's really sad i wish they would stop destroying them just cause they cant see the record being put on the platter, they are incredible works of engineering they all should be saved and enjoyed for decades to come .
Stay Awesome my friend !
Yes it's a shame people can't appreciate them more. I'm saving as many as I can :)
Ok, just watched the video' (Great by the way) and hopefully they will help. We have this same exact model, we got it from my wife's Dad when he sold his vacation house in NH. I had to replace the bottom board with 3/4" plywood and put better wheels on. A year or so a go it jambed when it did not pick up a record played another, they fell out and jambed the mechanism. I had to manually spin the motor back to start. Now it just writes in and stops. I also noticed the mechanism is gunked up with white lithium grease. I'll try to remove and clean like you did. I'll also check the breaker you mentioned in a later comment.
I’m a car collector and always hated that answer it used to run no Crap it’s pretty hard to sell a new car that doesn’t run ! Looking at the internals of this machine and that the old oil gets gummed up over time makes me wonder if brake cleaner and a parts brush would be a good way to clean it all up ? It’s operation is a little more mechanical than I thought which is why I tuned into your channel to find out what make and model I want to purchase and may have the ability to work on and repair myself THANKYOU for your knowledge and expertise this channel and video has given me more info than any thing else I’ve found inmy research on top of it all I like this style and era as well as I would like a Juke Box that could be displayed with some of my vehicles and motorcycles
Man if you're into tinkering with cars then you can absolutely fix one of these up. They look like they're intimidating but really once you get into them there's just a few 'systems' all working together, once you understand what's doing what it's easy to repair. Get you a cheap one to mess around with and you'll figure it out in no time. Good luck with it!
Really enjoyed this!. Great job so far :)
Thanks Rod!
The way the pin plate works is on the inside what all those levers are is what is called a Wobble Plate. When one of those levers are moved, it shifts the plate a fraction thus tripping the small switch o the edge of that pin plate on top and towards the back. Clean the wipers and adjust them. It sounds like the read-out solenoid isn't kicking the lever back
what do you clean the wobble plate with?
I worked for AMERICAN Amusement and vending Corp in Bay City MI for 4 years I have seen cigarette paste wreak havoc on these old juke boxes being they were in bars and pubs. DeOxid may clean up the contacts along with contact cleaner
I've got well stuck into this program want to see and hear this damn jukebox play
I just got a Rockola 429 Starlet from 1965. I got it to the point where it would put the record on the table but then everything stops. Also the scan switch doesn’t spin the cage.
I did a video series on fixing the Rock-ola model 443. This the same as your model just like 1 year older. It took like 14 parts to finish the repair but got it working pretty good. Rock-olas are a good jukebox to start repairing sense they are all about the same with little change per decade.
Absolutely... most of the mechanical stuff is all the same, they changed a lot of the cosmetic stuff though but usually you can track down about anything you need. I'll check out your series!
Great vid
Thank you David, glad you enjoyed it!
It would interesting to see the conections behind the selection buttons - checked for voltage and overcoming a problem of the circular block not get pushed in which activates the motor.
Hay Joe, very interested in the PDF schematic you used to diagnose problems. I like the step by step explanation of what to look for when the unit cycles through it's operations. I have a Rock-Ola 490-2 Super Sound 2 with issues and a NSM Prestige E160 . can you tell me where I can Get that step by step trouble shooting guide for my two jukeboxes. ( if available). Thanking you in advance. Jerry
Check this out, Jerry! - arcarc.xmission.com/PDF_Jukebox/Rockola/
@@LyonsArcade Thanks Joe, this is a great site. I have the Schematics but not the others that are shown. I'd like to get your advise if I could. my 490-2 was playing just fine the other day and yesterday I turned it on entered my song selection, the number of the record stayed on the display for 2 seconds and went off. The Record magazine did not rotate to the home position. when I put the selector switch from "Operate" to the "Scan" position the turntable rotates by the Magazine does not. I have no idea of where to look or start. such as : where to check voltages, components , or if it's the IC's chips. Thanks for any help.
cool jukebox!
Thank you Tomy Power!
@@LyonsArcade :)
Can you please tell me what is the first thing that happens when you push a button to select a record? I have a 1960 Rockola Tempo II, and when I push a selection button, sometimes nothing happens. I don’t hear that click and the selector buttons are spongy and just bounce up and down but don’t click. I think something is just dirty, but I don’t know where to start.
I really appreciate your help. I’ve seen quite a few of your “videos” and they are very helpful. Thanks very much for posting them!!
JoJo
Hi JoJo, I'm not sure on a 1960 model but there is a 'latch' solenoid inside the keyboard that is supposed to hold that first button down... what I would do is try to find a copy of the manual for the Tempo II or one in the few years surrounding it (they'll have similar mechanisms) and then in the manual there is a theory of operation, it shows exactly what happens each little step of the way down to what switch does what, what relay pulls in, then what happens next, etc. I don't have a manual that old unfortunately... also you might want to check out the forum at jukeboxaddicts.proboards.com/ all of the folks who know how to fix all these things hang out there and answer questions! Good luck!
If you have a problem with the read motor there is a relays in the power unit with a lamp , you can replace or repair. But i think that one is working fine
That's crazy how they used the lamp but I guess it makes sense in that situation!
Wish I had a juke box. Love how they sound and look.
Jeffrey save up about $200 and you can probably find one on your local craigslist, then fix it up. There are a TON of them out there!
I have made some progress on my Rockola 454. The gripper mechanism was all gummed up but with a lot of penetrating oil, 3 in 1 20 wt oil and a heat gun it has finally freed up. I was able to move the gripper bow to its home position and it will now select a record and move to the turntable. The problem now is that at the end of the record, with the gripper bow toward the tone arm, the bow hits the tone arm when it is first taking the record back to the magazine. Did you experience this? I know I have to disassemble the gripper mechanism to clean and lubricate but is there a place in the tone arm that needs lubricating? Thanks
When the tone arm sets down on the record, does it sit down before the song starts, or does it sit down a little late? It may need adjusted back a little bit.
@@LyonsArcade Thanks for the reply. After removing the gripper mechanism, cleaning, oiling and reinstall, the gripper bow and tone arm work as they should. I still need to do a lot of cleaning of the contacts. I will also need to do some work on the amp. I have really enjoyed your videos and have gained much knowledge from them.
Any info or suggestions you can give me for a 1972 Americana model 3800 would be helpful. Made by Wurlitzer I understand they were some problems with these.
Most of the problems I've seen on them is there is a plastic cam that breaks on it that won't allow the record to be transfered to the turntable, you can replace that lever and it fixes a lot of the issues... the amps didn't sound all that great on them though but a Wurlitzer of any age is pretty cool :)
OK after watching I found a Rockola 464 that "needs a Motor". All is there and I am going to get it today. I will need manual- any ideas of where to get all the paperwork?
I have a buddy that has a Wurlitzer Zodiac that’s been a pain in the ass ever since he bought it. Hopefully by seeing your order of operations we can figure it out.
All the companies were a little different but the theory is similar, you just need to follow through each part and see where it's screwing up.
working on a Rock-ola 433 similar to the one in your video. Greatly appreciate you time and effort and skill I have the service manual and was trying to move the cam to adjust the micro switch - removed the two set screws as instructed but it does not budge - even tried a wrench at one point (ever so carefully) and nothing - I can get most things to work but not altogether
Anything I am missing regarding the CAM?
thanks your video was veryr helpful but I am a ways to the finish line
Hey please check if there is a metal relays box under the record counter unit. replace the cap and resistors, if they are burned up clean the contacts on the relays . These will cause the arm to go to slow and burn in the motor and relays .
You're getting really close to what was wrong with it!
I have a 1960 Tempo II that when it's time to pick up the record, the arm starts to lift before being pulled in (actually looks like it opens even more) so it misses the record. Any thoughts? I have the service manual but can't find it addressing that problem with any repair.
It has dried grease inside the gripper arm making it stick as the cam rotates, and it lifts it up in the air a little bit instead of allowing it to lay flat as the cam rotated and pulls the piston in. You need to take the arm apart and clean all the old grease out, we have some videos on the channel showing how to do it
@@LyonsArcade found your other video which was specific enough for me to follow. my machine was a little different, but close enough. I took it all apart, cleaned all the parts and lubed with the Blue 3in1. Put it all back together, and it works GREAT! Thanks so much.
Thanks for video. Is there a way to test solenoids outside of the circuit. I have a credit unit solenoid but it is not hooked up to Jukebox.
I have a transformer that outputs 26 volts AC .... looking for instructions on how to test the solenoids to make sure they work. Appreciate any help.
Sure all you need to do is test the resistance between the two lugs of the coil... a bad one either will have very high resistance 1000 ohms or more.... or very low resistance like less than an ohm (shorted).
@@LyonsArcade Hi, I measured 13.4 ohms on my plunger solenoid. Not sure if that is good or bad? Do these work on Dc voltage. Can I just hook up say 12volts and get solenoid to move so I can test? Thanks
I need your help. I got it to work but then once the recorded stopped I can’t get it to cycle or play again and everything stopped moving. This one has a lot of meaning and I’m trying to fix it for my dad
Look on the back by the power supply and see if a little red or yellow button is sticking out, they have circuit breakers that will pop open if it gets in a bind or anything. If you email me some pictures I might be able to tell something too.
Where can I see the next part this is exactly the problem I have , great work by the way
th-cam.com/video/zqD3SoSIP8M/w-d-xo.html
Here you go, if you search on our channel for “445” it pulls them up. Thank you for watching!
Hi jo , I have done everything you said looked at the second part of the video done everything it said but still not going any more suggestions pleaseee Pam
I just got the same juke. Having problem with a lot of the selections not playing. A lot do though. What did you clean the write in bands with and the wipers? I love the videos by the way.
The wipers and discs you can clean with light sandpaper, you're just trying to get them shiny again but don't go crazy and wear away a bunch of metal. On ours I believe we ended up spraying contact cleaner on the selector buttons too (behind the keyboard where the metal touches the actual contacts) Thanks for watching Thomas! By the way, check out the forum at jukeboxaddicts.proboards.com/
Just had a quick look at old jukeboxes here in the UK. You say you can pick them up cheap...
Here, we have no-name boxes going for around £380.00 up to Rock Ola's and the like for around £4,000.00!!!
A Bacchus are those for broken ones? Over here you can very easily get a broken jukebox for $100 or so. I believe it or not have turned down many of them for $50, there's just a ton of them, they're heavy, nobody wants to work on them, etc.
@@LyonsArcade Almost all of them are "needs some TLC" or "might be fixable for someone with knowledge" which normally means there's chunks missing or it's caught on fire a couple of times 😆
$50? Wow! Everyone here knows retro stuff is worth money but little know what the items actually worth so they price it ridiculously! 🙄
Hey Ron! Love all of your videos. You have gotten me into wanting to refurbish both pins and now jukeboxes...I'm considering buying a 1966 Rockola Coronado 431 or a 1963 Wurlitzer 2710, or a 1964 Wurlitzer 2800...all are similar in price. Any opinions on each model or sound quality?...or should I look at something else?
If you get a deal on them any of those three are pretty cool. I like that vintage of Wurlitzer, they probably still have tube amps and they have Wurlitzer's cool mechanism.... I think I own all three of those jukeboxes but haven't brought them in to do repair on them yet. I haven't worked on a Rock Ola of that vintage so i'm not positive what those sound like. The one in my living room at home is a Wurlitzer 2410, slightly different mech than the 2700, they used to play them standing straight up in the air on the back.
I'm kind of the wrong guy to ask, because I like all of them, haha.
I know this is a older video but ive always wanted my own Juke box and I’m trying to figure out which one is for me i do want Vinyl records and Vintage as i was a Bartenfer in the 1980s and most of the places i worked had one parked in a corner somewhere BTW I’m pretty handy with mechanical things and I’m pretty sure i will be inside of mine at one point so my hunch was TH-cam would have some info on the older ones and i was right your video explained more than i thought i would find and ironically that one of the models I’m interested in buying like you mentioned you can find those for sale all over the place non operating but mostly complete ! I’m a retired Woodworker by trade so i can easily redo the cabinets I would like to get my hands on original manuals and any other printed products on the unit are there any places that offer reprints or copies of them and if so who ?
Hi Craig! Your best bet to get manuals is on ebay, they have about everything. It's hard to find a scan of most of them online for free, but you can usually buy the original ones on ebay for $20 or $30. Sometimes you get lucky and the machine you buy has the manual with it.... If you're not afraid to get in there on them you can probably fix one no problem, the manuals do a good job of explaining step by step what's supposed to happen, all you have to do is watch what's going on and walk through the instructions in the manual until you find the point that it stops at. There's like a 100 step process it goes through, if it stops at step 45 or whatever in the manual you can look at the part that's supposed to be working and figure out why it isn't. If you stay older than the CPU era too it's all mechanical switches and relays and things that can be fixed by anybody without special equipment....
Victory glass also a good resource for manuals and parts
Just picked up this exact model a couple days ago from a private seller. Started doing some basic checks and found the MECH 1.6 AMP fuse was blown... the only fuse blown. Then I found the motor used to start the system through it's steps is really hard to turn... and really appears to not be moving the process along. I decided to hold off to ensure I'm not making things worse. Do you think doing the standard oil 'bath' in this instance will help? Also do you happen to have a link to the service and owners manuals? Thank you so much for these videos! Definitely got me started with this.
What I mean to say is when I turn the motor, I am not seeing the gears turn like in your video.
Yes it sounds like it's frozen up to me, same issue they almost always have, the fuse blows because the motor keeps trying to move the gears and can't..... This is the manual for the model before this - dokumen.tips/documents/rock-ola-442-443-all-files-combined.html
@@LyonsArcade Thank you for the quick reply. Found your other videos as well showing how to disassemble. Guess I know my first steps while waiting for the 1.6A slo blows to arrive.
@@LyonsArcade Im a bit stuck even with the motor disengaged I still cannot move the arm up. Im concered about applying too much force
Got passed this, it is possible to get the record grabber out without moving it in the upwards position and without removing or changing the basket
This is a fascinating process, and I'm looking forward to your continued success.
In the abstract, would you say the approach to the repair of this machine is similar to the approach one would use when diagnosing/repairing EM Pinball machines?
I'd certainly be interested in learning more about this machine... Would you happen to have a link to the manual you're using to repair this machine (since it appears to contain a comprehensive 'Theory of Operation' section)?
So you've gotten it to a point where the 'selection' process is working, but the mechanism stops once the record is paced on the turntable. Does the motor that runs the mechanism stop (electrical), or does the mechanism seize (mechanical)? The tone arm appears to move freely, so I'm assuming it properly returns to home position as the record is being replaced (as that portion of the cycle appears to be working as well)?
Of course, we (you) have yet to address potential issues with turntable speed, or anything to do with the sound system, but I imagine all that will be covered in subsequent episodes.
Again, I look forward to your continued success with this repair, and look forward to the chronicle of your progress... :-)
I've got a manual but I don't remember where I downloaded it from.... the motor was stopping electrical and not seizing up but we didn't know that yet at the end of this video :) All will be revealed.... tomorrow :)
I have the same problem with the read-in "thing". It turns around an don't stop. Thank you for this video, i hope i can repair it. Only the cleaning with a contact spray wasn't successful. I think i have to clean it all thoroughly. You don't have a keyboard for sell, do you? 🙈
Dude first of all it's called the rockola boy they knew how to name things back then. :-) every so often you run into it today but not as much as it used to be.
Yeah, great name!
I have a volume issue with the Rockola princess 461 everything is playing as usual but no volume but you can hear there is power to the speakers ‘where do I start To resolve this issue ?
It may be a broken wire going to the volume pot, or a broken wire going to the pickup on the tone arm, usually if the amp has trouble you only lose 1 side of the audio and the other two speakers still play. That's where I'd look first....
Hey all, been working on my 445 rockola and im stuck on the read out mechanism finding the right selection after it is selected. Basically it will continue spinning and not find it. So far I have completely cleaned the contact rings and fingers that ride against the. Both relays have been removed and cleaned. I am now testing the hammer coils on the selector assembly but getting a reading of 53.3 on an auto range multimeter (i think i need a better multimeter for one). Does anyone know what the proper reading on these coils could be or something I might have missed otherwise in troubleshooting?
Hi Matthew! The hammer coils aren't actually necessary to play the record, they just reset the selection. Your problem is you're not seeing the selection, so you're just before the point where you need the hammer coils... If you can find a copy of the manual or a similar one it describes step by step what happens. You're to the point where the read out is rotating, the way it can tell what's selected is yes, it uses those rings but it also physically touches the pin that's tripped, which creates a circuit through the rings.
So since you've cleaned the rings and fingers, look on the other part of the arm, where the coils are there is a metal piece that actually touches the lever if it's tripped for the selection. Make sure that is clean too. It will make a circuit through the wipers/tracks you cleaned, which makes the interlock trip coil underneath the turntable 'trip'. When that happens it brakes the read out arm, and at the same time turns the mech motor off and the gripper motor on. This makes the record go over to the turntable.
When the cam rotates to lay the record down, it touches some microswitches on the end of the cam, and one of those microswitches is what makes the hammer coils activate to reset the pin.
So if you're spinning around, it doesn't have anything to do with the hammer coils yet, you need to clean the contact that actually touches the pin as it spins, try that and see if it gets you going. I've had a couple with that needing attention!
Thanks,
Ron
BTW the relay that makes all this happen is inside a box hanging underneath the turntable, if you're only pulling out the play relay and the other cube relay there's another one inside that box called the Interlock relay.
Hey Ron, thank you very much for taking the time to reply to my post, very helpful and informative. I did actually take off the box under the turntable and clean it as well. What I'm going to do next is re-clean all the components listed above in case I missed anything and give it another try. Thank you again!
@@LyonsArcade Hey Ron, aside from moving the needle arm to cancel a play, should the reset button do this? Heh, now its stuck attempting to play a record and I'm having issues getting it to reset. Thank you man.
As a follow up, the record would not cancel due to the bow and cogs not being reassembled properly. So the issue above with the write out had to do with the 'alternating dog.' Each time I tried A sides (which was all I was testing in the beginning), the read out would spin continuously. After some research into the schematics I found the issue was with the 'alternating dog.' After removing the 'gripper reversal bracket' and cleaning the 'dog' which would not rotate, both sides worked. I also cleaned the grooves really well that the dog rides in to ensure it would not get gummed up again.
BTW this issue is also documented by Joe's Classic Video Game here: th-cam.com/video/3T_i-6uLXYs/w-d-xo.html
Thank you so much for these videos! I went from a fully non working machine to now working about 90 percent!
Hard work but it will working on the end 😎
Hopefully!
Hi Joe, Really enjoy the videos you post. Very helpful. Do you know where I could find a song title glass for a Rockola 437? I've been checking ebay for over a yr.
Great!
Thanks Krazzy~!
Where is the free credit button at ? So I don't have to use quarters.
Really Cool video, can you tell me i can buy online the 443 manual as Pdf File? didnt find it so, cheers mike
Cabinet looks a like my old Seaburg but the inside sure looks different.
Steve we're working on a Seeburg right now and filming it, if we can get it working we'll upload the videos :)
Awesome! I look forward to them.
I've always been fascinated by the mechanics rather than the electrics in a jukebox. . I've never been able to figure out how that arm grips the record, rises & then TURNS to place the record down (& vice versa for returning it to the rack). How does it go up & then turn?
It's an electromechanical binary read/write memory!
Matt do you have much experience with the Seeburgs? Amazing memory units in those.
@@LyonsArcade No but now I want to look! I'm a software guy fascinated by old computing machinery, and electromechanical calculators from the early to mid-20th century worked along a lot of the same principles as this stuff. I remember those jukeboxes with the remote wall units in the local pizza joint when I was a little kid.
If you ever get time Matt, look into the Seeburg Tormat memory system, it's how they kept track of selections way back in the 50's all the way up to the end of the 45 era... It's a magnetic core memory, brilliant design.
@@LyonsArcade Whoa, old school goodness!
What is the purpose of the board that says Album/Standard can be seen left side of screen at 35:51
Jukeboxes originally came out way back in the day when everybody listened to singles and were designed like that, but in the 60's people started listening to albums more than individual singles. So the jukebox companies tried to implement that option.
This box and most of them around this time could play albums too, they made special albums that ran at 33rpm and were only 7" in diameter like the 45's. If you install one of these albums in the box, that whole row of the selections is now an album and you move that jumper to make it cost more to play that record since it'll run for 20 minutes or whatever.
The way the machine can tell what speed to play it is when it lays down the record if the hole is small it will push some little plastic pieces into the turntable and turn on the 331/3rd speed instead of the 45 speed.
They didn't release all that many 7" albums though so it didn't really catch on.
Thanks I was not aware of 7 inch albums makes sense now..
a few years back i rebuilt a 1947 Seaburg Symphonola model 147 jukebox for my parents..pretty simplistic compared to this Rock-Ola..
Thanks again fro all your videos...
I like those older ones like that alot, I've got several old AMI's sitting around the shop i'm going to redo eventually. I always liked the Seeburgs because of just how cool that mechanism is on those things!
True..luckily it was already converted from 78 rpm to 45 rpm before i worked on it...it was built like a tank and weighed as much...the main problem was that it used a steel needle...which means once you put a record in it it would play fine but you could never play that record again on a modern player since the steel needle stretched out the grooves...
I have one more question about this Rock-Ola how does it deal with duplicate selections...i.e. person 1 selects K1 K2 K3 K4 and person 2 selects K4 ..person 3 selects K2..while K1 is playing...
separate comment:
also it seems that to me from the way it looks like it works is that it plays records in order of the records in the box not in the order selected or maybe i have that wrong
I have Rhapsody 2 and I’m getting no power at all when plugged in and switched on. Any thoughts on where to start troubleshooting this? Thanks!
Those are nice little boxes.... if you don't even get the lights on there's likely a problem with the fuses or circuit breakers in the power supply, you'll probably need to get a copy of the manual and start tracing the power through the machine to see where the issue is, that one's likely going to need some time spent on it if it doesn't even light up yet!
@@LyonsArcade Thanks! I actually found one of the fuses on the power supply was blown. The 1.6amp slo. Trying to find one online.
My parents have a Rock-Ola 442 and the buttons on the right side stopped working, yet the left still plays the music. Would anyone happen to know why or/and how to fix it? Thanks
I have this exact one. Powers up but does not work. Looking for a repair manual.
True about being cheap I got 3 machines for free.
the cam is slightly wrong or one of the switches on the cam my guess lol now to watch the next
It Use to work🤣🤣👍
I have a 444 I need either someone to repair or some kind of guide to lead me in the right direction.
Well, I have a 1957 Wurlitzer model 2150 -200 Ive been looking for a vidieos like this on getting it up & running for years now any help would be appreciated thanks.
I haven't done any on that carousel unit in there unfortunately, next one I do i'll make some videos.
Have you proven you have power on this leg? Is there a fuse bay? Might be a very simple fix. First step is there power where power needs to be.
I have a 1975 model that just stopped working
We have a whole series on here fixing this one that you're watching, it should be very similar to your 1975 one!
There may have been Coca Cola spilled accidentally onto the selector panel causing the problem Nicotine and cigarette paste will cause problems in the selector panel and wobble plate assembly and micro switches
Where can I get some one to look at mine. I'm female I'm not good at it
In Michigan
Where is the free play switch as the coin mechanism has been removed.
I see on my Roc-Ola 445 there is a button that moves to the left that puts credits on.
Did you ever get it to work? WD40 is not that bad.... is it?
I did get it to work, if you look on our channel the next couple videos were of it... WD40 is good for cleaning things but it's bad for lubricating things, so as long as you wipe it off after you spray it on something it's fine, if you try to use it to oil something, after about a year it dries into like cake batter then after about another year it hardens like a candle wax. So we get jukeboxes all the time that have been sprayed down with WD40 and after sitting 15 years the gears are held tight by the dryed up WD40. The same company makes 3 in 1 oil which doesn't cake up like that and is really good for doing the same thing.
@@LyonsArcade I need to get a jukebox... which one do you recommend? I guess one that is easy to repair if there is such a thing...
Instead of too much words I prefer to watch you disassemble, maintain and reassemble it, but unfortunately it is a secret of your side 😢
I've made thousands of videos showing people how to do things for free, you haven't made any and yet you still complain. Go complain somewhere else, I don't need negative losers on my channel...
Ok, I also don’t like to improve me
Sadly without the coin mech for me those old jukeboxes losing something from their magic. 😥
It gets old in a home if it's still on coin play :) People always call us asking us how to put it on freeplay!
@@LyonsArcade well on freeplay the challenge to set a new record it's not the same as we had back in the day's with my friends and we had limited coin's or maybe it was the last and we had a bet if someone can break the record with that last coin. No cellphone game's can give back that fun with the friends.😉 Anyways hope that you can save the old technology for the next few decades. Thanks for the videos!
well Jukeboxes in denmark has never been cheap and as rare as they are here, the price has keep going up, to a point where it at 2k usd dollars for a used one, that plays cds, not records, the records ones are even more expensive, my dad at his 2nd wedding rented one, the old school record one, paid whopping 1k usd for 2day rent. not cheap lol
Wow that's crazy. I know Coin Op Warehouse ships them over there constantly, are they really popular in Denmark right now? Over here Jukeboxes aren't very desirable at the moment.
@@LyonsArcade well due to price no they are not high demand here x), always been expensive to use one at the local waterhole, all from little over a dollar to almost 4dollars.
@@LyonsArcade what to hear your opinion on this one, older jukebox, not working, price little over 100dollars. www.dba.dk/andre-samleobjekter-jukebo/id-1045018976/
Looks good to me, especially if you can't find many over there. I've never heard of a Jupiter, but it looks similar to Seeburgs that were around over here (we have a few that look almost identical)... I found a picture of the inside of it and it looks as if it's a French company that made Seeburg-like Jukeboxes. The Seeburgs have an amazing contraption inside that plays the record, and it seems like that Jupiter has a very similar setup. If it were me, I'd definitely buy it at that price and try to fix it. Just start with the power supply and work through it, the hardest part will be getting the Mech to work right, but again if you look into how the Seeburgs are repaired you should be able to pull it off
@@LyonsArcade thanks for the answer, waiting on my money from paypal now, so i can buy it, 100 dollar in freight sadly, anywho i actually found a danish made jukebox from 1956, made by Ami Jensen. but its expensive as hell, semi working order, problem gears. 2nd i found a bunch of jukebox records people are selling, so that should be easy to fill up, everything from danish,british,american,etc
Nice. Thanks to you, I now know how the electro-mechanical memory works on the Rock-Ola and (from another of your videos) a Seeburg unit. And (from the Technology Connections channel), how Wurlitzer machines work (th-cam.com/video/o1qRzKuskK0/w-d-xo.html). I find this all fascinating. Thanks for showing us how it works.
I have a question for you. A relative of mine once had a different model Rock-Ola juke box. The mechanism looks very similar to this one. I'm pretty sure I remember that unit playing selections in the order they were entered, but the mechanisms I've seen so far all work on a principle of a single switch/contact per record. They can, therefore, only know what you've selected, not the order you've selected them.
Do you know if later electro-mechanical juke boxes actually were able to play tracks in the order entered or is my memory just wrong? If some can remember the order, do you have a video of how that mechanism works? I'm really curious about how such a device would work.
I don't believe any of them would remember the order, even the CD boxes I believe would play them in the order they came to them instead of the order they put them in... the Electromechanical ones I'm pretty sure there's no way would do them in the order entered, it would have to be something computer controlled, but even if they could they probably wouldn't make it work like that, because playing them in the order the mechanism reaches them is more efficient.
The digital jukeboxes (like the download boxes that are connected to the internet) DO play them in the order they're entered though.
@@LyonsArcade Thanks. I must be misremembering then. Maybe because I would usually enter tracks in the order they appeared on the index cards which, mostly, matches the order used by the mechanism.
One interesting thing I noticed is that different models have different orders. The Seeburg and Wurlitzer will play all the records in order - the A side of the first record, then the B side of the first record, then the A side of the next record, etc. The Rock-Ola, however, looks like it plays all the A sides first followed by all of the B sides.
Just give it to mr Carlson and he will fix it
I dont know him!
🤣mistake in the video 🤣
"It worked last time I used it" But now....
Yeah, isn't that crazy?
@@LyonsArcade That seems to be the same statement all sellers tell you.
Use a Go Pro so you can be hands free.
Hello have a lot of jukeboxes for sale trying to sell them ...
Canon tel me
The smartphone has replaced the jukebox. The smartphone holds hundreds of songs and has no moving mechanical parts. The digital jukebox has replaced the commercial mechanical jukebox They also have no mechanical moving parts except for a hard drive and dollar bill acceptor
No
How much to sell a jukebox
Thanks for this nice clip. Looks quite familliar to me.
I restored a Rock-Ola 1971, some 25 years ago. It took a lot of contact cleaning and a bunch of new capacitors in the amplifier.
The biggest chalange was the busted glass panels, wich I had to remake.
No