I had a 454 which developed this fault in December 2019. I dismantled the gripper mechanism and degreased it but when I reassembled it it was out of sync and still didn't grip the record correctly and I partially disassembled. I thought I would have to call in a specialist or even send it away for repair. Then Covid happened and I wasn't keen on having strangers in the house and time just rolled by. This week I had another look and couldn't even recall how the parts I had left inside fitted back together 😞I had one last google and found your video. Such clarity and great video quality - 2 hours later my beloved jukebox was fully functional again! Thank you so much for this - the 454 was a birthday present from my wife over 20 years ago and I can't tell you how emotional it was getting it going again after such a long time - Thank You!!!
Very cool man, i'm glad you got it back together! They're nice little well built boxes if you give them a little bit of service here and there, have fun with it!
My father started working in the amusement industry in the mid to late 60s up until mid 90s when he could no longer see well. I have started restoring a few of these and I do not use machine or motor oil at all because those oils have a tendency to turn solid over time. So I use a teflon base or silicon base oil which I would use on copy machines I worked on professionally. I also started restoring arcade PCBs as well. Lots fun when I was younger when I was learning and even more satisfying since retiring from the Army. So cool to bring the 80s back to life:)
We have a roockola 1493 that we have had for 32 years. It hasn't worked for the last 10 years. After watching your video we were able to get it to work great! We wanted to thank you so much!
This was extremely helpful. Thank you! I have a Rockola 450 that stopped working several years ago. I followed the steps in this video yesterday and it’s running great now!
Many many thanks for this. Mt rock ola 454 was stuck and after watching this video, I twisted the spoke at the bottom of the motor to free it a little and it worked str8 away, so whilst plaing etc, cleaned it up and little and a few dabs of oil.....and worked proper job. Tiddly!
Hi Ron, I have just started the restoration of a Rock Ola 418 Rhapsody II. After driving out the small pin with my 1/8 pin punch and removing the rear follower and the record bow, I could not get the shaft with the gears on it to move forward. I had to pound on the end with a hammer and pin punch while apply WD 40 which freed the shaft enabling it to be removed. I could not believe that the previous lubricant could set like concrete. The gear that drives the record bow was absolutely seized on the main shaft. I wasn't until watching the this video that I realized it should be free. After driving it off the shaft with a wooden dowl being hit hard with a hammer I removed all the crud and freed the mech up and now it works perfectly. It all took about two and a half hours. Thanks heaps for all your great videos. Keep up the good work. Regards a Fan from Aus.
Thanks for posting this. I've got a 470 that's started misbehaving (sadly due to non-use for almost 2 years) and was having a fit. This video is going to make working on that part of the mechanism so much easier.
I'm not much of jukebox fan... just stumbled across this video. These machines have awesome mechanics and it's nice to see that someone can repair such an old dust and bring it back to life
I did a couple of these, but used lacquer thinner to clean out the old gunk after taking the piston out. A Q-tip dipped in thinner for all moving parts and then use compressed air ( cover the record carousel and electronic boards before blowing) finally a couple drops of sewing machine oil on top of the sleeves / moving gears etc. make it smooth again. For the piston I used lithium grease with a drop of sewing machine oil before putting it back together again.
@@LyonsArcade Thanks, less time taking everything apart. Never had a issue on 3 jukeboxes with this method. Metal gear are those "pot-metal" easy to break... Thinner and Q-tip & air solve the "goo goo " issue real fast, but again cover the surroundings delicate items before going wild with the air-gun. Jukeboxes are cool until but most need attention after sitting for a long time. Best sounding I had was a Wurlitzer Statesman with 100 watt Solid State amp inside, could really crank it up load and sounded wonderful in the living room. Great for party's and dancing on the weekends with hot babe's :) Keep up the good work and nice videos.
I'm working to repair my Rockola 444 following your video - so far I have it stripped, degreased and dry - ready now for oiling and reassembly - the reassembly worries me. The parts were SOOO gummed up it's a wonder it was working at all so I'm so grateful for your video. If I achieve a fix it'll have cost me £27 and a few hours of my time!
You'll get it back together just fine, the only real important part is when you put that roll pin back in to hold it all together, make sure it doesn't stick out at all so the piston can smoothly go inside the other part, if it sticks out a little bit it'll hang and get stuck about halfway up. As you can see after taking it apart, that thing gets crazy gummed up, think how nice it's going to move now. Thanks for watching TheGaragegymgeek!!!!
So it’s now super clean, oiled and reassembled, BUT I can wind it manually half way through its cycle (gripper pointing up) but the gripper (part 21) doesn’t rotate and the two gold metal prongs (part 3) get stuck on part 20. I didn’t touch any parts other than the ones you guided us through. I am sure the cogs are right and I have checked part 20 is on the right way up and that part 24 is properly seated. Any obvious tips? Should it wind both ways manually? Have I somehow messed up the timing with the two cogs?
Scratch that - I figured that it was hitting those pins as it didn’t have a selection queued. I powered it, made a selection and it works! It works!!!!!!
Brilliant explanation of the issues and nice little tips whilst showing the problem. I have a 459 model with the arm dropping the record after picking it up. Hopefully I can now work on it and get it lubricated to get the piston working properly. Much appreciated help. Thanks
First time ever that i put hands on a Juke box, its a rock Ola Capri from my neighbour, same issue. Thanks for posting this video. (I spended half day figuring out how to disassmebly this arm) and this surely gonna help me. THANKS A LOT!👍
Ron, I have serviced several of these jukeboxes in my time and it's a good thing that you get it all apart and clean it but one thing you need to try is P.B. Blaster's penetrating spray....it will break that paraffin wax down that they use in that particular type of Grease and get back down to the petroleums of the Grease and loosen that up if you spray it in the hole where that little cap is on the end opposite the gear liberally it will make a world of difference,, trust me I've done it you'll thank me later...keep up the good work...
I'm on a mission to fix all the Rock-Olas. I can't do it all myself. I can only fix a few a year with all the other things I'm doing, so I need people like you to find one to rescue :) Glad you decided to take the plunge, it's a fun little hobby. The Rock-Olas are well documented and can be repaired, and there are so many of them that they're inexpensive, I'd like to see all of them get fixed and working again before people throw any more of them in the trash! I've personally seen tons of them get parted, thrown away, etc. All the other models are cool too but I really like the Rock Olas.
Hi ... I just had this 480 rock-ola, since being one of the first with logic boards, nothing worked in the memory, and nothing could be found anymore. With regret I demolished it, keeping pieces that can fit on another rock-ola, the electromechanical 459 that works great. Congratulations on the resolution of the caliper defect, which is similar to that of the AMI mechanics, before it became Rowe. Greetings Armando.
Thanks Armando, we appreciate you watching! It sucks you had to take that one apart but at least you kept some of the parts for other machines! See you on the next video.
@@LyonsArcade Yes, I was so sorry to scrap it too, but I tried desperately to repair, and look for these logic boards, but I found nothing. Even the various restorers have recommended me to stay away from the early 1980s j.b, with these logical memories, which if they fail, there are no more spare parts. So if I buy a j.b I look only for electromechanical, which is more repairable in case of failure. Regards Arm .... :-)
Pretty cool! Not being an audiophile, I never really paid much attention to jukeboxes when I was younger, but from a technician's standpoint, getting a good look at the inner workings is fascinating to me. It's kind of like watching an episode of _How Stuff Works,_ hosted by Ron. xD
I've had hundreds of people tell me theirs was locked up until they cleaned it, I think every one of those Rock Olas do it, it must have been the factory grease siezes up on all of them! Thanks for watching!
@@LyonsArcade it needs a small belt and I think that other than cleaning that may be it. The electrical cord is old and the out side is all cracked up but it still works, what kind of cord do I use to replace it with.
Nice video! If you want to take apart the changer mech, remove the gripper motor first. By doing that you can freely move the gripper arm. Greetings, Willem, Hekelingen, Holland.
Cool, thanks for doing something a little different than pinball & arcade machines. Definitely remember these! Actual vinyl 45s.... maybe some out there who haven't even seen these before, LoL. Enjoyed the video as always.
Another great video! Always like seeing how things work. I once had a Seeburg 100 Select-o-matic. Don't remember the model now, but it was just like the one on Happy Days. Picked it up for a song (pun). I think $15. Had the single speaker reconed, replaced a couple tubes, bought a service manual and went through the cal procedure. Worked great! I sure am glad after seeing this video, I didn't have to clean the mechanism on that! Sold it back in the early 80's for around $700. Wish I still had it now. So what would that be worth today If I'd replace the amplifier with new electronics? Again, thanks for the informative vid's.
Yabba Dabba Doo.!!......Thank you much. Mine was tripping the same breaker and the mechanism was also not moving. I used a little bit of PB Blaster penetrating oil and a heat gun on the gear box to soften the goop inside it and Voilà it works now.
Fantastic video as always; thanks for posting. Hoping you can answer a quick question. . . My newly-acquired 480 trips the mech breaker when placing a record. Sometimes it will do it 1x and sometimes it will do it 4x while pulling from the carousel to the table. After play is complete it returns to the carousel with no issue (doesn't trip breaker). I went through the video's cleaning process and now all the parts move freely. I also tool the gripper gearmotor apart to make sure there wasn't a similar issue in the gearbox, and it seems to turn freely. But what I noticed watching this video (and others) versus my machine is how fast your gripper mech delivers the record versus mine, as mine takes an eternity (probably 10x as long). Looking at manual it seems between sequence 13 when voltage first is applied to the gripper motor and sequence 15 when it goes to 'slow mode' through the resistors, something isn't right. . .like it's running in slow all the way through, and the system doesn't like it. Checking transistors on the control board now, but wondering if you've seen this before and could help narrow my focus. Thanks for adding to the coin-op community!!!
I think you're on the right track, I'd look at the transistors but ultimately you may have a bad motor that's drawing too much amperage and tripping the breaker. Basically the board is sending it lots of juice trying to get it to move and it's taking forever to get there. If you cleaned it and it moves fine that just leaves you the motor itself and the power train that drives it... Maybe check the voltage on the motor when it's moving to see what voltage it's getting. When it hangs it up it sends it the same signal but it's reversed polarity to make the motor move backwards that may be a clue in the schematics...
@@LyonsArcade You, sir, are a genius. tl;dr it was the gripper motor, as you suggested. I measured the voltage while the gripper motor was running and was getting 20.0Vdc during most of its travel and dropped to about 15.5Vdc towards the end (tripping the breaker once or twice along the way). Also getting 16.0Vdc when returning to the magazine/carousel. Seemed low. I verified voltage at the rectifier board and was getting 32.5Vdc unloaded. For a loaded voltage comparison I checked voltage of the magazine motor while indexing and was getting 30.5Vdc, then went back and disconnected the gripper motor while the controller was sending a drive signal and was getting 32.0Vdc. . .probably should have done that earlier. I disassembled the gripper motor and found the brushes and commutator were a filthy mess. Cleaned it all with alcohol, cotton swabs, and a scratch pen and now it runs flawlessly! Thanks again!!!
Very nice. That will help me fix some in the future i'm sure. You were lucky you were able to clean it up, if you kept running it, it may have opened one of the windings and you'd have to get another one. Nice job, I love seeing these old jukeboxes get saved, it's such a shame more people won't work on them because they're very reliable once you understand how they work. Super high quality machines. BTW, we're starting a new channel eventually, that will be ONLY Jukeboxes! @JoesJukeboxes here on youtube....
Technology Connections also did a rather thorough tour through the selector mechanism and electromechanical memory of a Wurlitzer unit (if I remember the brand right).
I was reminded of a YT video of restoring a Soviet-era drill. In this case, the Soviet-era grease was so bad that the drill was completely disassembled and each piece cleaned in vodka. The resulting sludge was poured into a bottle and labeled "whiskey".
Man, Joe I wished I would of saw this video yesterday when I was trying to help a friends mom fix her jukebox. Her gripper arm was stuck almost at the full position to which it would be if it was placing a record down. When went through trying to figure out if something was jammed and if the motor that spun the carousel was bad. I did find that thumb wheel to turn the motor and it seemed I could only turn to its half its limits of travel. It wasn't turning to go to the home position where the gripper arm sits above the record and it would stop an inch or so above the platter instead of laying down flat like it should when it places a record down. We did lube everything up with some 3 in 1 oil. We did pull the motor off and held the motor in our hand and turned the machine on. The motor made an awful buzzing noise and smoke started to come out of the casing so I guess the motor is shot from trying to move that stuck up gripper arm so we have to try and find one i guess. Do you know of any where to find how the gripper arm assembly is supposed to be timed with the gearing? I saw when you put it back together you didn't really show how it was timed. Or does it not matter how it goes back together? I could look at how ours is, but since we were messing around with it I cannot be sure it is in the correct position anymore. After cleaning and lubing everything up the motor still smoked and got very hot so I am not sure if just the motor is bad now or if we have a timing issue. Thanks for your video this will be a huge help next time I go over to help.
I found that sometimes Silicon Spray will get these things moving again. It seems to dissolve the grease a little to make it more fluid, and it doesn't go gummy like Water Dispersant formula 40 :) Not sure if it is a long term fix, but I have had one machine that seems okay after a couple of years. Of course nothing beats a full disassemble and thorough cleanup and regrease with fresh.
i've sucessfully gotten them clean with the oil before and I think they'd be fine if you got them going and then used them a little bit, yours will probably last many years like that. I used to do all of them by just soaking them with various things but I kept running into that problem where it wouldn't grab the record to hang it back up (it may just be that the dried grease is getting worse as the years go on).... thanks for watching Brendan, we're going to do some more jukebox ones this week!
What do you recon is the best way to clean up the chrome pieces? And if you drop the motor down can you move all that by hand from above? Oh these videos are awesome, thanks for taking the time.
The chrome all you can really do is use polish on it but a lot of times they have rust pits that can't be cleaned up too well. If they're really bad and it's actually chrome you can clean them up with brillo pads! Yes you can drop the motor but it has to be aligned when you put it back together so I always just leave it how it is. Thanks for watching!
@@LyonsArcade by aligned do you mean timed? And I did get it open and carriage was in the home position but living on the very east coast of fla all the contacts and such have rust in then. I will have to dismantle most of it a bit at a time until a get it whipped. mechanical fist though. and thanks again.
Hey Joe really appreciate your video. Just a suggestion can you get a small dole rod paint the tip and point to specific parts as you give advice. lol. My 450 Rockola spins with thumps but doesn’t stop what do you suggest the selection buttons also don’t work. Any suggestions. Thanks
That's a good idea about the pointer, i'm going to have to make one up :) The thumps, do they sound like the records moving around? They move a little bit as it spins the basket. When you start the machine up the first thing it does is move to it's home position, there is a big wheel on the right with a bunch of 'wipers' that ride on some metal tracks on the board, all those contacts need to be clean and shiny, you can use light sandpaper to clean them up, it's trying to find it's 'home' position which is just before the first record. If you watch some more of my jukebox videos I go through how I work through them to get them working. Thanks for watching!
Hello from California! Great videos. Thinking about picking up a jukebox to refurb. What's your opinion on Seeburg Jukeboxes? Not much else in my area right now.
Just curious if all the rockola service manuals go into the detail on their sequence of operation . I was looking at buying a 474 in the future, because it's similar to a seeburg std3 I have, but it seems like the rockola service manual is alot easier to understand the sequence of operation.
I have mixed lithium grease with the oil, and have never had any trouble. the "tar" from cigarette smoke is the problem, having worked for a vending company, maintenance was only performed when there was a problem with the unit !!!." if it was not broke, it was not fixed"
Good day sir, I have a Rock Ola 437 Ultra and having some slight issues. The record carriage keeps turning once the record has been place in its slot. Than automatically grabs another record plays it and resumes the same process again.. your help will be appreciated! Thank you.
In general it will keep doing that for as long as it thinks there are selections left to play. When you play 1, when it picks the record up (just about the same time) there is a big click and the 'read out' arm has a little hammer on it that knocks the pin on the side of the pin bank back over to the other side, so that the record is cancelled. It could be that the arm is misaligned, or the power is not getting to the coil that moves the little lever back. Look on the side of the pinbank opposite the basket, and see if a bunch of the little levers are pushed over, each one that is makes the machine think it needs to play another record. you can turn them back off by hand, and then turn it on and see if it stops trying to play (since nothing is selected).... then try to select one, see if the pin gets knocked over, then see if when it plays it it knocks the pin back the other way. If you have a manual it shows how all this happens in the manual.
Three in one oil is good.. but you can spray a little bit of PB blaster and that blaster will help soften some of that paraffin wax grease and it softens the wax from the oil without harming any other components then you can go back and lube it with the three in one and the petroleum's from the grease will still be there... A, just to get it moving tip
Typically it'll turn a little bit and then something will bind so I wouldn't want to force it. All the parts are cast aluminum or something, I've had several I've bought in the past that are broken....
Love your videos, I have a rock-ola 445 which is in dire need of a service, I watched your video on that model a year or two back and feel I could carry the job out myself but where can I get an on line manual from? Thanks
I had a AMI that would sometimes pick the wrong record or try to put it away in the wrong spot Mechanism is very similar I don't have that unit any more but was curious if you had a idea of how to fix that
If it was only off like 1 record in the basket usually it's an adjustment, that's probably what was wrong. If it picks the wrong one (but puts it back in the right place, i.e. where it came from) then it's a selection system problem.... i'll bet the basket was just slightly off though and it would grab the record beside the one it was supposed to, or accidentally put it back in the slot next door.
hey joe have a 477/481 rockola juke box q with a 52280-A amp in it can you show us how to test the amp out if the juke or any any one else can help thank you from john
The mechanism in a CD box is a little more precision since the CD's are more fragile, I've never seen one of them have the grease issue just because they're not these big heavy duty units like these had. The carousel is much smaller and works a little different it doesn't have the same large gears and pistons that these type have.
Have you ever tried automotive brake cleaner on that grease? You would probably want to remove the records first, as I don't know how it would affect the vinyl. However, brake cleaner will dissolve most of that gummy grease in a heartbeat.
I have a 1981 481 max2 rockola that keeps tripping the mechinism breaker 5 to 10 times to play a record. Once itstarts playing it will finish. Then it trips again goingback to badket. Im thinking cleaning mech and or replace mech breaker. Your thougyt?
Have a simular Rock-ola. You showed a video where you cleaned the alternate god (which changes the playing side). Mine won't change sides to play the second side. Do you show a vide on tear down. I've cleaned but it still won't switch. Only sprayed cleaner but still it won't switch. Help. Ted from seattle 1968 rock-rola
Hey Mr.Joe I have a Rockola princess deluxe model 435 its been sitting for years what do I need to lubricate and My B side doesn't select you push the buttons it fires and kicks back up never fires anything on.
@@LyonsArcade cool thought the top looked different. We don't have such things up here at the North Pole. I do remember public clocks like that growing up back east. Keep up the good work and thanks
My Rockola CD box had the same problem. I found it easier to remove the gripper to clean and lubricate it. My manual called out for using grease not oil. Any reason you didn’t grease it?
I’ve got a 1448 and the gripper arm is stuck solid in the play position and I cannot get it to move up toward the record carousel at all, like it is hitting something solid. It will move freely front & back and rotate freely 3pm to 9am by hand. Suggestions?
After it’s not stuck anymore, maybe some motorkote? Project farm YT channel done a review on it in the past, and I have used on old 60-70s eras fans the used to need to be lubricated after about a month. Not anymore since motorkote. You’re welcome;-)
I sooooo want this 3 in 1 SAE20 oil for my Sebburg VL200 but I can’t get this to the Netherlands without rediculous shipping cost (almost $189,- !😱😱😱 at Amazon) what alternative can I use???
There's likely some company that makes SAE20 oil locally. It's not an uncommon oil. In the USA, SAE30 ND (Non Detergent) is sold for air compressors. I would check at a tool store, and ask for Electric Motor Oil. That's the SAE20 stuff.
Like Koby said it doesn't have to be 3 in 1 brand it's really just the weight of the oil that is important, they've got to have some locally in the Netherlands, they put it in pretty much every machine that does anything!
I have a rockola 488 everything worked fine until the other day. the panel where you make the record selection is blank no lights so nothing works. Any help you can give me would be wonderful. I can send pictures to you if you provide me a email. pictures will show lights currently working and what lights are out. Thanking u in advance.
My micro switch cam in the back was loose needed to be tightened down but what is the proper setting for I can't really understand my manual can you maybe perhaps show me?
If you're trying to fix yours at home, take pictures as you go, or at the very least mark the orientation with a sharpie. Should help with trying to figure out what goes where and/or which way around it goes in case you forget.
I had a 454 which developed this fault in December 2019. I dismantled the gripper mechanism and degreased it but when I reassembled it it was out of sync and still didn't grip the record correctly and I partially disassembled. I thought I would have to call in a specialist or even send it away for repair. Then Covid happened and I wasn't keen on having strangers in the house and time just rolled by. This week I had another look and couldn't even recall how the parts I had left inside fitted back together 😞I had one last google and found your video. Such clarity and great video quality - 2 hours later my beloved jukebox was fully functional again!
Thank you so much for this - the 454 was a birthday present from my wife over 20 years ago and I can't tell you how emotional it was getting it going again after such a long time - Thank You!!!
Very cool man, i'm glad you got it back together! They're nice little well built boxes if you give them a little bit of service here and there, have fun with it!
My father started working in the amusement industry in the mid to late 60s up until mid 90s when he could no longer see well. I have started restoring a few of these and I do not use machine or motor oil at all because those oils have a tendency to turn solid over time. So I use a teflon base or silicon base oil which I would use on copy machines I worked on professionally.
I also started restoring arcade PCBs as well. Lots fun when I was younger when I was learning and even more satisfying since retiring from the Army. So cool to bring the 80s back to life:)
We have a roockola 1493 that we have had for 32 years. It hasn't worked for the last 10 years. After watching your video we were able to get it to work great! We wanted to thank you so much!
That's fantastic Dianne, glad to hear you've got it spinning again ! Enjoy your machine!
Thank you!!! This helped me get my juke box going after a year of not knowing what was wrong or how to fix it.
This was extremely helpful. Thank you! I have a Rockola 450 that stopped working several years ago. I followed the steps in this video yesterday and it’s running great now!
Very cool Emily, I was hoping it would help some people get their boxes back running. Thanks for letting me know!
Many many thanks for this. Mt rock ola 454 was stuck and after watching this video, I twisted the spoke at the bottom of the motor to free it a little and it worked str8 away, so whilst plaing etc, cleaned it up and little and a few dabs of oil.....and worked proper job. Tiddly!
Very cool Mike, glad you got it up and running!
Hi Ron, I have just started the restoration of a Rock Ola 418 Rhapsody II. After driving out the small pin with my 1/8 pin punch and removing the rear follower and the record bow, I could not get the shaft with the gears on it to move forward. I had to pound on the end with a hammer and pin punch while apply WD 40 which freed the shaft enabling it to be removed. I could not believe that the previous lubricant could set like concrete. The gear that drives the record bow was absolutely seized on the main shaft. I wasn't until watching the this video that I realized it should be free. After driving it off the shaft with a wooden dowl being hit hard with a hammer I removed all the crud and freed the mech up and now it works perfectly. It all took about two and a half hours. Thanks heaps for all your great videos. Keep up the good work. Regards a Fan from Aus.
Thanks for posting this. I've got a 470 that's started misbehaving (sadly due to non-use for almost 2 years) and was having a fit. This video is going to make working on that part of the mechanism so much easier.
I'm not much of jukebox fan... just stumbled across this video. These machines have awesome mechanics and it's nice to see that someone can repair such an old dust and bring it back to life
Going to keep watching your other videos in the hope of finding my model.
The mechanism should work very similar to yours, even if it’s a few years off your model.
I did a couple of these, but used lacquer thinner to clean out the old gunk after taking the piston out.
A Q-tip dipped in thinner for all moving parts and then use compressed air ( cover the record carousel and electronic boards before blowing) finally a couple drops of sewing machine oil on top of the sleeves / moving gears etc. make it smooth again.
For the piston I used lithium grease with a drop of sewing machine oil before putting it back together again.
That's a good way to do it!
@@LyonsArcade Thanks, less time taking everything apart. Never had a issue on 3 jukeboxes with this method. Metal gear are those "pot-metal" easy to break... Thinner and Q-tip & air solve the "goo goo " issue real fast, but again cover the surroundings delicate items before going wild with the air-gun. Jukeboxes are cool until but most need attention after sitting for a long time. Best sounding I had was a Wurlitzer Statesman with 100 watt Solid State amp inside, could really crank it up load and sounded wonderful in the living room. Great for party's and dancing on the weekends with hot babe's :) Keep up the good work and nice videos.
Thanks heaps Joe ...great tips for unfreezing the arm.
I'm working to repair my Rockola 444 following your video - so far I have it stripped, degreased and dry - ready now for oiling and reassembly - the reassembly worries me. The parts were SOOO gummed up it's a wonder it was working at all so I'm so grateful for your video. If I achieve a fix it'll have cost me £27 and a few hours of my time!
You'll get it back together just fine, the only real important part is when you put that roll pin back in to hold it all together, make sure it doesn't stick out at all so the piston can smoothly go inside the other part, if it sticks out a little bit it'll hang and get stuck about halfway up. As you can see after taking it apart, that thing gets crazy gummed up, think how nice it's going to move now. Thanks for watching TheGaragegymgeek!!!!
@@LyonsArcade it’s amazing how sticky and nasty it is. Thanks for the tips. Fingers crossed I get it back together tonight!
So it’s now super clean, oiled and reassembled, BUT I can wind it manually half way through its cycle (gripper pointing up) but the gripper (part 21) doesn’t rotate and the two gold metal prongs (part 3) get stuck on part 20. I didn’t touch any parts other than the ones you guided us through. I am sure the cogs are right and I have checked part 20 is on the right way up and that part 24 is properly seated.
Any obvious tips? Should it wind both ways manually? Have I somehow messed up the timing with the two cogs?
Scratch that - I figured that it was hitting those pins as it didn’t have a selection queued. I powered it, made a selection and it works! It works!!!!!!
Brilliant explanation of the issues and nice little tips whilst showing the problem. I have a 459 model with the arm dropping the record after picking it up. Hopefully I can now work on it and get it lubricated to get the piston working properly. Much appreciated help. Thanks
First time ever that i put hands on a Juke box, its a rock Ola Capri from my neighbour, same issue. Thanks for posting this video. (I spended half day figuring out how to disassmebly this arm) and this surely gonna help me. THANKS A LOT!👍
No problem Teresa you can knock it out! Good luck with it...
Ron, I have serviced several of these jukeboxes in my time and it's a good thing that you get it all apart and clean it but one thing you need to try is P.B. Blaster's penetrating spray....it will break that paraffin wax down that they use in that particular type of Grease and get back down to the petroleums of the Grease and loosen that up if you spray it in the hole where that little cap is on the end opposite the gear liberally it will make a world of difference,, trust me I've done it you'll thank me later...keep up the good work...
hey did the spay have a problem with two slec does not pic the rec any help
Thanks to you, I got into buying a broken Rockola and fixing her up. Thanks for the wonderfull new hobby, Ron!
I'm on a mission to fix all the Rock-Olas. I can't do it all myself. I can only fix a few a year with all the other things I'm doing, so I need people like you to find one to rescue :) Glad you decided to take the plunge, it's a fun little hobby. The Rock-Olas are well documented and can be repaired, and there are so many of them that they're inexpensive, I'd like to see all of them get fixed and working again before people throw any more of them in the trash! I've personally seen tons of them get parted, thrown away, etc. All the other models are cool too but I really like the Rock Olas.
Thanks!
Thank you!
Hi ... I just had this 480 rock-ola, since being one of the first with logic boards, nothing worked in the memory, and nothing could be found anymore. With regret I demolished it, keeping pieces that can fit on another rock-ola, the electromechanical 459 that works great. Congratulations on the resolution of the caliper defect, which is similar to that of the AMI mechanics, before it became Rowe. Greetings Armando.
Thanks Armando, we appreciate you watching! It sucks you had to take that one apart but at least you kept some of the parts for other machines! See you on the next video.
@@LyonsArcade Yes, I was so sorry to scrap it too, but I tried desperately to repair, and look for these logic boards, but I found nothing. Even the various restorers have recommended me to stay away from the early 1980s j.b, with these logical memories, which if they fail, there are no more spare parts. So if I buy a j.b I look only for electromechanical, which is more repairable in case of failure. Regards Arm .... :-)
Pretty cool! Not being an audiophile, I never really paid much attention to jukeboxes when I was younger, but from a technician's standpoint, getting a good look at the inner workings is fascinating to me. It's kind of like watching an episode of _How Stuff Works,_ hosted by Ron. xD
More to come this week :) .... like.... TOMORROW
Nice. I don't even have a Rock-Ola, but i have an AMI Rowe R-90. Very informative
Just bought a 440 to tinker with. Stuck like this one. Looks like I will have to take mine apart & clean too. Thanks for the video bro.
I've had hundreds of people tell me theirs was locked up until they cleaned it, I think every one of those Rock Olas do it, it must have been the factory grease siezes up on all of them! Thanks for watching!
Thank you very much!! It fixed now by turning under the motor.
Such devices have always been amazing to me.
Thanks for video
Thanks for the info, I have a 1952 Rockola Rocket. I danced to the music on it when I was a kid.
You can fix it, Jane!
@@LyonsArcade it needs a small belt and I think that other than cleaning that may be it. The electrical cord is old and the out side is all cracked up but it still works, what kind of cord do I use to replace it with.
Nice video! If you want to take apart the changer mech, remove the gripper motor first. By doing that you can freely move the gripper arm. Greetings, Willem, Hekelingen, Holland.
Thank you leyland9999 we appreciate you watching in Holland!!!
Cool, thanks for doing something a little different than pinball & arcade machines. Definitely remember these! Actual vinyl 45s.... maybe some out there who haven't even seen these before, LoL. Enjoyed the video as always.
Thanks for watching TCB we appreciate you hanging out with us!
Thank you so much! Thought mine was done for with an electrical issue
Another great video! Always like seeing how things work. I once had a Seeburg 100 Select-o-matic. Don't remember the model now, but it was just like the one on Happy Days. Picked it up for a song (pun). I think $15. Had the single speaker reconed, replaced a couple tubes, bought a service manual and went through the cal procedure. Worked great! I sure am glad after seeing this video, I didn't have to clean the mechanism on that! Sold it back in the early 80's for around $700. Wish I still had it now. So what would that be worth today If I'd replace the amplifier with new electronics? Again, thanks for the informative vid's.
Yabba Dabba Doo.!!......Thank you much. Mine was tripping the same breaker and the mechanism was also not moving. I used a little bit of PB Blaster penetrating oil and a heat gun on the gear box to soften the goop inside it and Voilà it works now.
Very cool man glad you got it working!
Fantastic video as always; thanks for posting. Hoping you can answer a quick question. . . My newly-acquired 480 trips the mech breaker when placing a record. Sometimes it will do it 1x and sometimes it will do it 4x while pulling from the carousel to the table. After play is complete it returns to the carousel with no issue (doesn't trip breaker). I went through the video's cleaning process and now all the parts move freely. I also tool the gripper gearmotor apart to make sure there wasn't a similar issue in the gearbox, and it seems to turn freely. But what I noticed watching this video (and others) versus my machine is how fast your gripper mech delivers the record versus mine, as mine takes an eternity (probably 10x as long). Looking at manual it seems between sequence 13 when voltage first is applied to the gripper motor and sequence 15 when it goes to 'slow mode' through the resistors, something isn't right. . .like it's running in slow all the way through, and the system doesn't like it. Checking transistors on the control board now, but wondering if you've seen this before and could help narrow my focus. Thanks for adding to the coin-op community!!!
I think you're on the right track, I'd look at the transistors but ultimately you may have a bad motor that's drawing too much amperage and tripping the breaker. Basically the board is sending it lots of juice trying to get it to move and it's taking forever to get there. If you cleaned it and it moves fine that just leaves you the motor itself and the power train that drives it... Maybe check the voltage on the motor when it's moving to see what voltage it's getting. When it hangs it up it sends it the same signal but it's reversed polarity to make the motor move backwards that may be a clue in the schematics...
@@LyonsArcade You, sir, are a genius. tl;dr it was the gripper motor, as you suggested. I measured the voltage while the gripper motor was running and was getting 20.0Vdc during most of its travel and dropped to about 15.5Vdc towards the end (tripping the breaker once or twice along the way). Also getting 16.0Vdc when returning to the magazine/carousel. Seemed low. I verified voltage at the rectifier board and was getting 32.5Vdc unloaded. For a loaded voltage comparison I checked voltage of the magazine motor while indexing and was getting 30.5Vdc, then went back and disconnected the gripper motor while the controller was sending a drive signal and was getting 32.0Vdc. . .probably should have done that earlier. I disassembled the gripper motor and found the brushes and commutator were a filthy mess. Cleaned it all with alcohol, cotton swabs, and a scratch pen and now it runs flawlessly! Thanks again!!!
Very nice. That will help me fix some in the future i'm sure. You were lucky you were able to clean it up, if you kept running it, it may have opened one of the windings and you'd have to get another one. Nice job, I love seeing these old jukeboxes get saved, it's such a shame more people won't work on them because they're very reliable once you understand how they work. Super high quality machines. BTW, we're starting a new channel eventually, that will be ONLY Jukeboxes! @JoesJukeboxes here on youtube....
Technology Connections also did a rather thorough tour through the selector mechanism and electromechanical memory of a Wurlitzer unit (if I remember the brand right).
I really like the variety you have on your channel.
Me too!
I have a 70s Rowe/Ami model MM2 which has the same mechanism in it. Lots of fun to work in.
This was really useful! I have a Rockola 451 jukebox that can be a little temperamental to say the least... this will help muchly!
I was reminded of a YT video of restoring a Soviet-era drill. In this case, the Soviet-era grease was so bad that the drill was completely disassembled and each piece cleaned in vodka. The resulting sludge was poured into a bottle and labeled "whiskey".
Man, Joe I wished I would of saw this video yesterday when I was trying to help a friends mom fix her jukebox. Her gripper arm was stuck almost at the full position to which it would be if it was placing a record down. When went through trying to figure out if something was jammed and if the motor that spun the carousel was bad. I did find that thumb wheel to turn the motor and it seemed I could only turn to its half its limits of travel. It wasn't turning to go to the home position where the gripper arm sits above the record and it would stop an inch or so above the platter instead of laying down flat like it should when it places a record down. We did lube everything up with some 3 in 1 oil.
We did pull the motor off and held the motor in our hand and turned the machine on. The motor made an awful buzzing noise and smoke started to come out of the casing so I guess the motor is shot from trying to move that stuck up gripper arm so we have to try and find one i guess.
Do you know of any where to find how the gripper arm assembly is supposed to be timed with the gearing? I saw when you put it back together you didn't really show how it was timed. Or does it not matter how it goes back together? I could look at how ours is, but since we were messing around with it I cannot be sure it is in the correct position anymore. After cleaning and lubing everything up the motor still smoked and got very hot so I am not sure if just the motor is bad now or if we have a timing issue. Thanks for your video this will be a huge help next time I go over to help.
I found that sometimes Silicon Spray will get these things moving again. It seems to dissolve the grease a little to make it more fluid, and it doesn't go gummy like Water Dispersant formula 40 :) Not sure if it is a long term fix, but I have had one machine that seems okay after a couple of years. Of course nothing beats a full disassemble and thorough cleanup and regrease with fresh.
i've sucessfully gotten them clean with the oil before and I think they'd be fine if you got them going and then used them a little bit, yours will probably last many years like that. I used to do all of them by just soaking them with various things but I kept running into that problem where it wouldn't grab the record to hang it back up (it may just be that the dried grease is getting worse as the years go on).... thanks for watching Brendan, we're going to do some more jukebox ones this week!
@@LyonsArcade I appreciate the teardown and cleaning. Both interesting to see it apart and I agree that nothing beats the rebuild.
What do you recon is the best way to clean up the chrome pieces? And if you drop the motor down can you move all that by hand from above? Oh these videos are awesome, thanks for taking the time.
The chrome all you can really do is use polish on it but a lot of times they have rust pits that can't be cleaned up too well. If they're really bad and it's actually chrome you can clean them up with brillo pads! Yes you can drop the motor but it has to be aligned when you put it back together so I always just leave it how it is.
Thanks for watching!
@@LyonsArcade by aligned do you mean timed? And I did get it open and carriage was in the home position but living on the very east coast of fla all the contacts and such have rust in then. I will have to dismantle most of it a bit at a time until a get it whipped. mechanical fist though. and thanks again.
Could you not use an electric drill with a flexible coupling to turn that motor shaft?
Hey Joe really appreciate your video. Just a suggestion can you get a small dole rod paint the tip and point to specific parts as you give advice. lol. My 450 Rockola spins with thumps but doesn’t stop what do you suggest the selection buttons also don’t work. Any suggestions. Thanks
That's a good idea about the pointer, i'm going to have to make one up :) The thumps, do they sound like the records moving around? They move a little bit as it spins the basket. When you start the machine up the first thing it does is move to it's home position, there is a big wheel on the right with a bunch of 'wipers' that ride on some metal tracks on the board, all those contacts need to be clean and shiny, you can use light sandpaper to clean them up, it's trying to find it's 'home' position which is just before the first record. If you watch some more of my jukebox videos I go through how I work through them to get them working. Thanks for watching!
Great Job! Would synthetic grease/oil work better and not cause issues as it ages?
You need a grease that has a non drying soap in it. Maybe a good polyurea?
maybe but I've had good luck with the 3 in 1 and it doesn't dry out like the factory stuff did....
Hello from California! Great videos. Thinking about picking up a jukebox to refurb. What's your opinion on Seeburg Jukeboxes? Not much else in my area right now.
Great video!
I enjoyed the video thanks
Awesome. I want 😫 one of those
Great job!
Just curious if all the rockola service manuals go into the detail on their sequence of operation . I was looking at buying a 474 in the future, because it's similar to a seeburg std3 I have, but it seems like the rockola service manual is alot easier to understand the sequence of operation.
The Rock Ola stuff is very detailed, they all have that breakdown like that in them...
I have mixed lithium grease with the oil, and have never had any trouble. the "tar" from cigarette smoke is the problem, having worked for a vending company, maintenance was only performed when there was a problem with the unit !!!." if it was not broke, it was not fixed"
Can you spray degreaser on it first before you put oil on to try and free it up ?
What do you soak it in to disolve the gunk ?
Good day sir, I have a Rock Ola 437 Ultra and having some slight issues. The record carriage keeps turning once the record has been place in its slot. Than automatically grabs another record plays it and resumes the same process again.. your help will be appreciated! Thank you.
In general it will keep doing that for as long as it thinks there are selections left to play. When you play 1, when it picks the record up (just about the same time) there is a big click and the 'read out' arm has a little hammer on it that knocks the pin on the side of the pin bank back over to the other side, so that the record is cancelled.
It could be that the arm is misaligned, or the power is not getting to the coil that moves the little lever back.
Look on the side of the pinbank opposite the basket, and see if a bunch of the little levers are pushed over, each one that is makes the machine think it needs to play another record. you can turn them back off by hand, and then turn it on and see if it stops trying to play (since nothing is selected).... then try to select one, see if the pin gets knocked over, then see if when it plays it it knocks the pin back the other way. If you have a manual it shows how all this happens in the manual.
Thanks!
Three in one oil is good.. but you can spray a little bit of PB blaster and that blaster will help soften some of that paraffin wax grease and it softens the wax from the oil without harming any other components then you can go back and lube it with the three in one and the petroleum's from the grease will still be there... A, just to get it moving tip
I hav a rockola 1462 i sure i hav the same problem. i will be working on it soon thaqnk you very much
Very cool Steve, let me know how it turns out!
Could you chuck the motor shaft into a drill to work it?
Typically it'll turn a little bit and then something will bind so I wouldn't want to force it. All the parts are cast aluminum or something, I've had several I've bought in the past that are broken....
Love your videos, I have a rock-ola 445 which is in dire need of a service, I watched your video on that model a year or two back and feel I could carry the job out myself but where can I get an on line manual from? Thanks
I've never found a 445 but there is a scan of the 442 manual floating around on the internet it's pretty much the same.
I vote you take the record changer apart, then sandblast the shrieking hell out of everything; that’ll REALLY clean it!
I had a AMI that would sometimes pick the wrong record or try to put it away in the wrong spot Mechanism is very similar I don't have that unit any more but was curious if you had a idea of how to fix that
If it was only off like 1 record in the basket usually it's an adjustment, that's probably what was wrong. If it picks the wrong one (but puts it back in the right place, i.e. where it came from) then it's a selection system problem.... i'll bet the basket was just slightly off though and it would grab the record beside the one it was supposed to, or accidentally put it back in the slot next door.
hey joe have a 477/481 rockola juke box q with a 52280-A amp in it can you show us how to test the amp out if the juke or any any one else can help thank you from john
Would it be the same kind of setup for CD jukeboxes?
Or is it a different setup?
The mechanism in a CD box is a little more precision since the CD's are more fragile, I've never seen one of them have the grease issue just because they're not these big heavy duty units like these had. The carousel is much smaller and works a little different it doesn't have the same large gears and pistons that these type have.
Hopefully I can the inside of one.
And the working mechanisms that powers them.
There still to new I guess.
Have you ever tried automotive brake cleaner on that grease? You would probably want to remove the records first, as I don't know how it would affect the vinyl. However, brake cleaner will dissolve most of that gummy grease in a heartbeat.
I have! th-cam.com/video/toWOMZ8tH7A/w-d-xo.html
How do you play the other side of the record? I have a rockola 474.
I have a 1981 481 max2 rockola that keeps tripping the mechinism breaker 5 to 10 times to play a record. Once itstarts playing it will finish. Then it trips again goingback to badket. Im thinking cleaning mech and or replace mech breaker. Your thougyt?
Anyone else try reading the record labels to try to figure out the bands?
Awesome video Ronnie and lets all try and help Donnie get to 1000 subscribers before Christmas!!!!
We’re trying!
I need a model 450 key. Do you have one or know where I can order one? Not on eBay.
Anotoinette give the guy at www.JukeBoxParts.com a try!
@@LyonsArcade Anyone in Reno, NV? Thanks
Have a simular Rock-ola. You showed a video where you cleaned the alternate god (which changes the playing side). Mine won't change sides to play the second side. Do you show a vide on tear down. I've cleaned but it still won't switch. Only sprayed cleaner but still it won't switch. Help. Ted from seattle
1968 rock-rola
Ahh the era of the juke box
Hey Mr.Joe I have a Rockola princess deluxe model 435 its been sitting for years what do I need to lubricate and My B side doesn't select you push the buttons it fires and kicks back up never fires anything on.
I went through the same thing with a Seeburg... old grease turns to glue.
Man that would be a nightmare on a Seeburg since those things are so intricate....
@@LyonsArcade I'm currently going through the nightmare that is an old Seeburg
👍👍👍
Hey! Is that clock in front of the lil store you guys got the one you fixed a while back?
There isn't a clock in front of this store, but there's one in Jefferson.
@@LyonsArcade cool thought the top looked different. We don't have such things up here at the North Pole. I do remember public clocks like that growing up back east.
Keep up the good work and thanks
Wow, this is exactly why power seats stop working 99% of the time! Hardened grease also plays havoc on old single-speed bicycle hubs.
just picked up a rockola 425 thats not.doing anything too! will clean it and see what happens
I just got a rockola jukebox n it turns on but where u pick the songs out don't work. Any helpful hints
You need to see if it has credits on it, and if it moves and 'writes in' the selection or not first
i bet nicotine played a big part in all of that dried out gunky grease. synthetic fishing reel lube might be a cool thing to use.
My Rockola CD box had the same problem. I found it easier to remove the gripper to clean and lubricate it. My manual called out for using grease not oil. Any reason you didn’t grease it?
Hey just working on a 100 CD 3000 model, I think oil is too thin, white lithium grease works great
I’ve got a 1448 and the gripper arm is stuck solid in the play position and I cannot get it to move up toward the record carousel at all, like it is hitting something solid. It will move freely front & back and rotate freely 3pm to 9am by hand. Suggestions?
Sounds like it's jammed up with grease like in the video...
Do You Ever Find Any CD Juke Boxes?
Where are you located?
After it’s not stuck anymore, maybe some motorkote? Project farm YT channel done a review on it in the past, and I have used on old 60-70s eras fans the used to need to be lubricated after about a month. Not anymore since motorkote. You’re welcome;-)
I sooooo want this 3 in 1 SAE20 oil for my Sebburg VL200 but I can’t get this to the Netherlands without rediculous shipping cost (almost $189,- !😱😱😱 at Amazon) what alternative can I use???
There's likely some company that makes SAE20 oil locally. It's not an uncommon oil. In the USA, SAE30 ND (Non Detergent) is sold for air compressors. I would check at a tool store, and ask for Electric Motor Oil. That's the SAE20 stuff.
Like Koby said it doesn't have to be 3 in 1 brand it's really just the weight of the oil that is important, they've got to have some locally in the Netherlands, they put it in pretty much every machine that does anything!
I have a Rockola and the arm doesn't not land on the record as it should. How can we fix that?
My 1448 has stopped working. When you depress a selection a buzz comes from the accumulator assembly. Any ideas?
I have a rockola 488 everything worked fine until the other day. the panel where you make the record selection is blank no lights so nothing works. Any help you can give me would be wonderful. I can send pictures to you if you provide me a email. pictures will show lights currently working and what lights are out. Thanking u in advance.
11:49 What did you do after this? I got to this step and it stopped operating and scanning a well...
I kept oiling it until everything moved properly...
@@LyonsArcade Awesome, thanks. Ill keep doing this.
My micro switch cam in the back was loose needed to be tightened down but what is the proper setting for I can't really understand my manual can you maybe perhaps show me?
A friend of mine wants me to fix his Seeburg Q100. He says there is upto 300v on the record arm components. Needless to say..we're buying a manual
As long as it's not powered up you're usually alright!
# So put another dime in the jukebox, baby. Nice!
Try A Little Gunk I Use It.
If you're trying to fix yours at home, take pictures as you go, or at the very least mark the orientation with a sharpie. Should help with trying to figure out what goes where and/or which way around it goes in case you forget.
Pictures definitely help!
Cool
Yeah Donnie does some crazy shit alright lol
He's pretty wild, Joey's pretty mad you called him Joey Biden though....
@@LyonsArcade aww haha only kidding..how about joe Kennedy grandson of Robert f Kennedy
That's not much better, hahaha
I'm surprised you didn't chuck that motor to the end of a drill instead of hand turning.
If the mechanism is stuck and you put a drill on it you'll break half the shit in the jukebox if it binds at any point in the rotation...
Got it! 👍🏻
Comment on the gunk: SPEEEEWWWWWWW
Once you remove the parts from the machine, a can of "Brake Clean" will kick that old grease's ass AND it will look like new.
Kroil
35 minuti di parole parole ma niente musica 😢
Waffle House back in the day.
I had one that almost burned the motor and resistors because of the gunk between the cilinder
Yeah they will pop the circuit breaker too when they get stuck like that...