1953 AMI E-120 Restoration

Hey Guys-

Finally got around to snapping some photos of the AMI E-120 I inquired about moving in an earlier post. It made the journey unharmed and I thought it might be fun to chronicle the restoration of this machine. This will be my first jukebox attempt, my main collecting interests are antique radios and TV's. I will be working on it as time allows so it might be an "off and on" project. I am no expert and I'm sure this will be evident...



The machine seems 99.9% complete and untouched. It is quite dirty, covered in dirt and nicotine. The seller stated that he recently pulled it out of a bar where it had been living in the back room since the 1960's. This seems to be the case, as all the records are from this time period. Also, once I obtained a key and opened the machine up, the coin bag was about half full! Score! There was just shy of $120 in change still in the machine, all dating from the mid 1960's.

Included in the bottom of the box was a cigar box full of tubes, all tested good in 1969! A few spare belts and a note that a diamond needle was installed in '69. (I removed carriage cover earlier)



I decided to carefully power-up the box to see what it would do. I removed the rectifier from the amp to prevent HV and switched the box on. The three fluorescent tubes eventually came on, and the color wheel motors sprang to life. I had to clean the dust and grime off the shafts with a stiff brush to have them run reliably. The left and right lower color wheels rotate well, but the top wheel behind the selections seems to be missing a drive part from the motor (tough to see in the manual).

Dropping a nickel in the slot got the machine making some noise and making a selection actually got the carriage to start moving - but very slowly. When it reached the correct selection, that was it - no further movement.

I decided I should take some time to start cleaning the hard grease and oil (and who knows what else) from the mechanism moving parts. Everything seemed pretty gummed-up.

After about 5 hours of disassembling, cleaning, oiling and assembling (and sometimes re-cleaning and re-oiling), the mechanicals of the box seem to be working well. It will find the correct selection, pick-up the record, attempt to play it and put the record back in the rack. A huge improvement.

Now I am slowly going through the amp. A complete re-cap is under way and I am also replacing all the carbon comp resistors. Out of 20 resistors so far I have only found 2 that measure within tolerance. Another evening or two and the amp should be complete and ready to go.

I am assuming the Jensen 15" speaker is a replacement??? Below are some photos.

Thanks,
Matt



I believe the photo below shows an "arm" that is used to rock the upper color wheel back and forth??? I am missing the part that should be on the motor shaft. The manual does not show this well. Anyone have a photo of this part?







New power cord and polarized plug for the power supply.



Nasty nicotine coating on everything!

I had some time this weekend to get some more work done on the AMI. I am concentrating on replacing all the rubber wiring, which is brittle and badly cracked. This includes most of the mechanism and turntable wiring as well as all the lamp wiring. I was able to get most of the wiring replaced - the front lower lamp and color-wheel motor wiring is all that is left. I am also going to replace the front lamp ballasts. I have also been able to make some progress with general cleaning. This thing is filthy! Amplifier is 99% complete - just waiting on a few caps from Mouser to arrive that have been delayed a week so far because of all the winter weather we have been having.

Matt





New wiring

mdmccool

If you don't mind me asking, where did you purchase the wire and what size wire did you use at the various locations?

I also have an E-120 that needs the wiring replaced, seems to be a very common problem, especially on this model.

Best
Darrell

Darrell,

The wire is common 18/2 (18 gauge, 2 conductor) copper stranded wire - commonly called lamp cord or lamp wire. I bought a roll at my local Home Depot. It is sold by the foot too but is much more expensive. I think it was about $0.40 per foot but I bought a roll of 250ft for about $45 or $0.18/ft. The excess will get used eventually.

Seems like a lot of machines used this type of wire and it has not aged well.

Thanks,

Matt

Matt,
Only AMi used that wire--the reason for it's use--it was "free"--
An old AMi dealer told me the story on that--seems that a company called "Triangle wire" purchased AMi Music sometime in the 40-50'. During WW II, they produced that wire for the govt--well, war ended, govt wanted no more, so it had been sitting (rotting) for years, somewhere, so they told AMi to "use it up"-- Last new RoweAMi I saw, still used Triangle brand screws, to fasten parts together. Look for the "triangle shape" on top of all "drive head" type screws.
Ron Rich

Ron-,

Very interesting - thanks for the info. Guess you can't blame AMI, free is good!

I have found that any "lamp cord" type wire I encounter in pre-war electronics (and some post war) suffer the same fate as the wire in this AMI - crispy! In fact, most pre-war rubber covered wire warrants immediate replacement.

I will keep an eye out for "triangle screws."


Thanks again,
Matt

Any chance anyone has a photo or drawing of the part that attaches to the motor shaft that "rocks" the upper color wheel? I believe I have the "arm" but I am missing the motor part. The service manual does not show this part in detail. Hopefully I can find one or make something that will work.

Am I correct in assuming that this is piece of the puzzle?



Thanks,
Matt

Making slow but steady progress on this machine. Finished up all the mech wiring. Also replaced the title strip lamp wiring (upper) and one of the lower lamps. Replaced the ballasts and all wiring. Lubed and cleaned all color-wheel motors. Just have the left side lamp and motor wiring to replace.

Also finished the amp. I think there are only a few mica caps and 2 wire wound resistors left. Everything else has been replaced. Installed it in the box and fired it for the first time in probably 40+ years! Didn't sound too bad but was distorted and played a little slow. A new P51 cartridge and a new set of belts has it sounding sweet.

It seems as if now I need to readjust the tonearm completely as the new P51 is much shorter than the original. If the transfer arm is on the tonearm side in the play position, the tonearm just lays on the transfer arm, above the record to be played. Should I shim the cart down for more clearance?

Final mech wiring


New upper lamp wiring


Rebuilt amp


Rewired front lamp and motor

Cool.
Looks great ! --I would "shim" it, as it's "all about the angle of the dangle"----also, check tonearm pressure--
Ron Rich

Ron Rich wrote:Cool.
Looks great ! --I would "shim" it, as it's "all about the angle of the dangle"----also, check tonearm pressure--
Ron Rich

Thanks Ron - Yes, I absolutely have to set the tonearm pressure - thanks for the reminder. Been meaning to check the manual about that. (Hopefully it's in there)!

Matt

Cool,
Don't go by manual, in THIS case--if original "P-51", about 7 grams--if "new replacement type", get as close to 4 grams as possible----Ron Rich

OK - great - it's a new replacement type so I'll plan on 4 grams...Matt

Looks great!!! You have put a lot of hard work into the jukebox. I have an ami E-120 as well and I am in the process of replacing the tone arm wire. Could you tell me what you ended up using ? There isnt much out there as far as I can tell for replacement. I did find someone selling some wire on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/150999952202?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT . Any info is appreciated.

Hi,

i am located in France and i am actually working on restauration of the same Ami E-120.

i bought a user's manual on ebay and began to work on it and now it sounds. i only have one problem, the turntable speed is too low.

i first thougth that it was due to the belt, but in fact no.

i have seen some informations that it is due to the voltage frequency which is not the same here in France that in the usa, 60 Hz in the USA only 50 here in France. in the manual I have bought, it's said that the turntable motor should be modified and that the modification is fully described int the mechanism service manual... but I do not have this in the one I bought...

does someone could help?

many thanks

luc

Hi Luc,
I am just wondering--If this phono was operated in Europe before, I would suspect that the 50/60 Hz. issue should have already been addressed ? ( this is done either by installing the correct motor, or by increasing the diameter of the motor shaft--usually by the addition of a spring, wrapped around the shaft) That being the case, I am wondering if this is not caused by a "lubrication problem" ? Either lack of, improper, or an excess of lubrication, can cause a "slow" turntable. Ron Rich