ami e120 jukebox tonearm wire replacment help

I have an ami e -120 jukebox and noticed lately that the sound would cut on and off (usually after a new selection has been made) after doing some poking around I had realized that the tone are wire has a weak spot in it. The weak spot is in the cluster of wires that constantly go back and forth after each selection. If I move it around just a little it will have sound again. I would like to replace the tonearm wire from the tonearm to the amp and wanted to know if anyone knew where I can get mono insulated tonearm wire? Also should I use the plug on the old tonearm wire that goes to the amp and solder the new wire on or is there a replacement plug as well? I removed the tonearm wire completely from the jukebox last night. That was not an easy task. Any help is appreciated. Thanks Dennis

the cable on mine was just a shielded coaxial cable and at the tone arm it was broke out to a twisted pair and at the amp the shield went to one pin and the center went to the other.

My cable was in bad shape when I aquired my juke but I didn't use anything fancy. I found a nice long coaxial cable with rca connectors on each end. I cut one end off and soldered that end to the 2 pin plug that goes into the amp so it would basically be a converter from the old 2 pin plug to the rca plug. Then I took the remaining one ended cable and routed it through the mecanism brackets and loop until I got to the turntable. My coaxial cable was very small guage so it was flexable to run all the way to the cartridge but usually there is a twisted pair from the cartridge to the shielded cable so the tonearm can move without the cable putting any force on it. The other end still has a rca male end on it and the amp did too because I used the other male end as well so I just got a double female to join them.

it worked for me but the main point is that the cable is shielded so you dont pick up a bunch of interference in your sound

I found cable available on ebay I will post below. I am thinking this will work. Then I am guessing I will have to use the original 2 pin plug that goes to the amp and unsolder old cable and solder in new. I just want to make sure I am getting the right items plus I dont want to have to do it again anytime soon. I dont see the two pin plug anywhere for sale.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JUKEBOX-TONE-AR ... 0999952202?

the cable in your link looks like a standard coaxial cable but you will still need some twisted pair from it for the tone arm and yes you will have to unsolder the old 2 pin plug from the existing cable and resolder it to your new one. I did it with a small torch to head the pins and when they are warm enough you can pull the old cable out of them. Going back together is the same just tin your leads good but not to globby so you can get them into the backside of the pins and reheat to melt them in.

The twisted pair is something like this

http://www.dedicatedaudio.com/inc/sdetail/891/3928

4 wire will work but you will only be using 2 of them

Thanks for the info. The original wire that I pulled off was 1 insulated wire inside with braided copper on the outside of that then a cloth outer insulation .At the plug the insulated wire goes to 1 pin and the copper braid goes to the other.

correct they will unsolder with a small torch just heat the pins while holding the bacolite plug with a pair of pliers and you should be able to pull them out. I dont know if it makes a difference which side goes where but I didn't want to take a chance so note which one is where before you unsolder

Thanks, I planned on making note of the wires when I pull them out of the plug . I would rather play it safe and put new wire exactly how old ones where in the same pins. I havent ordered the wire yet I just want to see what it out there before I do. I did order some new drive belts after noticing mine were a little dry rotted and cracked.

I ended up buying the wire from ebay and will reuse my plug ,so hopefully will all go well.

I got the new tonearm wire last light and I unsoldered the original pin and clips that were on the old wire and soldered them on the new one. Then I ran the new wire through the wire harness on the jukebox and I am back in business as far as that goes. The only thing I am having an issue with is that I had to take the tonearm off in order to rewire it and there is a threaded rod and nut that hold the arm on and it seems as if I cant find the sweet spot yet so that it doesnt skip. There is a counterbalance on the back of the tonearm and so far I havent been able to adjust it to where it needs to be.

Tone arm wire "dressing", and "flexibility" are critical on that (and most, all) "record players". I hope you remember EXACTLY the "dressing arrangement", and the wire you purchased was flexible enough--the counterbalance should be set using a gauge.Ron Rich

I made note exactly where the wire was before I took it out and the new wire went in exactly how the old one was.Thats part of why I took the tone arm off to see exactly how the wire was placed. The wire I purchased was from a guy who said this wire would work great in the jukebox and says he has been in the business over 40 years and has put on many ami's. The flexibility seems to be the same as old wire. As far as a guage I do not have one and will look into that. Thanks

The dressing under and, AROUND, the tonearm are critical--did you oil the toe arm shaft, when you had it out ?
Ron Rich

I put a drop of zoom spout on each side.

Tried again to figure out the problem without any luck. The tonearm will come down and set on the record and start to play and after about 30 seconds it will slide back to the beginning. Really not sure what to try next. I am going to post some pictures of the tonearm and the tonearm off, you can see in the pictures that after I take the tonearm off it has two punched holes on the shaft one on each side and you can see one side in the picture. Now when you put the tone arm back on both sides sit in the punched holes. On the left side there is a nut and threaded rod that you put in and tighten it down,but the tonearm has to move freely so you take the threaded rod and turn it in until it hits the punched out hole(which you cant go through it is smaller than the threaded rod) then you tighten down the nut. Everything else that can be adjusted on the tonearm was untouched. Any help is appreciated.

The trouble with all this is that those pivots are kinda delicate, and extreme care is required when assembling them.
The adjustments are critical, on the order of like 0.0001 inch, in order for them to be friction-free, and also have negligable "play" in them.
Any carelessness in reassembling them will cause burrs, scratches, or rough edges if overly tightened, causing binding or rendering the pivots junk.
The wiring lead dress is also critical to allow totally free movement of the arm over its swing.

Just as critical leaf-switch adjustments, it's a "surgeons procedure" and should be performed as such, otherwise damage will cause malfunctioning and a total rebuild will be needed.
There is no room for mistakes.