Seeburg maintenance schedule

SteveFury · by **SteveFury** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 2:36 am

Greetings and thanks for any advice.

I got a neglected Seeburg AY-160 about a year ago.
I recapped the selection amplifier, tormat controller, stepper unit and audio amp. I replaced out of tolerance resistors, polished it all up and continues to work flawlessly. I also went all through the mechanism according to the service manual. Part of the servicing I did was to the clutch assembly to clean out the accumulated gunk/etc and did the clutch stop adjustments. I can't list here everything I've done to restore this, but let me say I am proud to have and listen to it.

I noticed dust likes to collect on the back sides of the records in the magazine so I open the front and rear of the Seeburg and use compressed air to blow it out every month or so. I also take the time to keep it vacuumed out both in the mechanism area and lower area. You won't smell any dust burning off my tubes. That's about all I've done over the past few months.

My Seeburg does fairly light duty... maybe a couple dozen songs a week.

You can see I am very interested in maintenance and I was wondering how often it should be performed, particularly on the mechanism. I did a real good job on the clutch before and I understand it won't need to be removed again for quite some time. It's been 6 to 9 months since I've done the mechanism lubrication points and would like to go over it again but I don't want to over lubricate either.

So how often should I go over the lubrication points?
Thanks in advance.

DoghouseRiley · by **DoghouseRiley** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 11:08 am

The schedules for maintenance on any jukebox if issued by the manufacturer, presumes heavy usage, after all, the primary purpose of a jukebox was to make money. What you're playing in a week, could have been played in an hour in a busy bar when the jukebox was in commercial use.
My two Rock-Olas don't get any more use than yours. But I make sure they do get used every week, as I subscribe to the view that, "use is the best form of preventative maintenance." I give them a bit of lubrication every six months or so, I don't think it's that critical.
I do find as you do, that the records do get dusty, particularly those in the carousel which are horizontal or near to it. So I give them a clean every three months and I put some record cleaning fluid on the little brush, before I use them, if I can remember to do so.

by **Ron Rich** » Sun Jul 06, 2014 5:06 pm

Hi Steve,
Records in a Seeburg should not "get dusty". The fact that this is happening, makes me think that either you have failed to close off the small "door", used on that model where the TMU wire descends, or the plug for the mechanism cable is not in place? The "upper section" should be sealed from the lower, amp/TSU compartment.
Oiling, I would suggest, should be done, every six months, not depending on phono usage, for at least the first year. If PROPER, "lubrication procedures", were followed, after a compleat tear down, in about two years of oiling, you will begin to see oil left in spots. When this happens, it is not necessary to "dump" more oil in those spots---but do, keep the motor cups filled at all times !
Ron Rich