Seeburg HF100G - problem selecting and playing record

Hi Rob,
I'm cool--temp here today is in the low 70's--nice !!-- You are correct--who knows what the word "restore" means any more --and of course, transporting it 5, 50, or 500, miles without the proper procedure being followed could have shaken anything "loose"-- Ron Rich

So the person who restored this is Mike Fulper of Ohio Seeburg Repair. I'm only mentioning him because it may speak to the quality of his work to people who know him. According to the paperwork he gave me "All components have been cleaned by ultrasound. Everything has been oiled, greased, etc as needed. Unless we request you to, do not oil or grease anything."

He gave me a 5 year warranty, but I have to bring the jukebox back to him for any work, which makes it rather impractical to make a claim on.

He finally emailed me back today. He's in SC. He basically just said it's probably a loose connection and wished me luck. I'm gonna need it.

Arthur, I can't recommend just tinkering before you get a manual....but...this link will give you the basic clutch setup protocol:
http://jukeboxwiz.com/uploads/LPC_480_MECHANISM.pdf

It is for an LPC, but the clutch adjustments are exactly what I have used for 30 years. Clutch begins Pg7.

Once you look at these line drawings you can look at the clutch in operation and see if it is shifting properly.
The "clutch member" is the segment that shifts up -for record handling, stops midway during play (this is probably where the problem is) and shifts down for scan.

Rob

Hi Arthur,
I can almost 100 % guarantee that this is NOT a "loose connection" (in the jukebox!) ! This is a clutch failure of some nature. Most often this symptom (hearing the double "click" of the pop meter/cancel coils), is caused by the clutch pin adhering itself to either the clutch yoke. #2 detent lever, clutch housing. SOMETIMES, using a large dose of 20 wt. ND oil in that area will free it up--eventually ! Other times it will require the whole clutch assembly be removed, the pin "punched out", and cleaned-up /re-lubed. Only one other rare thing I have seen can cause this. Three are two "support pins" connected to the clutch yoke that hold the clutch "blocks"--Once in awhile, the longer of the two becomes loose and binds the clutch member. Like I think I said earlier, I explain my procedure for dealing with the first problem in my "Seeburg Mechanism Guide". ( If you wish, you may PM me to purchase a copy). Ron Rich

I'm back! Guess what...my jukebox now works. And you might be interested to see what the issue was. I bought all the books and tried all of the obvious things that the books and the good people on this forum and over at KLOV told me to check. Everything looked good. I gave up for a while and moved on to other things while the juke sat collecting dust. I finally decided to hire someone to look at it in the hopes of having it working this past weekend for my son's 3rd birthday party. The whole family would be over and I did not want to answer all of the questions about why my jukebox, which was away for years being restored, still does not work. I got Jeff Statler from Grand American Jukebox to come out and look at it,. We had emailed back and forth and he had offered several suggestions which were similar to what everyone else was suggesting. He was very polite and great at showing me what he was checking and telling me what he was doing. I was extremely happy with his service and would recommend him to anyone. When he removed the right side cover from the mechanism (when looking from the front) he immediately saw something that looked wrong. A second later he was showing me what was keeping the juke from playing records.

So in the picture, #1 is pointing to a wire that is essentially a paper clip. It may not be an actual paper clip, but it is that type of wire. Not very stiff, very bendable. A screw had been loosened and the wire wrapped around it and the screw tightened to hold it in place.

#2 is pointing to the area where the wire was stuck into. It was pushing the nut looking item to the left, so that the item being pointed to in #3 would not fully go down and would keep rejecting the record. The second the wire was moved out of the way, everything worked. Jeff had no idea why the wire was there to begin with.

I am curious if anyone has ever seen this and if there might be some purpose for this wire other than to cause me grief.

I can't imagine why "someone" would have added that wire there--How was it "restored" with that wire attached???--hope you did not pay to much to the "restorer " !! Enjoy your music --- Ron Rich

Ron Rich wrote:I can't imagine why "someone" would have added that wire there--How was it "restored" with that wire attached???--hope you did not pay to much to the "restorer " !! Enjoy your music --- Ron Rich

Unfortunately I paid several thousand dollars to the restorer...all up front...and he proceeded to take 7 years to complete the job when he said it would take 2...and he blamed Obama for all delays. But, I am just happy that it is working. Hopefully it will stay working.

I do have a question about the records to play on this, but I am still reading. I figure it has probably been answered. Basically it has to do with playing mono 45s vs stereo 45s. My wife loaded it up and it seems like the newer 45s sounds like crap and from what I have read so far, I am thinking that the mono needles were not designed to play the stereo 45s....vertical and lateral grooving, etc.

Hi Arthur,
You are correct on both counts--originally that phono was not designed to play stereo records, and it will never (without HEAVY modifications) play in stereo. However, there are several alternative cartridges, and needles available, which should allow all records to sound good. My choice today, would be either an original (re-built !) Seeburg/Pickering "blackhead", or a Seeburg/Pickering "red head". Either one can be equipped with ".7mil" needles, which if the tone arm pressure is set correctly will provide good sound on all records.
PS--I just remembered you had a video--looked at it and it appears that you have the redhead cartridge equipped with mono needles--I suggest you contact one of the suppliers listed above for a set of "7 mil" needles--not cheap--but worth it IMHO.
Ron Rich

The reply that I got when I inquired about the wire was this:

"The paper clip has to be there.... it keeps the safety plunger head from

"sticking" to the chassis....odd that it got bent "out" a little to cause that

problem...."

"After looking at the picture.... looks like a record maybe "caught" that clip and moved it out...

Long part should be closer to the chassis....

then bent in sharply so head of plunger doesn't touch the chassis...."


I am not entirely sure what he is talking about as I don't know what the "plunger head" is, unless it is the thing that the number 2 arrow is pointing to. I would think there is a better way though. Thoughts?

Hi Arthur,
I understand what he was attempting to accomplish--there are other (IMHO, better!) methods of doing this--Yes--the safety plunger is item 2 in your photo. Ron Rich