Wurlitzer OMT Tone Arm Issues

I received a service call today to check out a Wurlitzer OMT (1987 purchase date) that was formerly working but no longer functioned as designed. When I arrived at the home I was told that the transfer arm would not move records to the turntable and that the man of the house got in the habit of manually moving records to the turntable and the moving the tone-arm by hand to play records. Not really sure how this worked, but apparently it did for a while. I of course told the owner of the juke that it was NOT a good idea to manually move any of the components.

Prior to traveling to the home in question, I did some research and secured a copy of the manual from the Gibson website (http://archive.gibson.com/Files/Wurly/p ... eVinyl.pdf). I also did a search of this forum for any previous inquiries regarding the OMT 45 series of jukeboxes.

Below are some photos of the jukebox in question.







I ran the machine through the various tests using the Service Program as indicated in the manual. All components functioned properly until I pressed #7. At this point a record was transferred toward the turntable, but it became hung up on the tone arm as it was set down to be played. I depressed the cancel button to return the record to the carrier, at which time the record became caught up in the tone arm. The transfer arm returned to the record carrier, leaving the 45 behind. I used the record carrier advance lever to rotate the carrier and manually replaced the 45 in its proper place.



As you can see by the photo above, the tone are rests too close to the turntable when the machine is in the resting state. I presume this is the result of being manually mainpulated by the owner. Page 24 of the manual mentions "two worm screws M3x4" that should be tightened if tone are is loose on the shaft. I could not visually locate these screws. I attempted to access the underside of the mech by removing the plate that runs the width of the machine at the front of the mech, but could not figure out how to either pull the entire mech forward or remove the larger flat place that sits under the mech. I figure that the screws in question are accessible from underneath, but I cannot figure out how to access the mech and cannot locate anything in the manual that describes how to do so.



Another confusing aspect of this jukeboxi is that the manual indicates that the primary service switch is located on the SCC. However, there is another service switch that sits just to the right of the display mount. What is the function of this switch? Should it be in the "on" or "off" position when the machine is in regular use?



Finally, there appears to be quite a bit of white lithium grease in the gears of the transfer arm. I presume this was from a previous service visit. I did find a old scanned lubrication guide that stated ONE DROP of lubricant should be placed in this location. Should I attempt to remove this grease or leave it as is?

Hi
The correct tone arm resting point is just as in photo at the edge of the turntable, when a record is selected and placed on the turntable the tone arm should retract back and then forward and land on record. From what I have seen previously with these machines the mechanical sections that link the tone arm to the cam and also below the tone arm need lubrication,
clones

Thanks for the input clones. So the question then remains, how the heck do I access the mech from below to properly check and lube the tone arm components and associated gears?

Since these OMT machines are going for in the + $10,000 range, I'd prefer to get someone qualified in servicing them.
Before something messy happens.

As helpful as that is Matt, I am pretty much the only option for tech services within several hundred miles. I am confident that I am more than capable of rectifying the issue given proper information.

With that said, if anyone can provide information on how to access the mech properly, that would be greatly appreciated.

Hi
Can the main cam and various linkages be accessed by removing the back
clones

Back is not "removable"on any I have seen--seems like it's pretty self evident--look at the parts section, of the service manual. If you have the black metal pan under there--there are several Phillips screws and some # 10 (I think) metric nuts holding it up--
And--to answer what you asked earlier about the switch on the mech shelf marked "Service----", If you look at the Service Manual, you will note that they had changed that printing to read "Gripper Motor---" on later production phonographs. Ron Rich

Thanks for the input gentlemen. Ron, my copy of the manual does not even mention the second "service" switch, least not that I could see. Thanks for the clarification. I plan to return and hopefully access the mech tomorrow.

Just wanted to report back that this machine is back up and running. The tone arm assembly simply required a bit of lubrication. May replace one of the springs that brings the tone arm back over the record and have a new needle on order. Otherwise this jukebox is back up an running as it should.