Rock-ola 470 selection problem

Hi I recently bought a Rock-ola 470. It was in pretty bad shape. Sides were completely rotten away etc.
You don't see these that often in South Africa so beggars cant be choosers. After cleaning it up and fitting a new needle it worked pretty ok. I had to remove the glass top to replace the hing as well as replaced the two sides with new ones. Now when I select a song the selection arm just rotates never stops just keeps on turning until I press the breaker on the inside. Does it with all the selections.

Any ideas?

Thanks
Johan

Johan,
Welcome !
I would suggest that you purchase a service manual package ( ligit sellers are listed above in "announcements"), READ it, and get back to us with clearer info., if you can't determine the problem yourself. Ron Rich

Hi do you know of a online pdf version I can buy? Mail to South Africa takes about 6-8 weeks and thats only if it doesn't go missing.

Johan

No--sorry, every "on-line" version, and many printed ones, I have seen are very poor quality--
Ron Rich

Hi,

I have a 433 model and exactly the same problem. On my machine almost all selections work though,however, if I use a letter combination with the 8 button, the read in arm keeps on turning without making any selection.

Were you able to solve your problem?

Cheers,

VDS

I just bought a few Jukeboxes, including a 470 and a 463 (100 selection version of the 464). When the seller was demonstrating the 463, the basket kept turning and turning instead of stopping on a selection; this seems to be what you're describing. The fellow, who has been in the jukebox business since he was a kid (his parent's vending business), said the problem was the wobble plate was sticking from sitting up for a very long time without being played. He then sprayed some loosening solvent on a particular spot near the basket hub and manipulated/wiggled something underneath, and it began to work properly. Since then, it stuck with me only once, and I wiggled a few things underneath and between the basket and the turntable mechanism and it let go to work correctly. I had a 464 (the large version of the 463) and now have a 470, and from what I can tell, they are all at least close to identical inside, with the same basic set up as the 463, aside from the parts specifically dealing with the number of records they hold, so the same issue should be able to be solved the same way.

All that said, I'm just beginning to work on these babies, and I do have a manual for my 448 and 463, and they all look pretty much the same as far as the systems go, but in looking at the manual, from what I can tell, the wobble plate is to the right (opposite) of the turntable, a part of the write/read mechanism, but that system is directly connected to the basket (has to be to pick the right record), so the part that is sticking may be the part involved with resetting the toggle once the record is selected. I've found that the manuals are not extremely clear on a lot of things unless you're familiar with these systems (which I'm not, from a servicing point of view), but I trust what the man with probably 40 years experience said and did, and it did work for me the one time it acted up, so maybe you'll have to manipulate it several times before it limbers up and works consistently and reliably.

I hope this helps, and good luck with your restoration!

Rocky Rockola, Newbie

VDS-Rocky,
VDS--there is no such animal as "read in arm"--Please read the manual, and explain if you are talking about the "write-in", or "read-out" arm. Check the latter circuit in the keyboard for the "8" problem. MOST of the time, you will find the key just prior, is not doing it's job ( in this case #7 is suspect).
Rocky--there is no "wobble plate" in the area you speak of. The "wobble plate" is located inside of the selection drum, and is activated by the coil that sits atop of that unit ??
Ron Rich

Ron, you are correct- I meant "write in" instead of "read in", and yes, I'm aware the wobble plate is in the selection drum, but the guy I bought the 470 (and the 463) from said the wobble plate was sticking, and he sprayed and fiddled with something underneath and just right of the basket. Whether or not it was a wobble plate problem or not, what he did solved the problem for him, as well as the one time for me, and he has been around jukeboxes all his life, so, being a newbie, I took his word for it. My thought was that something where he showed me (to the left of the turntable) is connected to the wobble plate to the right of the turntable, but, as I said, being a newbie, I can't swear to it. The manuals don't seem to be written for trouble-shooting, but (most of the time, anyway) simply tell what happens when all is operating as it should. Experience is invaluable when working on these automated, analogue, mechanical-memoried marvels of music-making, and I have very little. So if someone has a better suggestion and knows exactly what the problem is, they should speak up- but no one had or has, so I attempted to help (despite my slight mix-up in terms).

Johandj, after I posted that reply, I went back and looked at the manual and saw that the write in arm rotates and searches for the live circuit among the 8 sectors (8 sectors on 160 selection models, 5 on 100 selection models). When it finds the live circuit, the connection causes the write in motor to stop ("braked" by way of an opposing current to the motor) and the "toggle" for that selection is flipped, waiting to be read and reset by the "read" arm.

I don't have the manual with me at the moment, but (working from memory of the sequence) perhaps the write in arm is not registering the live circuit due to build-up on the circular contacts on the selection drum or else the circuit isn't live in the first place, due to a problem within the selection buttons mechanism itself. You might try checking if one of the 8 sectors is getting current in the first place, and if not, go back to the buttons and trace it backwards until you find some current where it should be. It sounds like the jukebox was in pretty rough shape, so maybe the contacts need to be cleaned, or cleaned again, or maybe something you didn't take apart isn't cleaned well and is sticking. Ron, does this sound right to you?

As has been mentioned, a manual would help you a lot, rather than working blind, but I understand your mail situation- maybe you can get the seller of one of those manuals on CD to break the CD down to smaller sized files and email them to you. They may charge you a bit more, but at least you would get it.

Again, good luck with the project!

Rocky Rockola, Newbie