Rock-Ola 507 wall box

DoghouseRiley · by **DoghouseRiley** » Fri Apr 19, 2013 7:53 pm

I picked up another of these quite cheaply yesterday. It was reputedly taken out of a pub, but maybe that was twenty years ago. Amazingly, all eight lights worked, including "first digit" second "digit" and "reselect."
It was quite reluctant to start, but after spraying the contacts with switch cleaner. It started to work.
But here's the problem, the buttons for numbers 5 and 6 aren't quite straight compared to the others and one of them kept sticking, but after working them a few times after spraying the sliders with cleaner they did,
Although the selections on other numbers work and send the correct pulse train signals to my iPod adapter, nothing happens with those.
However if after making a selection including those two numbers, I physically activate the motor switch with my little finger, the motor starts and the right selection is sent to the adapter. I can even make multiple selections including those numbers and they send the right signals, when I trip the motor switch. If I then select another number without either a 5 or 6 in it, it works like a dream.

There was no key with it, but surprise surprise, the key from the other which is nearly a thousand serial numbers later, fitted.

So why will it work on some and not on others? I've tried repositioning the leaf contact assembly, there's a bit of lateral movement in the attachment plate possible as it has over-sized holes for the two screws with which it is attached.

I've really only bought it as a back-up for my other wall box.
What I will be doing is using the Tri-vue title card holder for another 160 selections, they are easy to swop over and then change to a second iPod with the same playlist code.

DoghouseRiley · by **DoghouseRiley** » Tue Apr 23, 2013 4:20 pm

I'm not doing anything with this second wall box until I've got some more small 2 pin connectors from Maplin, so I can make changing the connections over less of a pain.
In the meantime I've uploaded 160 tracks from CDs, mp3s and several YouTube videos converted to mp3s, including this and a few more from the TV series "Nashville." The quality of the latter, can't be faulted (and they're free). So now I've a choice of 320 tracks as swopping over the magazines and iPods only takes a few seconds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8TJ8aImf3Q

DoghouseRiley · by **DoghouseRiley** » Thu Apr 25, 2013 8:06 pm

I've now got the connectors on the second wall box, so it's easy to swop them over. I've put a male and female on the power supply and the signal wire, so it'll be impossible to incorrectly connect them when swapping them from one to another. I've resolved the problem with certain selections after giving the motor leaf switch contacts a bit of a clean by gently pulling a bit of fine wet n' dry through the contact points and giving them another spray with switch cleaner. I guess it had been sitting around for decades, so was pretty dirty, so now I can use them both. No need to swop the title card magazines any more, I'd be bound to drop one eventually. The chrome on this later one cleaned up a bit, but close up still looks like it had plenty of use.

I guess at a total cost of £167 for the two, I can't complain.

The latest addition is on the right.