Rowe / AMI R-83 Record Changer

I am a newbie to the site and also to the world of Jukeboxes. I came up through the techie ranks and just recently purchased (2) R-83 jukeboxes. I bought a working unit to help troubleshoot the unit that doesn't work. I thougth that it would be kind of fun to strip them down and put them back together in like new condition.

After replacing the Power Supply, the one that didn't work at all now has a problem with the Record Changer. When I first turn it on, it starts to spin and counts up but never stops at #225 like the working unit. The encoder seems to be working fine because it does count up and the number on the display seems to match the number at the pick point.

What exactly tells it when to stop. Is there a pick up switch, a signal from the encoder, or what? It is driving me crazy. I am sure that it is something simple but I can't seem to find it.

Thanks

Welcome from a fellow Newbie!

You'll find a lot of great information here, and people that have a LOT of experience and knowledge that are willing to help. That being said, you'll also find that the quality of your answers is directly proportional to the quality of your questions. The guys that really know their stuff are going to dispense information with the expectation that you will know what to do with it. Read through the posts and you'll see what I mean

First things first - read the Stickies at the top of the subject list. Make sure you have the manuals for that model. Don't rely on a PDF you found on the internet for a machine that's "close" to what you have, or even exactly what you have. Order an actual quality service manual from one of the suppliers listed in the stickies. Once you get the manual, read it, a couple of times. Understand how and why your unit operates. You'll find this answers most questions for you. If it doesn't, everyone here will expect you to own and have read this manual when they respond to a question.

Good Luck and Have Fun!!
Nelson

Hello Nelson,

Wise words indeed, we like people who come on the forum to have a basic knowledge and to own & have read their manual, I usually ask owners to read it fully through twice for some of the information to sink in.

Hello AllentownErc welcome to the forum, sorry you did not leave a name?

Care needs to be taken on the 1976 R-80S to 1979 R-83 range of jukeboxes antistatic practices need to be used when dealing with the electronic boards that uses CMOS chips.

You need to check the boards for dry joints on the connection pins, do not start going over the other joints on the boards this will only make any undertaken work by a professional so much harder to repair.

When we undertake board repairs on these jukeboxes we ask for the Memory Unit, Mechanism Control & Selector Logic because there is interaction between the boards and it is good practice to test all the boards.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

Thank you for the warm welcome.

As soon as my manual arrives, I will bring this post back to life.

It sounds like I won't get a hint of what stops my Record Changer from any of you until I get the manual. I'll keep playing with it in the meantime and maybe I will stumble upon something.

Thanks again. Hopefully we can bring this classic back to life.

Talk to you soon!

Eric Miller
Allentown, PA

Eric,

LOL

I wouldn't say that, you just might not be able to do anything with the answer until you get the manual!

Unless you have a warehouse of parts, may as well work on the patience aspect. The one I'm working on now (Rowe R-90) had me going nuts for a couple weeks. Find a problem, order a part, wait for the part then fix the problem. Discover the next problem, order a part, wait for the part and fix the problem. Guess what happened next? Yup! Didn't spend much money but a lot of time.

I occupy the time by doing a lot of meticulous cleaning and polishing.

Nelson