Seeburg SS160

Rob,
I do have the service manual. I'm fairly sure I can handle the soldering of the capacitors and resistors. I think I've even seen kits for the capacitors. I guess I'm just wondering what the money difference would be between blindly replacing all the parts vs. shipping out all three modules and having a pro look them over. If it's going to be a ton of money I'd be willing to try it myself, but if its within my means I'd surely rather send them out.

The jukebox definitely needs some cleaning and lubricating. It will all be done as part of getting it up and running. Just have to figure out the best option for electrical issues before anything.

Strosk,
IMHO, the best advice I have, if you wish to DIY, is to purchase, and READ, the "Manual package", written by Seeburg !
Also, IMHO, I have written, and sell, "the Seeburg Mechanism Guide", as a supplement, to their manuals, with the attempt to explain what was left out, (or later learned) of the manuals.
As for the actual replacing of parts--yes-go for it, with the provisions that you have the skills to know which parts are which, which solder to use, or not use and the ability to do a neat job. I also think one should know the "resistor color code", and be able to check resistors, as well as other components in any unit. Sure, costs are going to be higher if you send the units to me ( or another "pro"), as we do need to "make a living". Also--"cap kits" usually save money for the person doing just one job. I don't often purchase them, as I stock most values, having purchased them in "bulk" same as the "kit makers" do--
See above for listings of --"Where to buy-- parts/book, sellers"--
HTH, Ron Rich

Ron,

I wouldn't have any issues replacing a few resistors or capacitors, but I'm no expert. I couldn't tell you what the right or wrong solder is, and I can't guarantee how neat it would be! I also don't know how much brain power I want to consume learning color codes If we're talking 400-500 dollars to ship out and repair, I will be doing whatever I can myself. If we're talking 100-200, I'm shipping the parts! Anything in between is questionable.

As part of sorting out my options, shoot me a price range for your professional services.

Will do--off forum--watch for PM--
Ron Rich

Thanks Ron.

"strosk"
I am not a good estimator as to what others would charge as I've never used their services. I can say that parts to rebuild both control and speed units should cost around $30 -there is very little there.

The amp will be more, but still well under $100. An example of a capacitor package is here: http://www.verntisdale.com/Seeburgpage.htm
This shows the cost of a capacitor kit for a TSA5 @70$

Since there is no kit listed for the control and speed units you might as well just make a list of all caps needed for all units and either see if Tisdale can supply them or just search for electronic parts online.

If you DIY it should cost around $100 -maybe a little more to get all units going.

One point in regard to these older amps. These used germanium output and river transistors. Over time their internal impedance will lower and they develop current leakage. This results in their running hot even when idling. If you plug the amp in and let it sit for a half hour or so and there is little or no warmth on the heatsink you can disregard this as a problem. If the sink is warm or hot, the output transistor and possibly drivers should be replaced.
This will run up the cost considerably.

Rob/NYC

This is how I rebuilt my AY160 amplifiers and slection receiver. It didn't cost too much except for time. I've been soldering for about 40 years and repairing/refurbishing old radios/phonos for about 23 years.

1. First I drew a map of the component connections to avoid any furture reassembly confusion. It included terminal strips drawn with the correct # of solder lugs, solder lugs on switches, tube sockets etc.
2. I used a DMM to measue every resistor to check for any out of tolerance conditions. I read most of them in circuit, and any questionable ones got a lead disconnected and re-read for verification. If I had to desolder a lug which shared a transistor lead then I clipped a hemostat (small pliers) onto the transistor lead as heat sink.
I also wrote resistor and capacitor values on my component map as I read them.

I have long since forgotten the resistor color code from my memory. There are both smartphone apps, websites and simple computer apps where you just imput the color to read the value. And reverse if you wish.

3. My amp was very dirty with a lot of grime settled in. I truly loathe working on a filthy chassis so I took it outside and sprayed it all down with tile bathroom cleaner. I worked it into the grime with an old soft toothbrush then rinsed it off with a garden hose.

It was very important to keep the transformers dry as possible so I was extremely careful not to get any water into them, particularly near the wire lead holes.

4. I used an air hose to remove what water I could from the chassis. I made a temporary stand and placed a 75watt incandescent bulb a few inches below the main power transformer. I set it all aside for about a week to allow the hot bulb to evaporate what ever water may be left from the rinse.
5. Then I carefully scrubbed the outside of the steel chassis with a green scrubbie pad to remove any major surface imperfections like rust or those burn streaks from burnt tube dust etc.

Then I went a bit further and masked off the visible side of the transformers and re-sprayed them Rust-Olium semigloss black.

Then I applied a few coats of Miniwax paste wax. This is important to prevent any parts of the steel chassis exposed by scrubbing from rusting. Plus it looks real nice polished up.

I got the necessary replacement electronic parts while the chassis was busy drying. There's an ACK electronics store near my work. If they weren't there then I'd obtain them online.
I replaced -all- electrolytic caps and any of those resistors which were bad or questionable.

My AY160 wouldn't pick up a selected record. Rebuilding the controller amp and chassis made it work. My wall box wouldn't make the right selections. Rebuilding the selection receiver fixed it.

The audio amp made a loud disturbing POP through the speaker when the trip solenoid fired. It made my wife jump every time. Rebuilding the audio amp solved that issue. My bass and treble switches had no effect before the rebuild. Now they work perfectly.
Although the amp didn't "sound bad" before the rebuild, there was a very distinct and noticeable increase in volume and clarity when done. Also, I noticed someone else had re-capped part of the amp before me. I found one of their cold solder joints had came apart with a capacitor lead not even connected. This left one channel only half operating.

It has since developed some minor internal noise which I haven't yet investigated. But that's a different matter for a different time.

I am not a professional jukebox restorer (or have any particularly great knowledge of them) like Ron or Rob does/are, but that process worked well for me.