rockola

Hi
i have a rockola 432 with a control box that appears to be missing a 15ohm 5 watt resistor in the control box, can anyone tell me at what exact location this resistor should be soldered in, the manual diagram has it located at a white and red-blue wire, but just to be sure i want to double check, a photo would be brilliant. The machine does not fully allow the tone arm to be placed on the record and does not cycle to microswitch no 3 although its nearly there, i presume that the missing resistor is causing this
clones

Sorry,
I think you are correct--I believe that missing resistor is wired in series with the motor at the end of the cycle to slow it down when placing the record on the TT. I may be mixing that up with another brand/model phono--but I think tha's correct.
Sorry--I do not have one to take a photo of--- Ron Rich

Hi
I put in the resistor and the cam cycles ok but the tone arm seems to get caught every so often on the flexible copper piece at the tone arm piece and the resistor (in the control box) is running hot and stating to smoke, have you any thoughts on this
clones

Is the resister getting hot because the tone arm is getting caught--and casing the motor to stall, or is it getting hot "just because", which is causing the motor to stall--I would assume, the reason for it getting hot would be it isstaying "on, too long"--
but that is a guess, and only a guess--- Ron Rich

Hi
Its getting hot either way whether the tone arm is caught or whether i manually release it(move the copper piece), just to note that with any record the needle is stuck as if it were a bad record and not advancing as it should and at times the tone arm cut off switch will not function correctly
regards
clones

Just had another look at it and i think maybe the interlock relay is not going according to the manual, for example after a record is selected the release coil is in a forward position, i think according to the manual it should be relaxed after microswitch 3 is operated by the cam. When the reverse relay will not operate at the end of the record manually relaxing the release coil kicks it into action, sometimes it will works itself but more often i have to help it on its way, so is a case of a defective microswitch 3 or defective interlock relay
clones

Take the motor apart and check for wear on the armature. Rockolas are bad about armatures being worn out. I think the copper piece you mention is used to make the needle be at the start of the record. I don't think is is making the motor stall.
Edwin

Edwin,
That copper spring is used to guide the tone arm to the start of the record. I have seen, a few of them bent in such a fashion that they had a split in them that would hold up the tone arm--and maybe the cam--been a long time, but I re-call cutting the copper spring as an emergency fix, for the night. Ron Rich

Hi
with a bit of light bending i sorted out the copper piece and will check the armature on the motor, it seems to me that sometimes a record will go through the motions of playing and other times the tone arm will stick at the start of the record, when a record is played it won't cancel til i have manually moved the release relay back, will will contacts on interlock relay and possibly replace micro switch no. 3, need to look at it later on to see the pattern of events
regards
clones

Hi
the tone arm seems to set down correctly, the fact that the needle is sticking is possibly due to a bad needle, i can't verify how long its been in it and its suffered wear and tear during numerous testing, i have selected about a dozen records and the same thing happens the release coil on the interlock doesn't go back when the cam releases micro switch no.3 and therefore the tone arm won't cancel at the end of the record, when i manually adjust the release relay after micro switch no. 3 has been released, you can hear the coil on the read out arm clicking and at the end of the record the record will be returned to the basket, i may as well bring up another issue which has been there since the start, when you select A1 which is the first record in the basket the basket stops at the next record, in this machine it is C1, it seems if the basket is slightly out of syn, although the basket does home to the correct position, are there any adjustments that can be made for this
regards
clones

Yes--both the Micro Switch, and basket adjustments, are covered in the Service Manual--but the A-1/C-1 problem probably relates to theread-out arm adjustment (also covered in the Manual). Ron Rich

thanks Ron, i think i have solved the micro switch 3 problem, the contact on switch no 3 is about twice the height of the others, so when the cam opening reaches no 3 micro switch it appears to operate(in other words it will click) but i suspect not fully enough to operate the release coil, and that would explain why sometimes the release coil would operate on occasions. When a record is finished playing and the tone arm would not cancel a small amount of pressure upwards on the bar above the switch would kick it into action, regarding the other problem, i will take a look tomorrow
regards
clones

Hi
My machine has developed into another problem, i have only just made one selection, it selected a record but didn't cancel, so i turned it off and manually moved the gripper arm back, now the magazine will not move when the scan lever is moved to open and if you move it to scan the gripper arm will start to operate and get caught at an angle around the turntable, so i have moved it back manually but it keeps doing the same thing, any advice or ideas
regards
Clones

Hi Clones,
My guess is that you now have dual "problems", both caused by a bad "MicroSwitch". To correct this, you will need to move the gripper back to the "full-at rest" position over the records, and determine which switch(s) is "bad"--Do you know how to test them ?
Ron Rich

Hi
I found what was causing the gripper arm to act erratically, the connection of micro switch two was touching the chassis, i tested the switches with an analog meter and switch three was faulty, so got them back together and the machine selects and wil lcancel at the end of the music play, the other issue with the magazine basket whereby if you select the first record A1 but it selects the second record C1, the adjustment on the read out arm only seems to take an account of the record position either side of the slot that it is in. I have a manual but i dont see an adjustment for the basket, i notice that the read out arm when the at home position is slightly off compared to other Rockola's, i am wondering had this machine being dismantled previously and when it was put back together, the shaft that goes through the basket, wobble plate etc might be slightly off centre, can this be adjusted without dismantling it, i will post a few photos later which will explain what i am on about
regards
clones