Rock-Ola Starlet 429

First of all, greeting from the Nederlands! Second of all I would like to apologize for my English and the fact that I'm just a jukebox owner without any technical knowledge. I don't know the correct terms/words but I still hope someone understands my problem and is willing to help. We are trying to get hold of a Service Manual...

We own a Rock-Ola Starlet 429 (1965) which suddenly decided to stop. It has been in good working condition for quite a while.



After to song is finished it doesn't stop spinning the record or returns the arm back to its starting position.



Without any technical knowledge (and I never seen a Jukebox from the inside) I tried to debug this system. The micro-switch which tells the record is finished works, the amplifier is turned off. But there the process stops. There are tree micro-switches in this picture, the first one is pressed in and the other two are 'off'.



Does anyone has any idea what seems to be the problem? Any solutions in how to fix this?

With kind regards,
Arjan Kapteijn

Hi
I would check to see if the record will reject using the reject button which on the one i use to have is above the volume control, check the tone arm trip, make sure the connections are not loose, check the connections to the control box located under the chassis, the tone arm trip should activate the gripper reverse relay located in the control box, the usual cleaning of contacts on the relays in the control box
regards
clones

The reject button seems to not work anymore! Although it used to work until a few hours ago. Any idea's? I'll check the rest as soon as the sun comes up.

We did find a loose connector but there seems to be no socket to connect it to...

Arjan, the way I'd approach this is to first check the fuses. If the gripper motor has shorted or jammed the low voltage DC will blow.

If fuses are good, turn power on and with the arm at tripoff, try turning the gripper motor shaft via the little bit of shaft that protrudes from the bottom. That motor is nearest the front of the machine and faces upwards. If the motor takes off it may indicate a dead armature winding or faulty microswitch on the cam.

If that machine still uses the separate box with a service switch, there is a relay in there and pitted contacts can cause the same problem.

I haven't had a R-O of that vintage since 1989 so I may have missed something. Hopefully someone will have more ideas.

Rob/NYC

Thanks for the fast response;

I check the fuses; all seems to be ok!

I tried turning the gripper motor shaft. It seems to give some weird (vibrating) feedback and is quite hard to move. Should I force it?

Service box wireing seems to be OK.

Arjan, that "feedback" is likely the dynamic breaking action. If power is turned off (for safety) and that motor unplugged it should be relatively easy to turn the shaft.

Beyond this point there may be insufficient voltage from the power supply due to a failed rectifier or still, bad contacts. Typical voltages for the mech motors are 25-30 volts DC.

You may need to order/download a manual and get hold of a simple multimeter.

Rob

Hi
The loose connector in the photo is for connecting to a stepper/receiver and operating a wallbox. All i can say from what i have seen of other rockola's with reject problems the problem alot of the time has been either the control box, the micro switch or a loose connection at the tone arm blade or loose connections at the control box. You would need a manual that goes through the process step by step, sometimes its not easy reading,
regards
clones