Phonoland

So after a few years of working on Seeburgs (100r, USC1&2, SPS-2, 100G, 100H, Trashcan 146) I picked up my first Rock-ola, the 448. So going through my normal troubleshooting of the machine I was able to bring the machine back to life but have 1 outstanding issue before I strip it down for cosmetic work.

When you make either an A or B side selection the Write in coils trip the appropriate switch for that selection, this as I said works for both A (100's) & B (200's) 100% of the time. But only the B sides (200's) are actually picked up and played, and the A sides never get picked up. I have cleaned the slip rings on the wobble plate and make sure the read-out contacts are clean and making pure contact with the slip rings. This does not seem to be an issue with the keyboard or the credit unit as the selections are being written in properly. Also when playing the B sides it does clear out the switch properly for the selection once the record starts to play.

I am waiting for the service manual for this unit to come in but I have copies of the schematics for the power unit and amp already. SO far everything else I have been able to repair and when the B sides are selected and played the unit sounds great, all 4 speakers are good, new needle, re-capped the amp, replaced all the fuses and bulbs, disassembled, cleaned and regreased the entire mechanism (this was mostly because it was frozen).

Any help would be appreciated as the Rock-ola's are a bit different than the Seeburgs and I do not have the experience with them yet.

The selection of A vs. B is determined by a microswitch that gets toggled each time the magazine makes a complete rotation from it's 'home' position.

I have not worked on one of these mechs since 1992 but I recall a linkage from a cam track on the magazine nearest the motor and linkage that operated the switch. Just look around that area, it can't be hard to locate.

Those switches can often be brought back well enough for home use by soaking them in strong detergent, flushing them with warm water, blowing them dry w/forced air and then dripping contact cleaner into them while manually working the plunger.

Rob/NYC

Hi
The linkage is mostly likely seized in the B position and not switching over to the A position , if you look at the operation when the machine is operating you will probably see that it doesn't switch tracks
clones

Hi Ron,
If it's failing to get one side or the other, the cam follower is most likely frozen, as has been said --I can usually free it up using just 20 wt. oil.
It MUST be free, or it WILL jam at the switch-over point--and sometimes ruin the cam, or itself ( also can burn up the motor, if over-fused !) ! As far as I can recall, this mechanically linked to the "AB switch", which is an open blade switch similar to the one used by Seeburg as a reversing switch--not a "MicroSwitch"-- Ron Rich

Rock-Ola changed the A-B switch from open blades to a DPDT micro somewhere around the 433 model. Ray

Well it seems it was more complicated. Looked like someone played around with the gripper gears and motor along with the rear cam. Everything was out of sync, so after stripping the entire gripper assembly and getting the gear aligned properly, we are back in business. ALso looks like someone broke off one of the posts to keep the tone arm around the cam and also the post that connects into the tone arm cam to lift and lower the tone arm. I found an entire assembly from someone which should be here this week. Once that is in, everything will be back in working order.

Thank you for your help.