Rockola 442 Skips tracks with new cart

Adam, the speed of the basket is not relevant here..unless it threatens to become airborne it doesn't matter.

I don't have a lot of experience with R-O but if you can describe the way it fails to grip that would be helpful.

Does it the basket stop too soon, or too late?

Is the bow directly over the center of -all- slots when the basket stops.

Is there "slop" or backlash in the basket when it stops? How much can the basket be rocked (if at all) once stopped. If there is enough slop to actually move the record slot mare than a half space, you might try moving the basket motor gears closer by loosening the motor mounting bolts pushing it's pinion closer to the basket gear. Don not force it too tight or the action will become rough as it turns.

Is the gripper at all bent?

Is the rear jaw of the gripper too high and thus missing the record?

Take a look at the readout contact block. Check if there is slop there. It should be held between the adjustment bolts so that there is essentially no back and forth, but also no binding.

Finally, how are the basket dividers? I have had one Rowe where someone and tried to get the records out by forcing the basket and, try as i might, I could never get the damaged dividers exactly right and had to replace the whole basket.

Rob

Thanks guys, I'll see if I can get some video of what happens. It seems like the basket stops with the record slightly too far back (towards the cabinet rear) away from the gripper, but doesnt consistently occur. The basket is not loose, but when the brake is applied can move, maybe a quarter of a slot size

Is the basket fully loaded with records? An out of balance basket will tend to "stop in the wrong place", quite often -- IF, fully loaded, tighten motor to basket drive gear--some play, and a very light coating of Graphite grease, is required here--- Ron Rich

Hi Ron yes it is. This is quickly turning into the jukebox from hell!

I had our local jukebox guy come round for some expertise, he told me the amp is the worst he's ever heard and actually has 1 channel out. He tried switch cleaner on all switches (like I had), and has taken it away for repair. By coincidence he has one in the shop that takes the same amp so he can test it better there.

I have a myriad of other issues now, but for now the most critical is this. I've been troubleshooting the selection system and trying to understand it. Our guy told me it looks like the previous owner used wd40 on the micro switches!!! Bad news. So I may be squirting switch cleaner for a long time yet! As I was testing the jukebox yet again started picking up the records badly and this time a 45 got jammed in the basket between the basket and gripper! I quickly shut it off and was able to remove the record (all be it damaged), but now the basket won't even rotate! I checked the mech fuse, it's not blown. Any tips on getting this moving again, it's hard to deal with the other issues with no operation at all

The other issues I have is that the write in motor goes round infinitely, it did this once or twice before but it now seems constant. I've tried some deoxit on the pins but to no avail! The 0.25a credit unit fuse also blows repeatedly when their externally fitted credit button (wired to coin mech) is used. I know why they used a 2A now!

It's really frustrating as I paid a lot of money for this expecting it to be fully working and the seller is 350 miles away and I have zero comeback. Another "hopefull" as you guys say!!

To be honest judging by what my local guy says, the quality of work he did was poor so I'm not sure id want his help. Do I want more WD40 on my switches or engine oil on my mech? Not really!

Either way I'm stuck with this and will not give up!! I would have bought from my local guy but he refuses to buy 442s as he says they're too big to transport. So for now I will learn as I go and as and when I can afford it have my local guy round to help out, I guess I am lucky to have someone in my own town, he offers me some discount for that.

He did however confirm to me that the original issue (needle jumping) was caused by the correct cart, but the low tracking hifi stylus!

When the record got caught between the basket and gripper and then you removed it, did the gripper complete its cycle after that, if not loosen gripper motor and cycle back manually, i would maybe remove record basket motor and check it out and clean, also clean contact points on interlock relay in control box. The slip rings on the wobble plate write in section need cleaning, make sure that the write in arm has no contact blades missing
clones

Hi Clones, No it didnt complete the cycle. When it jammed the motor didnt sound too happy and I flipped the service switch to off as quickly as was possible. When I pulled the record and put the switch back to scan or operate it didnt move at all, so perhaps its jammed in cycle. I'll give that a go. Just really disappointing overall, I was prepared for some work, just not this much!

The rings are fairly clean, infact just before this happened I was cleaning them and the contacts with Deoxit and rotating the write in motor to spread it round nicely

Hello Adam,

I assume that you have had Select Jukeoxes in to look at your recently purchaced jukebox.

With buying jukeboxes off of Ebay you do not know of the jukeboxes history and this is always a problem of what the previous owner has done to it or in most cases has not done.

I do not work on Rock Ola, I had to many bad experiences whilst working for an opperator in the mid 70's and just stick to Rowe Ami since we opened in 1980.

You have had some good advice from Ron, Rob & Clones.

Lubrication is the life blood of Rock Ola's, but I would not use any spray such as WD40 on any jukebox and I would also forget switch cleaner as well, all you are doing is putting off the replacement of these parts.

It would be interesting if you could let us know what you paid for this jukebox?

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

Hi Ami-Man,

Yes, Graham from Select Jukeboxes has been very helpful! He believes this box has seen some WD40, and perhaps the wrong type of oil and too much of it on the mechanism. A lot of contacts feel oily to me so I was hoping the switch cleaner may break this down, this may be a little hopeful

I paid £1100 delivered, and it wasnt an ebay sale, so comeback is limited. I have contacted the guy who sold it to me to see if he will help me in any way but Im not holding out hope, I feel I may be stuck to resolve this myself now. It was a lot of money but I was looking for a 442 for some months and the only one that turned up was this one. I did expect for the money it to be restored, at least in terms of functionality. In honesty I didnt mind the odd issue to deal with, I thought id need to spend a bit of cash on it, but right now its seeming a little overwhelming.

I'm going to have a chat with Graham when I get my amp back and see what he advises. I think selling it on and buying another wont be economically viable, in this condition I doubt I'd get more than around £400 for it, which is too much to lose.

The sod is that just a few days ago someone not far from me decided to sell their 442, fully working and restored condition, for £1100!

Thanks for all the advice guys, I'll keep you posted on my progress with this. I've had some stellar advice, I think its time for me to bury my head in the service manual

Got the basket moving again. I tried rotating manually by turning the motor, but no luck. Then I thought I'd check the fuse again with a multimeter just in case, blown! Just goes to show, if a fuse looks perfect inside, its not always so!

So I got back to troubleshooting the selection problems, I.E the write in motor going round infinitely. I looked at the wipers and on one side (next to one motor) the wipers looked slightly bent "off" from the tracks, enough so they didnt appear to make contact. I gently bent them back to they lined up with the tracks and what do you know, it selects just fine now, everytime so far anyway!

The credit unit fuse still blows, but I think this may be caused by either the externally added credit button which allows the coin mech switch to depress longer than it should, or possibly maximum credits being reached. Gonna have a look at the pricing settings and do a few tests to see how they've set this thing up.

Im having fun getting to know this unit and feel more positive about it now, I got a bum deal but Im sure I'll make a good jukebox out of it yet!

If you're using an "external" credit switch, that's most likely the cause of a credit fuse blowing--No "jukebox" was designed to to use one of these ! Be 200% sure, that you are using the correct type, and size fuse, here, or you WILL burn out the "coin coil" !! Ron Rich

Sure thing Ron. Im only using the 1/4 amp slo blow as specified on the panel. It came to me with a 2AMP in there! I think this is down to the credit mod or perhaps coin mech wiring. I will do some tests using the internal credit switch on the credit unit and with coin mech / button disconnected. If it blows before the credits are maxed, I guess the unit may have a problem.

I did get a reply from the guy I bought it from claiming the amp was fine when he had it and essentially blamed all the issues on me and my local engineer - Im not suprised. What is amusing however is the power of the internet! I found the original ebay listing where HE bought it from originally - coincidentally not far from where I live! The listing did say "probably needs a new amp"!, so I find it hard to believe the amp was fine for him

I'm seeing the funny side of all this any how, no point getting annoyed about it now. Anyway, Caveat Emptor!

Oh, ??? The fact that you found a 2 amp fuse in place of the 1/4 amp, MAY, indicate a problem.
That fuse is the only to protect the "credit add coils". Once "over-fused", as that has been, the coils are subject to "cooking". The fuse should "blow", only if a coin "sits" on a coin-switch for too long. The number of credits accumulated, has no relationship to when the fuse "blows". The added external switch will blow the fuse if you hold it for "too long"--this is "normal", as it is protecting the coil--
You might meter the coin coils--I don't recall what they should read, but all should be the same--If the one connected to the added switch is different then the others, you should probably replace it-- Ron Rich