Hello, and Rock-ola 1000 won't move to 'normal operation'

[garethevans]

Firstly, hello to you all from the UK and I hope everyone is staying safe in these strange times.

During my time in lock-down I have begun to troubleshoot our Rockola 1000.

In a nutshell, when I switch on it doesn't move past 'standard pricing' and 'initialising'. Every once in a while (seemingly first thing on a cold morning?) it will move to 'normal operation' and the selection screen will show 100  99, but then it drops back to initialising. I've ordered a service manual - I don't know when it will arrive - and I'm working off a complete wing diagram (not the easiest circuits to decipher, but maybe that's just me!).

All the voltage lights are on. Nothing happens if I select scan unless I force the Potter and Brumfield relay in the power distribution circuit. If I do that the magazine will rotate in steps, or stop when I select off and then carry on rotating if I go back to scan. It always stops at same place (the start of the records in the magazine, just after the empty/blocked slots) once its done a full rotation, which all seems normal to me, except for not voluntarily going into scan mode. The turntable turns at the same time. The amp sounds powered in that when I turn it off there is a distinct sound of the speakers giving a pop as it goes off (pop maybe not the right word, but hopefully you get the idea.)

I have searched the previous threads (for 490-1 and 490-2 too, so I apologise if I have missed this topic)

Thanks for reading, would appreciate any help.

Gareth

[Ron Rich]

Hi Gareth,
The 490 series jukes ( which is really what the 1000 was), were famous for having battery (leakage) problems. I would advise you to remove the old battery, add wires--string them thru the side of the computer, and attach an outboard battery with 2 sided tape, to the adjoining wall-- While you have the computer removed, CLEAN the contacts for the slid-on plugs-- Look very carefully, see if any of the black plastic has cracks in it--if so, you MUST replace that plug ! Have you checked the voltages ? LED's do indicate voltage present--but do NOT always indicate it is the correct, voltage ! Ron Rich

[garethevans]

Thanks for the reply Ron. Ive checked all the Vs - right up tp the connector onto the PCB. All good. I've ordered new capacitors to replace the tantalum ones on both boards - will give that a go. I don't know what the computer looks for to decide it's initialized, or perhaps more accurately that it can initialise - not really sure? Beer now, will post an update when the new capacitors come. Good info on that battery - mine is remarkably clean but if and when I get the thing working I'll definitely modify the board for an outboard battery ( are we saying keep the original type of battery? ) Apologies for any typos, I haven't got my glasses to hand :-)

[Ron Rich]

Hi Gareth,
New tant's probably won't make any difference-- they seldom fail-- any 3 + volt "telephone" battery will be just fine-- Typo's--?? Put your glasses on, and you can edit it-- ! Ron Rich

[AdamZ]

Hi Gareth - I happened upon your post because I’m having the same issue. How did you resolve your problem?

[jukeboxmarty]

Hi Adam,

Gareth hasn't logged into this forum since May 2020, and unfortunately Ron is no longer with us.

I would try to follow Ron's advise as a starting point.

I'm not well versed on Rock-Ola 1000's (or 490's), so I probably won't be the one offering a solution.

-Marty

[AdamZ]

Thanks Marty, I’m sorry to hear about Ron. I will do as he recommended and go from there. I appreciate you getting back to me so quickly!
-Adam

[jukenorman]

Hi Adam,
I don't do these jukeboxes by choice either but I did get cornered into repairing a 490 a few years ago. There is a reasonable amount of decent information in the manual but also get a copy of the large schematic if you planning to attempt any serious troubleshooting. Ron's advice is definitely the starting point and make sure the DC voltages are within spec.!

Norman.

[AdamZ]

Thanks Norman! I do have both the manual and the large schematic sheet. I’ll be double checking my DC voltages tonight but I will admit I need to educate myself further on reading CPU schematics. I wish there was a resource for understanding the initializing circuit/etc. Here goes nothing….

-Adam

[AdamZ]

I haven't posted in awhile but figured I would update this thread for posterity! I replaced the battery in the System Control unit using a 3.6v NiCad cordless phone battery as suggested by the late-great Ron Rich, soldered wires to the original battery terminal spots on the interior System Control board, and ran them out of the computer chassis for mounting on it's exterior. This worked perfectly - the System Control 2 unit initialized and functioned normally. However, sometime around the end of September I was jamming out and the song suddenly went silent for a moment then came back on very quietly until it finished, at which point the record was returned to the carousel and the Control Unit ceased to function. The Juke was dead and the System Control Unit would not reinitialize no matter what I did. I discovered the wires I ran out of the Control unit had been pinched between the front faceplate and the body of the Control unit assembly and eventually exposed the wire causing it to short to ground on the unit chassis. I taped it up and *BOOM* it came back to life. Has worked great ever since.

[jukeboxmarty]

Thanks for the update!

[roscoe1017]

Do you attribute replacing the battery to solving the initialization issue ?
My understanding is the battery is there to maintain variables in RAM.
Regards