Wurlitzer 1900 Centennial restoration

[viperz]

I see two wires coming from the junction box to the contacts in the pin bank assembly. I am going to desolder them to remove the whole pin assembly... It feels much easier to desolder them from the contacts on the top rather than digging through the wiring on the terminal strip on the bottom inside junction box... I don't think I'll damage the contacts or anything from desoldering wires from them?

[viperz]

Well, here is my first major f#ck-up... although I wouldn't do anything differently. The metal ring with letters and numbers on the selector had ~2mm of crud, you could barely see letters. Several pins were stuck - four I had to free up by lightly wiggling up with small pliers... I touched letters with my hand, and a bunch came off. Soft toothbrush, q-tip, warm water with soap.... letters are coming off with the crud.

I cannot find anyone selling the overlay... so if I can't find anyone, I'll have to draw the whole thing myself, and then get it plotted on some kind of thin vinyl sheet.... at least I have access to CAD.

[viperz]

I should have the overlay design ready by the weekend. Was half way through when I realized that I screwed up the seed file, so had to restart. Got quarter done, remeasured everything, will continue tomorrow. What a project lol.

[viperz]

Finished CAD design yesterday. Will receive proofs from print house on Tuesday (Monday is a long weekend), and final products later next week... woohoo

[viperz]

Reassembled selector wheel, and reattached it back to the junction box, resoldered wires that I removed previously. Unstuck and oiled three little plastic wheels in the selector mechanism, 2 were totally stuck. Finished cleaning the number/letter surface, should be ready for new overlay. Replaced the stuck on/off switch for the solenoid. 

Cleaning that circle surface was a major PITA. 2/3 of the circle just wiped off with warm water and soap. 1/3 was covered by a millimeter of solid brown crud. Someone must have spilled something there - it is clear where the boundaries of the spill were. That's where some pins were stuck solid. I cleaned those pins with alcohol and degreaser several times. They seem to operate ok now. Scratching off that brown solid crap took a couple of hours with a a scratchy dish sponge. Good thing is that some of the letters in that area are still visible, so I will have good reference for an overlay installation.

I started looking at remaining mechanism. It is very well (over?)lubed. I will clean off excess lube from the cam and visible gears. Can apply fresh grease/lube if needed. I will clean all electrical contacts - they are just black, just like everywhere else in this jukebox.

1) I do not see any oiling points on the main motor (the one with little knurled pot in the back). Hopefully, there is no need to remove it and its gearbox. I am not sure where to oil it.

2) I see pink sponge in a hole in top black shelf (it would match up to a hole in record basket). I guess that's for oiling something - I remember seeing that oiling procedure in the manual, will go and find it again.

I did clean and reoil three bearings on the top black shelf that go under the record basket. 2 were stuck, now they rotate fine. Couldn't remove them from the shelf - bolts wouldn't budge.


Will also have to tape and spray paint top black shelf, as paint is gone in random spots on it, and it looks ugly right now.

[viperz]

Finally managed to loosen the screws and remove those three bearings.
Took them off their mounting brackets, they were filthy, put in kerosene bath overnight.
Tomorrow will clean off as much lube as I can off main cam and gears, and put new lube on them.
Will tape the black shelf for painting...

Reassembled the selector mechanism after cleaning and installing new letter/number overlay today.

After that will have to figure out how to remove button assembly from the cabinet for cleaning and contact cleaning.

[viperz]

I taped the black shelf yesterday (will paint it tomorrow), cleaned and lubed big cam and gears. Cleaned as much as I could and oiled little wheels on the arms.

Should I put the mechanism and selector back together, or is there piece by piece testing I could do?

Also, are there any tricks to remove the front button mechanism from the cabinet? I want to remove it, and at least clean all electrical contacts in the switches.

Can and should the buttons be cleaned?

After removing buttons assembly from the cabinet and cleaning it, I guess I should be able to connect everything together, plus single external speaker, in my shop without the cabinet?

[jukenorman]

Hi Eugen,
I have never done an 1800 and I don't have the manual but Wurlitzer button banks aren't genarally a problem to remove - they are usually held in place by screws with long knurled heads. If the buttons are in good condition, I would suggest leaving them and gently clean them externally as much as you can. If you remove the button, it can be difficult to put them back sitting nice and square so it ends up looking a bit wonky!

I think it ought to be possible to test outside the cabinet, it's not something I've ever done.

Norman.

[Ron Rich]

Eugen
Be careful "cleaning"-- I don't recall for sure, but I do know some of the WurliTzer buttons do not like "cleaning"--or even water ! One great big hint, on the 1900's. WurliTzer glued a rather large piece of "fish-paper" to the metal behind the keyboard-- IF missing, the phono does all kinds of "strange things"! Ron Rich

[viperz]

Thank you both for the advice. Ron, I remember reading you writing about that fish paper - I bought a whole roll of it in the fall just for this. Will have to go find that roll.

By cleaning I meant cleaning the actual electrical contact within a button. Yes, I am definitely not big on cleaning something with paint or letters on it - warm water with some soap on a soft fabric is all I use generally.

Off to find those knurled screws. From what I see, the whole assembly should come out with the chrome, then chrome comes off if needed. The two reasons why I want to remove them - I definitely need to clean all electrical switches - every switch I am cleaning in this jukebox has a layer of black burned stuff on the contacts collected over many years. And 2nd reason - I want to hook everything up together without the cabinet for a quick test if I can. Cabinet with speakers and button bank is sitting in the garage. I am hoping to disassemble it further in the spring - maybe remove speakers and/or top window - then clean it outside and move downstairs into my shop and later into listening room.

Jukeboxes that go downstairs will have to stay downstairs unless disassembled to be brought back up lol

[viperz]

Buttons assembly is out together with chrome frame for now. It was 4 knurled screws for title holder assembly, then 3 more knurled screws for buttons assembly.

I can see right away that one of the switch contacts in the back is not working. It is stuck closed, but roller that is supposed to push it is not in closed position. The contact is not springy anymore? Can I just bend it out a little bit?

[Ron Rich]

Hi Eugen,
Have you read the FAQs posted here on "contacts" ? If the blade has lost it's spring, it will need to be replaced. Ron Rich

[viperz]

Hi Ron, I will go read up... BTW, I do not see any fish paper. The buttons are isolated from the main chromed base via a thick dielectric diffuser. I looked on both sides - nothing has ever been there.

Ron, I see in the FAQ that you recommend 'reforming' the contact blades?

[Ron Rich]

Eugen,
The fish paper --going from an old memory-- is about 6 inches tall, and about 8 inches wide-- affixed with contact cement to the metal behind the keyboard-- MUST cover the four ABCD switches ! Yes-- one never "bends" anything-- ?? Ron Rich

[viperz]

No fish paper in here, and I am the first person to ever take this thing apart so deep... I checked everything, no signs.

Are there any videos on how to reform a contact properly? I read the FAQ.