HELP! Picked up a 2150

[Caleb Stevens]

Hey everyone, this is my first real go at bringing a jukebox back to life. 

The story is; my wife and I were perusing a local antique all and came across a beautiful Wurlitzer 2150. The owner of the store bought it from an estate and he was unsure of the working condition. I'm a sucker for vintage hi-fi consoles and have bought and sold several that I have restored, but have never really had the chance to work on the mechanical marvels that are jukeboxes. The thing was in great cosmetic shape, and my wife gave me the head-nod, so I offered him $700 not knowing what I may be getting into. He accepted the offer, and we lugged it home. 

I was pleased to discover it lit right up and actually appeared to (mostly) work, mechanically speaking. It searches, selects, and plays records. I did have to take the selector motor off and did some cleaning to that so it searches faster now (when I got it it would stop at each pin and pause, now it "clicks" through like it should. I think the mechanics still need some cleaning and re lubing because it sounds like its straining when it loads and unloads a record. 

For now, I'm not powering it up until I can replace some of the old electrolytics on the amp (the audio was very poor - I suspect a new cartridge and leaky caps are the culprit). I'll also be repainting some of the parts back to a stock look. 

I am hoping to utilize this website for any help I may need moving forward.

A few questions off the bat as I move forward with the restoration: 

1. Is a new cartridge and modification of the amp's oscillating circuit my only option? Looks like the Cobra cartridges are no longer available. I may need a bit of help with this if so... (best pre-amp/cartridge/method)
2. Does anyone have a 2100 manual they'd be willing to share? I purchased a 2150, only to find that it requires the supplemental 2100 manual . 
3. If the record loading/unloading appears sluggish, what parts should I be cleaning/re-lubing? I'd like to avoid tearing the whole mechanism apart. 

Thanks in advance!!

Links to images, I can't seem to include them in the post! 
ibb.co/wgDbPkq

ibb.co/yFfGBqS

ibb.co/8bhcdMH

[Ron Rich]

"Cobra's" are still available-- read our FAQ's page for suppliers.
If you ordered a Manual Package, from one of the suppliers listed on our FAQs page--scream at that supplier !
Yea-- I have always thought that the record loading/un loading sounded "strained" on them--
Please read the FAQs page posts "Hi Newbies", and how to post a photo--
Ron Rich

[engbo]

Congrats on you new 2150, I just bought one myself two weeks ago. :-)
The green 7 mil. Cobra cartridges should be available again somewhere at the end of this month or january.
You can also let it retip. If you are in Europe: Expert stylus in the UK can do it.

[Caleb Stevens]

Thank you! Found the Newbie and parts lists in the FAQ section of this website which is super helpful. I am going to order a cap kit for the 532 amp, and have a few leads on replacement cartridges so I think I can avoid manipulating the circuitry.

I have one other question for now, and it is regarding the paint/cosmetics;

You'll see in my third linked photo that someone has repainted the interior of the jukebox. I am wanting to get it back to a stock look. I think just a matte gold paint for the top of the top support and the front record player plate. Then an off-white for the bottom an tonearm. I've got all of that pretty well figured out, but it looks like in the original ad for this specific model, the reflective square pattern on the back wall and the ceiling have a blue tint to them. Does anyone have any experience painting these or getting them back to that look? Mine look like more of a dull silver aluminum. 


This is all nit-picky stuff, but I can't find much when I search for paint codes or stock colors. 
 

[e093116]

Hi Caleb,

I "fixed up" a 2150 earlier in the year.

I decided to convert to a modern cartridge due to the availability of the cobra cartridge and also to "try something new".  To put a modern cartridge in the tone arm you have, you need to drill out rivets, shave the "ears" off the new cartridge, glue it in place...etc., it's way easier to get a later model stereo tone arm, they look almost the same, new cartridge will "bolt in", and if you decide later on to use the cobra, you have an unmodified original part on hand.  There is a "how to guide" that you should be able to find by searching "Wurlitzer cobra conversion" on google...

I chose to use a ceramic cartridge, I know these aren't the best, but I didn't want to mess with a preamp for a magnetic cartridge.  I installed a pot to "dumb down" the signal from the ceramic cartridge (so it would be appropriate for the input level for the amp) and some other minor stuff to bypass the oscillator circuit.  If you are bench testing the amp during your rebuild, you have to apply your test signal downstream of the oscillator circuit, if I remember correctly you actually have to put the signal on one of the traces on the back side of the circuit board...

The top of the arch for the mech is "gold" along with the "fan" part in front of the record spindle.  If you get a later model tone arm, you can use that to match the "white" (if you get a white one), but generally an off white or antique white is appropriate...you don't want late model car/truck/van refrigerator bright white...

You are lucky that your square foil is intact.  Mine had turned to dust...I'd suggest leaving it alone or if you feel you have to clean it, start with soap/water and a toothbrush.  I don't think you will have good luck getting paint to stick to that if you try to repaint it.  I seem to remember it was plastic and rather dried out from the internal lighting, the more you touch it, the more you risk fracture or other damage.

Don't be afraid to remove the entire mechanism to degrease and service it (and especially if you want to repaint some items).  I built a stand to set it on out of some scrap 2x4s.  Get your wife to help with the R&R, it's a lot to manage for one person!

I like to use "LA finest degreaser" or something like that from the dollar store, it's yellow, and I generally mix 40% degreaser/60% water.  It will just melt nicotine/mung/just about everything else off, for heavy spots you might have to do it 2-3 times.  I like to disassemble/degrease/rinse everything before starting any repair activities...can't stand to stick to stuff that I'm working on...

For caked on grease and that sort of thing, use your favorite solvent, I like cheap "gun wash" solvent from the auto body supply store, and I use a lot of q-tips, toothbrushes, and nylon bristle brushes, but be careful with any strong solvent, it will wipe off ink stamps, eat the varnish off coil wires, etch or melt plastic, dissolve paint, etc...

One bit of trivia, I think there is supposed to be a plastic "diffuser" over the upper light bulb behind the selection keyboard, if that part is intact on your machine, could you post a photo?  I'd be curious to see what one looks like (mine is missing)...

Good luck with your project.

Bill

[engbo]

There's a video on Youtube featuring a 2150 where the owner has painted the foil in blue/greenish.www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRpI7Mbil9M
But it should be the color that you have. And it looks in good condition on your photo.

[engbo]

Inside of my 2150

[engbo]

There was another 2150 at the jukebox dealer today and this one had it's diffuser, so here it is! Size in CM approx lenght 82cm,width 10cm, height 1cm. it's made of riveted aluminium strips.
I couldn't see what the original color was of the acrylic diffuser. Please see the pictures.



and here's it's screw seen from the inside

[Caleb Stevens]

Sorry I couldn't get pictures 'til now, so I'll add them, but thank you "engbo" for the help! Yes, I've seen that video and noticed the blue is a bit too vibrant. I suppose I'l leave mine as-is for now, but eventually I'd like to get a light baby blue finish. If you look up close you can see some blue still left over in the square grooves on mine.

And I'd like to also replace the deck on mine. It too has been painted over a soft yellowish color (probably an attempt to mimic the original), but it doesn't look quite as nice as the original textured deck and red decals.

[engbo]

Thanks Caleb for posting the pictures of your diffuser! Makes it a lot easier to make one myself.
But first I have to see to get it working again...(mech is very slugish too, I'll start with cleaning the motors)

[Caleb Stevens]

Here's a little update on my endeavors. I'll be using this thread as an archive of the things I am doing to this machine.

I've taken the record player unit mostly apart for painting and cleaning. Waiting on new motor mounts and belt to arrive before re-assembling. I think going back to the stock white and gold is a big improvement!


Before

and After!

Wanting to order the blue "hi-fi" decal to put on the left side as well.

[engbo]

That looks beautiful! Very nice also too see your activities on this machine.

[Caleb Stevens]

While I am waiting on some record player parts (motor mounts and belt), I decided to try and do something with the mechanism deck that had been painted over. There was a random sticker on it that I peeled away, to reveal the original photo finish. I attempted to remove the painted layer with not much success. There was a grey primer layer, then a sort of copper metallic, then finally the current yellowish-tan. I couldn't get those three layers off without starting to remove the original layer. Previous owners also installed these bulky aluminum & glass instructions that revealed the original graphics once removed.

Does anyone on here know of replacements being made. If not I am wondering if I can re-create this design digitally, then have it printed on some sort of large decal wrap or something...

[engbo]

What I've seen in the various shops here in Europe and in the US these are not being reproduced . Only the ones for the top $$$ machine's like the 1900/2000/2100. Good news is that de 2 red decals are available and the Cobra decal also.
So I would let someone make a new decal with the original print. If I have to measure something on my deck let me know.

(I've just asked someone to make a repro of the "coins" decal on the front glass, as I am missing that one.)

[richmyers]

Speaking of 2150s.....how/what has to be removed in order to replace the upper florescent bulb....the one sitting behind the selector. Mine is a very tight fit...and I don't see how it would come out.