New here, restoring a jukebox

[walz]

Hello, I live in Alaska, we don't have much choice in used stuff so when I found this for $20.00 I grabbed it.

The guy who sold it admitted to me he knows nothing about repairing this so he kept his paws off of it, that is the good part.

So, I found this in a garage, its pretty dusty, I'm going to hand clean everything, test everything, I'm good with this kind of a restoration project. If you have any suggestions I'm listening. 

First I can diagnose electronics, and restoring things is something I enjoy, I'm semi retired so I have all the time in the world. The last project I finished was a slot machine, a electrical mechanical from the 1970's. The slot machine was really FUBAR, so this one should be easier since the wiring is not butchered. I have the patience to work on something like this without being flustered. 

I will post more photos as I get involved with this project.

Attachments:

[Ron Rich]

Hi Walz,
You could not have picked a "worster" project--LOL-- This was the first CD model Rowe made--and re-made, almost daily, as it really was not well conceived. The whole electronic and mechanical systems underwent MANY changes ("Up-dates"") till it finally became a semi reliable jukebox! The worst thing about any CD jukebox is the "player". Rowe used 4 different players ( all Phillips brand), all of which had a finite number of hours on the laser itself, and as a rule, is NLA. Please read "Hi Newbies" in our FAQ's section, and have fun ! Ron Rich

[robnyc]

Walz, I see yours was built in March 1990 -the same month my first one for location use was built. -Most- of the problems stemmed from the mech itself and as Ron mentioned, it was a bumpy ride getting them reliable. There was also a problem with inadequate power supply filtering that required a power conditioner to be installed if the line had noise or spikes, as is common in restaurant locations.

While you can get some models of the player optical block rebuilt, I suggest skipping (pun alert) that altogether and installing one of these players: www.cdadapter.com/cd100mp.htm -Get the flash or SD card version.

As long as you have the schematics and instruction book w/error codes in in the machine you can test the existing computer and determine what problems may exist outside of the mech/player itself.

FWIW: Twenty dollars is a -very- good price, even for a problem machine. They went for $7200 at that time here on the east coast.

RobNYC

[Ron Rich]

Hi Walt,
Rob's post jogged my great but not too long memory--
On the power supply--if not already done--a "MUST do"--
If still running the original PS board (uses the two outboard transistors), you need to reform the pins as above, in the "sticky".  On the internal plug from transformer to board, there may be a black wire in the center of that plug, which goes to ground, which must be eliminated ! Also, Look at the ground trace on the PCB--if it is possible for that trace to contact the metal frame of the power supply as it passes thru the "slit", the trace must be cut away, so no contact can be made there.
One other thing--IF, you have metal disc separators, between EACH disc, on that mechanism, I would say it would be less expensive to replace the whole mechanism, then to change the basket, today ?? Ron Rich

[walz]

I'm cleaning each part by hand, so I'll post as I go when they are cleaned up, the dust is thick inside the jukebox. The "jukebox body shell" is stripped down, cleaned, and restored. Now that's cleaned on to other parts one at a time.

I'm attaching a couple of photos, one is the power supply, the other part has a sticker with a update on it.

Attachments:

[walz]

Also, I need to locate a couple of things. First the light covers need replacing, any ideas where they are located??
Another thing is the panel thats missing.

[Ron Rich]

Walz,
PLEASE, read our FAQ's section--get the manuals, you can still get many parts, by part #, from a Rowe Distb., or one of the aftermarket dealers, listed in the FAQ's-- Ron Rich

[walz]

I'm through cleaning the jukebox, and I took a lot of photos, except I have a couple of angle pieces that I cant figure where they go, I need a little help here.



They escaped my cameras lense, darn pesky pieces.

[Ron Rich]

Walz,
Gottm the parts book--I THINK, they are glass supports on the front door ?
Ron Rich

[walz]

From this: dirty, fly poop, grunge.






To this: a really nice jukebox, I took this completely apart, nothing spared, everything was hand cleaned, screws added when missing, repairs when needed, servicing gears, motors, computer boards. I found a lot of spider web's.

[walz]

I'm still working on this chingaderas, it had surface rust, screws missing, parts are missing I am getting a service book for this soon so I will be able to find out what I need.


The surface rust caused the parts to perform slowly.



Its dirty, and needed to be cleaned up.

After assembly I'm working on the timing of the cd retrieval, I'm getting closer to timing it. Right now everything runs smoothly.



This part had a worn bushing creating slop, damage, it was not right. I installed a bronze bushing making it last indefinitely.

Right now I'm on the cleaning stage, assembly, soon I will plug this in and start checking the components individuality.

[Ron Rich]

Hi Walz,
Thanks-- I learned something new from this post-- Was not aware that any Chingadarri were used by Rowe ----Ron Rich

[walz]

Ive got a hiccup, the CDM-12 board has one of the plugs glued into it. This needs to resolved, I'm getting another ribbon cable to replace the glued one, what about the board? Can I locate another replacement?

[Ron Rich]

Walz,
Glued in, or just "stuck"-- find them stuck often--wiggle them out--or replace the player--If a CDM-12, it's most likely no good anyway--Ron Rich

[walz]

It was glued, however the whole unit is worn out, I'm sourcing another one, figured out what goes where, everything is assembled, now for the next phase getting the bugs out of the system.


I'm still looking for the two panels. Everything else is easy to source for replacement parts.