Continental 1 Restoration

[dan]

Great to see a new jukebox forum with some familiar names. I had started a thread on phono land months a go with some questions about restoring my Conti, and lost some useful info when the site closed. I've come a fair way since then, the cabinet will get it's first coat of paint this week after lots of prep.

Some areas of the jukebox are quite rusty, including the switch assemblies in the keyboard. What is the best way to repair these? Everything is getting zinc plated to take care of the rust, but i'm not sure what to do with these. Pic: imgur.com/a/3mutJ

I posted a video of the mechanism working prior to restoration, and Ron Rich or robnyc (apologies don't remember who!) advised the transfer motor was very dry, and to carefully drill a hole to allow a zoomspout type oiler to fit for lubrication. I have yet to do this as I don't recall where is best to do this and don't want to damage the motor in the process. Can someone remind me how to lubricate this motor? It's the type that is sealed/riveted shut.

imgur.com/a/pAaoW
imgur.com/a/wQiEI

[robnyc]

Dan, in the case of the rust, frankly, after washing if it didn't affect the contacts I just burnished the points and left it as-is. In your case I'd use a contact file to scrape away the rust while being careful not to weaken the blades.

On the motor I made a 1/4" hole at the top of the gearbox approx one inch from the rivet furthest from the motor. Be careful not to allow the bit to go in more than a quarter of an inch -use a drill stop or tape around the bit. Don't press too heavily, the box is pot metal and you want the bit to carry out as much debris as possible instead of punching it into the box.

You can then just feel around with the oiler hose. I used an old plastic zoom spout bottle filled w/20 wt. You'll probably have some runoff so I added an folded paper towel underneath to soak it up.

BTW: Multiproducts is still in business: www.multiproducts.com/

Good to see you back again,

Rob

[dan]

Thanks Rob for those instructions. I still haven't got there yet though as I'm still working on other parts, which brings me to my next roadblock...

Can anyone tell me how to remove the inner shoe cam and transfer cam from the record transfer assembly?

[robnyc]

Dan, that is a "roll pin" and it gets removed by using a punch just the right size to push it out. I don't see the need to remove it unless the spring inside is somehow damaged or the old oil can't be softened by soaking the whole assembly in a degreaser-emulsifier. I've long used diluted floor stripper in hot water. Let it sit in the mix for a few hours and see if you can work it by hand. Wear gloves and try working it while in the mix. Once it is free (may take a day or two) rinse thoroughly with warm water and oil right away. I've only owned six AMI with this type of mech and only two needed to have the gripper assembly taken out and soaked after whole-mech washing.

Rob

[Ron Rich]

Gentz,
There are "specially" made punches for roll pins- They work perfectly, when the correct size is used !
I have NEVER needed to disassemble one of these--just "work in" 20 wt. ND oil--a couple have required an hour or so of introducing the oil, and turning by hand--but I have always been successful doing so --It is my understanding that these all were greased with a "graphite based" product--in which case, 20 wt.oil "re-constitutes" that grease-- Once "free"--play the heck outta your jukebox--Ron Rich

[dan]

Thanks for the info Rob and Ron. Saved me from disassembling it. It's not stuck I just wanted to clean and paint it, so I'll just do that as assembled with some masking.

[Ron Rich]

Dan,
If you "paint it--" ( I would not), be 250% sure you do not paint "between the gears" (one only shown on the right of above) THAT space MUST, remain "lubricated !! Ron Rich

[dan]

I want to paint it because the gripper arm has rust, it's looking very tired. i thought i'd carefully mask off these areas, sand off the rust and give a coat of matte black.

[Ron Rich]

Dan,
That ain't "rust" ! Thatz Patina !! I probably would paint that, also, to stop more patina from growing there ----Ron Rich

[Ron Rich]

Mar 26, 2017 13:53:55 GMT Ron Rich said:

Dan,
That ain't "rust" ! Thatz Patina !!  I probably would paint that, also, to stop more patina from growing there ----Ron Rich

[dan]

Hi,

Finally the power supply is rebuilt and the mech is cleaned and almost finished reassembled. Before powering it on for the first time, I wanted to ask the experts what I should look out for.

Given that the mech has been completely stripped down and cleaned, I'm assuming it will need to be oiled and greased in places. I have the "liberty" oil brand 100% synthetic, bought from eBay - which says it's ideal for jukeboxes. Not sure what grease I should be using and where?

Aside from running through the obvious adjustments in the service manual, is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks
Daniel

[Ron Rich]

Hi Dan,
As far as I'm concerned, "Liberty" and the other brand sold on ePay, is "snake oil" ! ( check the price for a gallon !!) I use only #20wt. ND oil--. Anywhere that rubs, "metal to metal", gets a very light coating of graphite grease, after any, all, old grease is totally removed. On later maintenance, just a drop of 20 wt. will usually, IMHO, be enough. Ron Rich

[dan]

So it's been a while, but I have adjusted the mech as well as I could according to the manual and finally powered it up tonight.

The latch bar solenoid energises as it should but I noticed it heats up very quickly. Within five minutes it's quite hot to touch. I've turned it off as I'm concerned I'm damaging the solenoid letting it get so hot. What could be causing this?

The record carousel doesn't turn either. Currently it keeps picking up the same record and putting on the turntable, when I cancel the selection it returns the record only to pick it up again a few seconds later.

Previously this jukebox was (mostly) working on freeplay without a credit unit or coin mech. I've found a credit unit to suit, but I can't figure out how to establish a credit. Rotating the wiper blades doesn't change anything.

Would appreciate any advice on where to start on getting this thing running again.

[Ron Rich]

Hi Dan,
What did you do with your "patina" ?
Going from my great, but somewhat rusty memory, I think the latch bar solenoid on those works (or should work) backwards. It, like most solenoids of that nature is NOT designed to remain energized for any length of time. On the later models it was also fused (5 a I think, which should, IMHO, be reduced to 3 a at most). My recollection is that the solenoid is only energized long enough at the very end of the selection process, to release the pushed keys. This may be part of your credit problem--You will need to figure out what one of Rob's Geppetto friends, did, to the credit system, un-do it, and start from there, using the schematic. As for returning the record to the turntable ( I assume --without scanning ?) would indicate that the selection pin for this record is not being canceled ? Ron Rich

[dan]

Hi Ron
I disassembled the transfer arm and repainted in satin black, reassembled with some graphite grease. Turned out looking great.



I thought that the Conti had a DC solenoid that stays energised so the push buttons can’t latch without a credit. When the solenoid isn’t energised the buttons can latch in, which is the reverse of most other machines I believe.

Today the transfer arm stopped picking up the same selection and the carousel scanned. Eventually it stopped for a selection and blew a fuse as the transfer motor started.

Will have a look at the manual again and see if i can figure out the problem establishing credits. I’m not very well versed in reading schematics but I will have to learn!