rock-ola 448 or 9

cadillacman

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here we go again lol.. a friend of mine just bought this and drug over to me.. "mike can fix it" lol. first thing i did was get shocked, damn power cord end was wired wrong..

Coin mech is mia. Odd, because it always stays coined up somehow.. somebody mustve done some sort of mod.


The mechanism that picks up records is heavily gummed up, no shock there..

The only other thing i really need your guys input on is that it hums from the speakers....BAD... the pickup works but just hums something fierce. If i unplug the phono input from the amp, humming stops.. That would lead me to believe the amps are ok and i have a bad needle cartridge or wiring correct?

thanks.

edit" man ive been lubing and working this pickup arm for hous now. its half freed, i got it to pickup a record but the motor wants to keep going a little more but the mech wont let it... so after awhile the motor gets hot and pops the breaker.. try as i might i cant get it totally freed up. looks like i have to totally dissassemble this one. any pointers?
 
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I have nothing positive to add by way of help, but man I don't envy you right now. Sounds like you are having a rough time...

My folks just bought a 70s Rowe MM5 and it's got a few probs, but they got lucky in that it functions pretty well for having had no maintenance on it in years. Theirs makes an audible popping sound on record changes or upon accepting a selection, but I'm afraid to get in there and tinker with it any more for fear of other probs dominoing out of control :D

Is the Rock-ola 448 tube driven by chance? Could be a tube causing that hum if so.
 
I have nothing positive to add by way of help, but man I don't envy you right now. Sounds like you are having a rough time...

My folks just bought a 70s Rowe MM5 and it's got a few probs, but they got lucky in that it functions pretty well for having had no maintenance on it in years. Theirs makes an audible popping sound on record changes or upon accepting a selection, but I'm afraid to get in there and tinker with it any more for fear of other probs dominoing out of control :D

Is the Rock-ola 448 tube driven by chance? Could be a tube causing that hum if so.

its for sure 448.. and i dont have a clue if its tube driven.

hum goes completely away when i unplug the cartridge/phono input wires which would lead me to believe its not in the amps..
 
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You should be so lucky. I just got a 445 and it does almost nothing, got a manual on Thurs, lots of schmetics, but I had hoped for troubleshooting, nothing. It's gonna be a long uphill battle...
 
The last time I asked him, my friend that fixes vintage amps told me that 9 times out of 10 an amp hum is due to bad caps but I don't know if that translates to solid state amps or not. I know you can get that hum when you leave a wire plugged in to an amp and unplug the other end, but it sounds like your issue is the reverse.

Can you plug something else into the amp to see if it works (cd player or something)?
 
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Don't know if it helps, but here are links to the pdf manual for this model:

Sound System(Has a few troubleshooting diagrams and points to check):
http://thearcadeboneyard.com/Jukebox_Manuals/rock_ola/ROCK OLA 448 - 449 SOUND_SYSTEM.pdf

And this one has all documentation combined in PDF for this model(large file, but covers everything including troubleshooting, functionality, maintenance and schematics):
http://thearcadeboneyard.com/Jukebox_Manuals/rock_ola/ROCK OLA 448 - 449 (All Files Combined).pdf
 
Wow the arcade boneyard dude actually hosted some repair info thats cool.... i actually already have a copy of the svc manual but thank you for looking this stuff up for me.

I got the pickup arm lubed and freed pretty well, the problem is at the end of the song it just sits there amps still on, record still spinning. I got to digging around, almost all of the spade terminals that connect to the microswitches at the rear of the cabinet related to pickup arm position are literally falling apart, greenish, oxidized, etc..

So i believe i will spend some time sanding all the male spades down on the switches, pulling and actually testing each switch, and reassamble with new spade terminals and see what i get..


On a sidenote, im also seeing i have no "this record is playing 1XX display...

On another sidenote, whats the purpose of the light bulb inside the rt rear electrical box? my 450 had one and i think it litup after a selection, this machine is missing the bulb. ANy idea what lamp i should be using?
 
I have a working 449 in my living room so if you need any pictures of anything let me know.
On the display, mine didn't work when I got it but it was just unplugged so you may want to check to make sure it's plugged in the right way (I know, that's pretty obvious, but I seem to remember the way the thing is wired up, it's hard to see if it's plugged in or not...)
I'll check on that light for you too, but I don't remember seeing one there, so mine may not have it either...
 
audio ground is connected on both ends. i decided to dig into the mechanics before i go after audio. I replaced ALL the spade terminals that go to the miroswitches at the back of the unit because they were so corroded and falling apart. (theres 4 switches total) recheck, and exactly the same. I decided on a hunch to pull the switches one at a time. THEYRE ALL BAD. I tried taking one apart to clean it but screw it, new ones are not much money. Im going to have the owner buy me 4 new microswitches and a new needle cartridge and we will go form there. THer needle is so worn out it literally skips and doesent "track" very well anyways.

I may need one of you guys to pop that rear cover off and take a couple pics of how the switches are wired just to make sure i have it right.

WIsh me luck.
 
Can someone please take some pics of how thier microswitches are wired to the microswitches in the back of the machine? You just pop that one cover off, easy..

I have replaced all the connectors and microswitches, now it puts the record back and that motor continues to want to run and pops the breaker..


so progress, but not the progress i wanted lol..

im hoping i simply miswired a swtich, time till tell with your help.
IF anybody can hook a brothah up with a pic or two, that would be awesome!
 
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Can someone please take some pics of how thier microswitches are wired to the microswitches in the back of the machine? You just pop that one cover off, easy..

I have replaced all the connectors and microswitches, now it puts the record back and that motor continues to want to run and pops the breaker..


so progress, but not the progress i wanted lol..

im hoping i simply miswired a swtich, time till tell with your help.
IF anybody can hook a brothah up with a pic or two, that would be awesome!

I'll try to remember to do so tonight when I get home, unless someone else has already done this...
 
Can someone please take some pics of how thier microswitches are wired to the microswitches in the back of the machine? You just pop that one cover off, easy..

I have replaced all the connectors and microswitches, now it puts the record back and that motor continues to want to run and pops the breaker..


so progress, but not the progress i wanted lol..

im hoping i simply miswired a swtich, time till tell with your help.
IF anybody can hook a brothah up with a pic or two, that would be awesome!

Where exactly do you mean?
 
Hey Caddy, is this what you are looking for? I think it should be the same between the 448 and 449...

attachment.php
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If you need a better shot, closer or further away, or something else, let me know.
 

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thats exactly what im looking for, i guess i will open em up in paint and see if i can make out the wire colors.
 
ok man thank you but im sorry, i cannot make out those pictures well ehough to tell..

can you try again or mabye someon else can try for me?
 
Sorry, I haven't been on here in a few days, so I just saw this post... Are you trying to figure out what wire colors go into each switch? or do you need to try to trace each wire back to the harness? I'm sure I could get some closer pics or let you know what is plugged in where...
 
There is a set screw on that collar that allows you to adjust all the switches together...the manual will show you.If the switch that tells the arm to stop is out of adjustment then that could cause your issue....
 
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