Jukebox Wallbox adapters

[Mike Watterson]

The jukeboxes that did 78s were amazing.

You never knew how long the queue was? In the café or diner for Truckers I was in in Ohio in early 1980s I never heard my selection! It was a very decrepit place compared to the fake 1950s style Eddie Rocket's in Ireland 30 years later with its similar looking wall box simulation.

[SeanRegan]

The jukeboxes that did 78s were amazing.

You never knew how long the queue was? In the café or diner for Truckers I was in in Ohio in early 1980s I never heard my selection! It was a very decrepit place compared to the fake 1950s style Eddie Rocket's in Ireland 30 years later with its similar looking wall box simulation.

One of the reasons for not hearing a selection with vintage jukeboxes, is the way the machine selects them.
Some had 100 "A sides." If a high number have been selected, it would take a while to work through them. Not in the order they were chosen, but in the order they are in the carousel. In between those selections,   someone might select a, "B side," this was rare, as many were not particularly good tunes, But some records were marketed  as "Double A sides" usually re-issues, with two former hit records by the same  artist,  they were popular with jukebox owners. But it'll still play all the "A sides" before it plays that selection.

For anyone living in the North West and are interested in jukeboxes, there's an upmarket furniture  store called Arighi Bianchi, in Macclesfield. It's a huge rambling building. The owner is a vinyl jukebox enthusiast. He always has about four beautifully restored machines of different eras dotted around the store, set on "freeplay."  The idea I guess is for men to play them whilst their wives spend their money around the store.

[peter scott]

I can understand the desire to make an orphaned wallbox operate but I watched a program on the box last night where a complete free standing juke box was butchered as a commercial venture.

Admittedly the juke box was not particularly attractive but the complete mechanism, record set and amplifier was junked and a small bluetooth connected amplifier was substituted. The end result had no selection list and whilst the selection keys remained, they served no function.

To my view this was an act of appalling vandalism.

Peter

[SeanRegan]

I can understand the desire to make an orphaned wallbox operate but I watched a program on the box last night where a complete free standing juke box was butchered as a commercial venture.

Admittedly the juke box was not particularly attractive but the complete mechanism, record set and amplifier was junked and a small bluetooth connected amplifier was substituted. The end result had no selection list and whilst the selection keys remained, they served no function.

To my view this was an act of appalling vandalism.

Peter

Yes I saw that too, it was Retro Electro Workshop on ITV 4

They went to a barn where someone had a large number of jukeboxes and pinball machines stored.
There were a few reasonably looking ones but they settled on a 1973 Seeburg CL100 Carnival

Here's a nice one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYxmVGH3Kfc

It was in a terrible state, possibly stored in that damp barn for decades, the interior was "hanging" and the chrome flaking off. I couldn't believe they paid £850 for it. It was well beyond economical repair.
As you say, what they did with it was a complete nonsense and to then price it at £1500 was a joke.
Hadn't sold after a year. I'm not surprised.
The one I linked in my video might fetch £2000, but I wouldn't pay more than £1500 for that.
A lot of jukeboxes are advertised on eBay, at silly money, but when you look down "completed listings," few sell.

This programme series started off pretty well, two weeks ago, but the visit to a transport museum this week to fix the windscreen wiper on a 1962 bus was hardly "riveting telly."

They've fixed one of those "cat clocks" on The Repair Shop.

[Refugee]

It is pointless to spend a shed load of money on anything vintage only to gut it and fit modern parts.
It is much easier to buy a cheap bit of furniture and fit the modern bits in that.

[SeanRegan]

It is pointless to spend a shed load of money on anything vintage only to gut it and fit modern parts.
It is much easier to buy a cheap bit of furniture and fit the modern bits in that.

This is true, but this programme has to appeal to a wide audience, many of whom will have little knowledge of the technical side of repairs. It's always a trade-off with these sorts of programmes if they are going to survive.

The blame here is on the production team. The barn where the jukeboxes were stored I think was in Chesterfield a long way away from the "top banana" repairer. 
The guy choosing the jukebox I would suggest would have known naff-all about them. 
So the deal had been done, the film was in the can and they had to do something with it, when the repairer told them it was too far gone. 
The chrome had had it, so they had it sandblasted and painted! 
I guess they didn't want to write it all off. So did what they could with it. They would have been more than a thousand pounds into it,  so it ended up as a cheap conversion.
By comparison, the cat would have cost hardly anything to repair and was more interesting...just.
I think they must be struggling to find interesting repairs, when they included a windscreen wiper this week.

[peter scott]

I think they must be struggling to find interesting repairs, when they included a windscreen wiper this week.

That really was a strange "repair". He checked a few motors until he found one that worked and just fitted that.
The normal cause of these motors failing is the grease in the gearbox solidifies. He could at least have inspected the gearboxes of the non-working motors. I'm sure he could have displayed a nice easy repair simply by cleaning and filling with new grease.

Peter

[Mike Watterson]

Set grease was the reason the platter motor on my 1934 or 1935 HMV radiogram didn't go. Then it failed a second time and it was corrosion just where enamelled winding soldered to the lead-out wire, so that was repairable. Curiously it has a worm-drive gearbox like a windscreen-wiper motor!

[SeanRegan]

I think they must be struggling to find interesting repairs, when they included a windscreen wiper this week.

That really was a strange "repair". He checked a few motors until he found one that worked and just fitted that.
The normal cause of these motors failing is the grease in the gearbox solidifies. He could at least have inspected the gearboxes of the non-working motors. I'm sure he could have displayed a nice easy repair simply by cleaning and filling with new grease.

Peter

Solidified grease is often the problem with some jukebox motors, mine has four. The culprit in mine was the carousel motor. It was struggling and was occasionally activating the mechanical trip switch.

Give Rock-Ola its due, they used well-made motors.
Mine was a pain to access.

I had to get at it from both sides.
The front containing the bass speakers had to be detached. It just clips in for ease of access.



Then the small access panel at the back.  You can't even see the motor from here.




I had to lie full length to get at the three bolts that secured it.
Then drag it out from the front.



Motor and gearbox, "a thing of beauty." Forty-seven years old.




Sad looking commutator needing attention.



I dismantled the gearbox and replaced the grease, even at this age it has a big nylon drive wheel.

[Mike Watterson]

Nylon on sale in 1938.
Flexible PVC maybe in 1933. Some WWII military gear has both original PVC and rubber insulated wiring.
Vinyl microgroove 12″ 33 rpm in 1948 (various 78s with bigger grooves did exist in 1930s at 12″ and larger, and even 33rpm played from centre)
Vinyl microgroove 7″ 45 rpm in 1949, originally only with big hole for RCA autochanger. Hence spiders are as old as 45s

So nylon gears might predate 45 rpm jukeboxes by 10 years or more.

Bakelite and Rayon/Viscose are maybe two of the oldest commercial plastics. Bakelite though replaced in maybe 1960s by the current material of domestic electrical fittings which is very similar.