ami-man's advice on Rowe Ami jukeboxes

[dkazz1]

I also noticed that at startup, the bill acceptor all of the sudden sounds like it's not getting enough power (it's a 115 VAC bill acceptor) - Not sure if the two problems are related but just noting for completeness. 

[youngfoot]

thanks for quick response Alan. Have I git it right that the service switch is on the left hand side down by the 'corner' of the cover? if so it is in the ON position. tried putting it in OFF and then SERV and then back to ON but no joy.

Is this a repairable item or is it a replacement? can it be bypassed in the short term?

thanks again

Bob

[ed12]

alans answer for the service s/w position should fix the play problem u talk about.
biil accepter grind is normal :reset function: of the :dba:,how ever with the service switch stuck
it dose mean the box is truly in service mode
hence the dba will go to rest :lights off:

ed

[youngfoot]

thanks Ed

[tnitty]

Hi,

I just picked up a Rowe MM-2. I get home power up made a selection and it went through the whole process of picking a record placed on turntable and that was it. No spinning. I hit the cancel button and it put the record back.

Now when i make a selection the search unit board keeps spinning and wont stop until i turn the machine off. The manual says to "Check relay R for proper operation". I do not see anything labeled relay R

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am still very new to Jukeboxes. I have tinkered with pinball's and arcades but this is my first jukebox.

[tnitty]

Also forgot to mention it did come with a Phono Vue projector that I do not have hooked up. Not sure if this needs to be hooked up for everything work properly. I have attached some pictures

[dkazz1]

Hello and greetings

I have a Rowe/AMI Storm Jukebox that is working fine, however all of the sudden all of the florescent lighting went out on it (neon is still lit up fine)

I'm guessing there is some sort of starter ballast that went out on it?

Any source for that or can you send me a picture of the part needed to be replaced?

Thanks

Dan

Problem solved. Found the electronic ballast which is cleverly hidden behind the mechanism and a screen to make the player look more aesthetically pleasing.  Pulled it apart and one of the 1 amp slo blo fuses was blown. Replaced and now is working fine again. 😀

[ami-man]

Hello tnitty,

Welcome to the forum.

Relay R is the relay on the lefthand side of the mechanism (lookong from the front of the jukebox) it can be a plug in relay on the later 1100 mechanisms but on the earlier mechanism s it was a wired in relay.

Check the relay for burn mars on the contacts if your is the open type relay then clean with a paper taper pulled beteen the contacts to clean the tips of the contacts. I would also do the same to the open relays on the keyboard (they are under a plastic cover) these relays are R1 and R5 in your manual. also clean the open relays on the Search Unit S1 & S2.

Regards
Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[youngfoot]

Hi Alan - just reposting my followup questions on problem with my R86 which you thought were due to the service switch. Grateful for any advice.

Bob

thanks for quick response Alan. Have I git it right that the service switch is on the left hand side down by the 'corner' of the cover? if so it is in the ON position. tried putting it in OFF and then SERV and then back to ON but no joy.

Is this a repairable item or is it a replacement? can it be bypassed in the short term?

thanks again

Bob

[ami-man]

Hello Bob,

If you have got a meter that reads AC & DC, you can check the power supply rails from the power supply through the service switch and down to the 9 pin Molex plug on the mechanism framework.

A black or black/white is common
Red or red/wite is 28 volts DC
Yellow or Yellow/black is 28 volts AC
Brown or brown/white is 8 volts DC

On your power supply here are the connections:-

Pin 1 8 volts DC
Pin 2 8 volts DC
Pin 3 KEY
Pin 4 28 volts DC
Pin 5 28 volts AC
Pin 6 28 volts AC
Pin 7 Common (AC & DC)
Pin 8 Common
Pin 9 Common

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[youngfoot]

many thanks alan - will give it a go!

[youngfoot]

morning Alan - going to have to show my ignorance now!!!! is the key pin on the molex the one with the small plastic lug sticking out? and if thats pin 3 do I assume its 2 then 1 to the left and 4-6 in next row etc?

also (this will make you cringe I'm sure!!) - when measuring do I go from a common to the pin I'm measuring with the meter? can it be any common?

some of my boring colours seem to differ from above - looks like some orange and orange brown in there!

grateful for all assistance!

[ami-man]

Good morning Bob,

On these power supplies the loom that goes into the power supply, the key should be a plug of plastic in the location of pin 3.

Yes you can use any of the common conections at pins 7, 8 & 9.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[youngfoot]

Thanks Alan - I've metered at the power supply and readings were as expected against your pinouts above.

I then reconnected the harness to the psu and then disconnected the harness at the 9 pin molex and metered there - again all readings seemed fine based on the wire colours.

This seems to say that the service switch is ok. your thoughts and next steps?

many thanks

[tgmilazzo]

Sorry if I'm wrong but thought maybe this was the correct place to post my message instead of in the general jukebox forum, could really use some help!

Hey Guys,
New to this forum, thanks in advance for any help. I recently bought a CD100-c used to convert over to hard drive/MP3 setup. After I bought it I noticed I wasn't getting any sound out of the left speakers. Thought maybe the amp had a bad channel, if I switched the inputs into the amp I could still only get sound out of the right side. Did a couple of weeks of reading posts here and on other forums and messing around with it. Bought a replacement amp off Ebay and still had the exact same problem. At some point I did something and now I'm only getting sound out of the left side, I know it's stupid but I have no idea what I did to get the sound over there. Now I know all the speakers work but I can't get sound to both sides at once or even back over to just the right side. Really stumped and have forgotten alot of what I learned because I went out of town and wasn't able to work on it for the last week or two. Any help on where to start narrowing down the problem would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Tony

[lilshawn]

double check you have the pink/purple/black wires connected to the terminal speaker strips.  you should have a bundle of the three with the black on one of the E1 connections, and a pink on one of the E7 connections and a purple on the other E7 connection.

double check you have your jumper set for single volume control (if using the rear control) on the connections terminal strip. from the left, you should have an empty spot, the jumper jumping position 2 and 3 along with your red volume pot lead and then the black volume pot lead on the "common" position in 4

(i believe...going from memory here)

you may have an issue with your crossover. it's not uncommon for vibrations to break connections on the crossover. double check your solder on the back side and look to see if the coils connections are not broken.

[tgmilazzo]

Thanks,

The purple/pink/black all look good as do the red/black/ jumper.

Some questions
      -I didn't see an actual jumper when I got it, what does it look like? A piece of metal that would slide into two posts? I just made a jumper out of a piece of wire to go between the appropriate posts

      - I tried swapping the pink and purple wires If pink is connected to left side of terminal sound comes out of right upper speakers. If purple is connected to left side then sound comes out of left upper speakers. If both are connected properly nothing comes out of right side. If I connect either wire to right side terminal strips I get no sound.

     -With the black ground wire removed from the terminal strip I still hear bass and as near as I can tell from feeling the woofers I am getting sound from both sides down there.

     - The sound is pretty loud even with the volume turned all the way down, I've moved the pink and purple to the E3 connections to make it bearable to work on, is this normal?

     -I unscrewed the crossover and looked at the back and it looks ok but I'm not really sure what it would look like if a connection was broken, I'm guessing a crack in the soldering back there but I'm not sure. Is the another way to test the crossover?

[ami-man]

I suspect that one side of amplifier is down.
This can be easily tested by the use of extension speaker wired directly to the phono output socket on the amplifier, the plug that goes into this socket goes up to the Output Package, it should have Pink & Purple on the two outer connections with two black cables in the middle two connections.

Connect on the socket with a clour and a black, if you are not getting an output on one of the channels then the amp is down on one side or you have the volume contrl connected incorectly, to test this at full volume remove the plug from the amplifier and make up a test lead shorting out pins 1, 3 & 5.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[lilshawn]

it's entirely possible an incorrect hookup has damaged the amplifier. did you have any additional speakers attached to the jukebox after you purchased the new amp? these amps are very finicky regarding how speakers are hooked up to it...it's really easy to damage the output on them with improper speaker load connection.

      -I didn't see an actual jumper when I got it, what does it look like? A piece of metal that would slide into two posts? I just made a jumper out of a piece of wire to go between the appropriate posts

yes, that's correct. it's normally a metal plate that slides under and screws down. a wire will do just fine. for a single volume control, you need to have position 1 open... position 2 and 3 shorted together and also your red wire from your volume pot connected here as well... then the black from your pot on the 4th position.

if you were doing a dual volume or a stereo pot. your jumper would be instead shorting position 1 and 2 with the jumper as well as your 1st volume pot wire ....your second volume red wire on 3 (no jumper) and your black grounds on 4.

      - I tried swapping the pink and purple wires If pink is connected to left side of terminal sound comes out of right upper speakers. If purple is connected to left side then sound comes out of left upper speakers. If both are connected properly nothing comes out of right side. If I connect either wire to right side terminal strips I get no sound.

so if you put all 3 wires on one side, (for example black on E1 and a pink on E6 and the purple on E7) you get sound, but if you put them on the other side you don't?

     -With the black ground wire removed from the terminal strip I still hear bass and as near as I can tell from feeling the woofers I am getting sound from both sides down there.

this is normal. it's common to feel vibrations in both speakers even if one side isn't working since they share a common air space in the subwoofer box. (one speaker movement will drive the other.) you would have to physically remove and disconnect the speaker to test this.

     - The sound is pretty loud even with the volume turned all the way down, I've moved the pink and purple to the E3 connections to make it bearable to work on, is this normal?

your volume connection on the amp may be upside down. it's the white and purple wires that plug into the lower middle of the amp. the purple wire should be towards the front of the cabinet. you might also have an improper volume pot. The pot should be a 10k ohm LOGARITHMIC pot that is designed for audio... not a standard linear pot. this would result in a volume control that is super twitchy... you turn up the volume and there is nothing nothing nothing then BLAM! super loud.

     -I unscrewed the crossover and looked at the back and it looks ok but I'm not really sure what it would look like if a connection was broken, I'm guessing a crack in the soldering back there but I'm not sure. Is the another way to test the crossover?

not much to test. a crack would look kind of like this...


they aren't super obvious. The coils are big and heavy and sometimes the wire will break off from vibration. you should be able to put a meter on each side

[tgmilazzo]

OK,
So i checked the amp per your suggestion and it seems to be out on one side, although the phono output plug looks like this on mine with brown/white on top then two blacks then green on bottom. It does seem to go up to the output package though.


I guess when both amps had one side down I assumed it had to be something else.
 -Is there anyway to pull the good board from the other amp and replace the the bad board?
 
To respond to the other question I never had both the pink and purple on the same side at the same time if I swap sides with the pink and purple the sound moves from one side to the other.

Thanks again.

[ami-man]

I would not recommend changing the driver boards over unless you test the output transistors first, you will need a transistor tester in order to do this.

I would recommend that you send your Rowe Ami amplifier to a specialist for a proffessional repair.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[bruceboss]

Hi,I have several rowe 92 cd combo boxes.The computer goes into programming mode as soon as it goes into service mode[the service switch has been changed to a toggle switch as the factory one always seemed to fail when the boxes were out on location].They will play by coining up etc. but can not initalize etc. as programming mode locks me out of that funtion.So any ideas how to bypass or something?Thanks! Bruce

[ami-man]

Hi Bruce,

It sounds as if the CCC has an error 1 or error 4.
You will need to check the battery voltage, it is 3 volts and change it if neccessary. After you may need to go to factory settings.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[anderpal]

Hi, I ahve just picked up a Rowe AMI JEL-200 in need of restoring.
The main problem is the auto fix between 33 and 45 speed as the records are played at 33 speed now.
It seems the selector button also needs to be fixed.
Any hints or tips?

Anders

[ami-man]

Hello Anders,

You need to check the speed shift switch, it is the switch on the front support on the mechanism with the three braded wire loops.
If the switch tests out ok and the hub in the center of the turn table pops up prior to playing a record then it should play at 45, ifneeds be check the the idler wheel linkage is not jammed keeping it on the 33.3 speed spring on the turntable motor shaft.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[youngfoot]

Hi Alan - going back to posts in early September and if you have any other thoughts on problem with my R86?

many thanks
Bob

----------------------------------------------

Good morning Bob,

On these power supplies the loom that goes into the power supply, the key should be a plug of plastic in the location of pin 3.

Yes you can use any of the common conections at pins 7, 8 & 9.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

------------------------------------------------
Thanks Alan - I've metered at the power supply and readings were as expected against your pinouts above.

I then reconnected the harness to the psu and then disconnected the harness at the 9 pin molex and metered there - again all readings seemed fine based on the wire colours.

This seems to say that the service switch is ok. your thoughts and next steps?

many thanks

[ami-man]

Hi Bob,

Going back to original topic you stated that the service switch is in the ON position but when you press any of the cancel buttons the mechanism/carousel rotates, can you confirm that it only rotates whilst you are holding down the cancel button? and that it stops on release, or does it keep scanning?

To be honest I think you have reached a point where you need to have the following tested:-

Central Control Computer (CCC)
Pricing Board (just under the CCC)
Mechanism Control
Opto switch
Looms P205 on Mechanism Control to P-105 on the CCC & the loom from the top connection of the Pricing Board to the Display and CCC P-100 & P-101

If you wish to send these to me for testing/repair please send me a PM for instructions.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[never0101]

Just posting again, i think my original post may have been lost in the shuffle.  I have a mostly working Rowe R-91 Jukebox.  Mechanically and musically it's great.  I need to replace the surrounds on the woofers due to surrounds deteriorating but that's minor.   My main question is in regards to the lighting.  There are a few fluorescent tubes inside, most of them work, the last one that doesnt work is a weird length short one that I just havent found a matching tube for.   However, there are small bulbs along the top and along the middle of the bottom inbetween the speaker grills that are supposed to flash according to videos i've seen, but they dont work.  The jukebox came wiht the full service technical manual but unless i'm missing something there are NO lighting schematics in there.   Is there a lighting controller somewhere inside or a common spot i can start my testing?  I can generally read a schematic and work a meter but with no schematic i'm lost!  Any help would rock.

[ami-man]

Hi never0101,

In the amplifier compartment is the Lamp Control, Rowe Ami part number 40750103.

Check to see if this is present and working. The sound to light lamps on most of the Rowe Ami jukeboxes are the small black lampholders that are fitted with 14 volt minature wedge lamps.

Most of the faults on the lamp controllers are down to dry joints and fitting the incorect lamps, many people fit 12 lamps used in fruit machines, these being the incorrect voltage draw too much current.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[phesson]

Hello,
My name is Paul and I am the new owner of a 1986 Rowe Ami R90 Golden. 
All in all it is in very good working order with only a few issues that need attention. I have purchased my Field Service Manual and Parts Catalog and have been familiarizing my self with the components.
When the unit powers up and the fluorescents are flickering on, I get loud pops and cracks through the speakers. This is my most pressing issue. I think i need to replace the ballasts and remove the starters? I see one ballast and two starters in the front door assembly and one and one in the top door assembly. Am I on the right track?
I would appreciate any advice.

[lilshawn]

popping through the speakers is quite common. the arc used to strike the tube makes a huge electromagnetic pulse that is picked up in the amp and output to the speakers.

you can sometimes change the tubes and starters (make sure the starter has a noise suppression capacitor in it lot's of cheap ones don't) and that will tone it down considerably.

otherwise, you may consider alternative lighting solutions like led or more modern cold cathode style (starterless) fluorescent transformers.

[phesson]

Thank you lilshawn.
I bought new starters. My local hardware store didn't carry ones with the noise suppression capacitors (I'll find some online) but the popping is greatly reduced already.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lilshawn]

yeah, the way those starters work is by running a current through a bimetallic strip...causing a huge arc in the process. that arc is what you hear through the speakers.

you can still occasionally find them without suppression caps but most new modern starters have them (often called condensers)

[phesson]

Paul here again,

I have a question about programming and the memorec. I reset the "popular" list by hitting the reset button on the memorec in service mode, set the switch to on and played selection 100 then checked the memorec which shows 00 01 as the most popular selection. When I press the popular button on the main key pad, selection 136 begins playing Am I forgetting something or missing a step?

One last question, for now, at the end of the day when there are still many selections queued up and I am ready to shut down, is there a proper way to clear the selections before I power down?   

[ami-man]

Hi Paul,

Forgetting pressing the popular button.
If you select a range of records, lets say 100, 111, 123, 134, 145, etc does the jukebox select these correctly?
after selecting the above does it play them in sequence and then stop after the last selection?

Have you checked the battery voltage on the CCC (without power applied) it should be 2.4 volts, if less than this replace the battery.

On the CCC is Clear Selection Memory, this clears any selections remaining to be played from the memory.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[phesson]

Thanks Alan.

[phesson]

Hello Alan.

So I need to enter programming mode before I press the reset button on the the memorac and then press the popular key and exit programming mode? I had no luck with this.

It looks like I have a new/different CCC. The original part number is 4-07773-05. My CCC is part number 4-07773-12. I do not see a Clear Selection Memory button. (see photo)

It will play a wide range of selections in order and then stop afterward.

I will check the battery tomorrow.

Many thanks,

Paul

[ed12]

right where the tape is
there is a small internal button
inset a small round tube (smaller then the hole) u will feel the button
push and count to 10

ed

[phesson]

right where the tape is
there is a small internal button
inset a small round tube (smaller then the hole) u will feel the button
push and count to 10

ed

Tanks Ed,

The memorac resets and displays the correct selection number/number of plays in the display afterward... but when I press the popular button it plays a random selection and not the selection the memorac shows as the most popular. 

Paul

[ami-man]

Hello Alan.

So I need to enter programming mode before I press the reset button on the the memorac and then press the popular key and exit programming mode? I had no luck with this.

It looks like I have a new/different CCC. The original part number is 4-07773-05. My CCC is part number 4-07773-12. I do not see a Clear Selection Memory button. (see photo)

It will play a wide range of selections in order and then stop afterward.

I will check the battery tomorrow.

Many thanks,

Paul

Hi Paul,

Sorry for some reason I thought you were talking about the R-86.

The Clear Selection Memory was only featured on the two following ranges of jukeboxes.

R-80 to R-83 there was a clear memory button on the Memory Unit
R-84 to R-88 clear memory button on the CCC as I previously mentioned.

On the R-89 to R-94 this feature was not an option
The battery on the 4-07773 CCC 3 volt button cell with tags, I tend to replace these with a button cell holder.

In order to reset the memorec reset, you have to put the service switch into the SERVICE position.
Error codes can be read in the service position by entering 666, 699 clears all error codes.

If the programming code is the original then to get into programming put the service switch into service, press Popular and 000, if correct you will get three dashes on the display.

Free play is at location 27, if you wish the jukebox to be on free play type in 255 and then press popular.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK