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Author Topic: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's  (Read 4915 times)

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Jean-Luc_Picard

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Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« on: October 21, 2017, 11:37:12 am »
Hello,

I have owned a Rowe AMI 100-C for several years now and several issues have surfaced since.  I am listing them in order of priority which I would like to have them fixed.

1. It will not play certain CD's.  This started several years ago and it had gotten worse.  I found an eBay listing where you send your CD transport to this guy and he'll fix that problem, for I believe around $90.  So I did that and it worked better, not perfect but better.  Prior to that, some AC/DC titles would not play 9 out of 10 times, afterwards it was more like 5 out of 10.  Just the other day I bought several brand new CD's (Walmart and Best Buy), sealed, fairly new releases.  A couple of them are compilations of various artists which it'll play.  Tom Petty, Elton John and ZZ Top will not play, period.  It seems like it plays older (as in used, bought on eBay) CD's just fine, but then again, it plays the brand new compilations as well, so there doesn't seem to be a pattern that I can identify.  My next step was to contact the guy who fixed it last time, have not done that yet.

2. The animation window motor is making a LOUD humming noise.  The dumb part is that the motor works perfectly fine (quietly, as it should) when the front door is open (service).  As soon as I lower it, it starts humming badly, to the point it will take away from the experience.  This is a motor I've replaced a couple of years ago; I purchased it from this guy from AB Jukebox Repair, I believe it was about $60.  I emailed him when the humming began and haven't heard back. :(

3. The lights in the animation window are not working, they did at some point.  It would be nice to have them work again.

I will attach some pics for reference.

Thanks in advance!

Peter,
Northern CA

jdemarti

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Re: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2017, 04:34:19 am »
Hello Jean. To answer your questions.

1) Most likely, the OPU that was used to rebuild the player went bad. Even if the player was recently rebuilt, the OPU may have prematurely failed.

2) Same thing with the motor, it probably went bad. By opening the door there's different tension on the motor stem, which may be making the sound dissapear. When the door is closed, the downward pressure on the stem may just be the condition that is making it hum. Keep trying Bruce, he is usually pretty good at responding. 

3) Bulbs probably went bad. Pull a few out and check the filament. The bulb connections work in pairs, meaning you pull one out and another bulb located on the same board will no longer have power. my recommendation si to just change out all the bulbs, they are cheap enough


Jean-Luc_Picard

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Re: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« Reply #2 on: October 28, 2017, 11:29:31 am »
Thanks for the advice.

Where do I get the light bulbs? Are they a common item?

Your explanation about the motor sounds about right; is that something that can even be fixed? Or should I just get a "new" one? I'll try emailing Bruce again.

UPDATE:

I contacted the guy who fixed the CD transport and he offered to fix it again at no charge; the only cost was shipping it to him.  Hopefully it'll work better this time.

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Re: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« Reply #3 on: October 28, 2017, 10:47:12 pm »
They are standard #73 bulbs. Very common. Can probably find a thousand sellers on ebay with them.

As for the motor, it is best to replace it. I have tried silicone spray and other stuff to stop the noise and it goes away for a short while, but comes back very quickly.

Good luck

Jean-Luc_Picard

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Re: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2017, 01:02:03 pm »
Thanks!

I was also wondering how often should the CD transport lens be cleaned? My jukebox sits in the garage. What is the best method of cleaning the lens? Can these transports be modified to play homemade CD's (MP3, WAV, etc)?

Ken Layton

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Re: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2017, 10:24:15 pm »

Where do I get the light bulbs? Are they a common item?



They are #73 miniature lamps. Can be bought at any auto parts store in the light bulbs section. Can also be bought at any coin operated machine distributor's parts department.

lilshawn

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Re: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2017, 12:44:40 pm »
Thanks!

I was also wondering how often should the CD transport lens be cleaned? My jukebox sits in the garage. What is the best method of cleaning the lens? Can these transports be modified to play homemade CD's (MP3, WAV, etc)?

these mechs weren't really made to work with burned CD's. The dye used in the blank CD's to produce them caused lots of read errors in the late 90's early 2000's. it was a real bugger time for CDR's and variances in production where widespread. it's not as bad now as it used to be because laser wavelength technology has accounted for it and CD dye has gotten better... unfortunately these mechs still use old technology. People have messed with the laser power in an attempt to fix this issue with mixed results.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,110942.msg1176257.html#msg1176257

If you are interested, I do have a kit that replaces your entire CD mechanism with a hard drive that plays music in mp3 format.

from www.cdadapter.com

I realize you've already put a pile of money into fixing your CD unit up, but I have the feeling you aren't going to be able to get what you need out of the unit as it operates currently... it's never really going to play burned CD's reliably... it's just a result of the time it was made.

Jean-Luc_Picard

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Re: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2017, 04:28:47 pm »


If you are interested, I do have a kit that replaces your entire CD mechanism with a hard drive that plays music in mp3 format.

from www.cdadapter.com

I realize you've already put a pile of money into fixing your CD unit up, but I have the feeling you aren't going to be able to get what you need out of the unit as it operates currently... it's never really going to play burned CD's reliably... it's just a result of the time it was made.

I wish I knew about this conversion kit before I spent money trying to fix the transport. 

The guy who fixed it previously has it now, I should get it back in a few days.  However, I would be interested in your kit if mine fails again.  Is the kit something you manufacture yourself? Do you offer any warranty?  Also, I'm assuming I would key in the "CD" and song number as usual, and the jukebox would play my selection as if it were playing a real CD?

Thanks,
Peter

Jean-Luc_Picard

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Re: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2017, 04:37:22 pm »
They are #73 miniature lamps. Can be bought at any auto parts store in the light bulbs section. Can also be bought at any coin operated machine distributor's parts department.

Thanks, ordered them from Amazon.

lilshawn

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Re: Rowe AMI 100-C won't play certain CD's
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2017, 06:44:01 pm »
no, we used to run jukeboxes out on a vending route. the CD units were very unreliable so we changed them out for these mp3 kits. we have since then converted the jukeboxes again to touchscreen jukes. so I had a couple dozen of these kits hanging around after they were converted again