Can somebody here help me with a problem?

[LarryKay]

I have an AMI Rowe R85 jukebox. Out of the blue there is a loud humming sound coming from the speakers, especially the top left one. The jukebox is plugged into the wall but is in the off position in the back of the unit. I noticed that on the main power supply, the 28 VAC LED button is not lit, but both other ones (+28 &+8) LED are lit. This problem just happened out of the blue. I don't know if it blew a fuse or if their is a ground problem or what. Anyone have any ideas?  I would appreciate any help that I can get.
Thanks, Larry.

[jennifer]

      You can try tapping the volume control with your finger and see if it goes away... But my guess is it needs an amp kit.

[LarryKay]

      You can try tapping the volume control with your finger and see if it goes away... But my guess is it needs an amp kit.

Jennifer-what is an amp kit? And where can I find one? Thanks, Larry

[jennifer]

    Victory glass would have them most likely, and manuals, and all kinds of fun things for that machine.

[ami-man]

Hi Larry,

Welcome to the forum.

The 1981 Rowe Ami R-85 came in three trim models, Starlight (we bought one of these new and IMHO the best looking of the three) Starwood, Starburst.

First of all you need to make sure that the 28 volts AC is present and it not the LED that is not functioning.
Memve the power supply unit and remove the PCB and check for dry joints (cold joints USA) on the connections coming from the transformer.

When we test these when we get them in the workshop we test every board for dry joints from the power supply upwards.

Look for dry joints on the amplifier, it should be the standard 125 watt model (6-07438-01 the revision number could be different).

Do not get hung up on changing the capacitors on this era of amplifier, yes you could have to change the capacitors on the power rails, but in 30 years plus on hundreds of these amplifiers I have had to replace less than an handful. We only change components if required unless doing a full restoration.

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[LarryKay]

Alan- Thanks for responding. All 3 LED bulbs do work. The 28VAC went off while the other 2 stayed lit. I was told that it is probably in the amplifier when it hum s like it is. Alan-what is a dry joint? I'm sorry, I would like to repair this myself if possible since I don't have the money to pay someone else. I am not a electronics whiz nor do I know very much about these things. If you could kind of walk me through it, I would be most appreciative.
Thanks, Larry.

[ami-man]

Hello Larry,

Can you solder correctly?

If not do not touch the amplifier and let someone who has soldering skills look at the connection pins where they are soldered into the three boards on the amplifier, these are the pre-amplifier and the two driver boards.

A dry joint is a crack in the solder around a connection, this is unsually just the conection pins.

You mention buzzing is this all the time even during the record being played or just when you lift the tone arm off of the record?

Regards
Alan

Alan Hood
ami-man
UK

[LarryKay]

Yes Alan, the humming plays through a record playing.

[ami-man]

Hi Larry,

If you unplug the phono input from the amplifier does the buzzing go away?

Regards
Alan

[LarryKay]

I don't know. Never tried it and I got another used amp that works.