On 17 May 2005 05:59:03 -0700, wrote:

Hi,

I currently picked-up a Rowe R-93 (non-combo). It is equiped with a
animation motor that has a disco ball. There are 12 mini bulbs (#73)
that go around the disco ball.

The animation motor is burn-out and I have ordered a new one. My
question is about the bulbs. No bulbs light up - there are some that
seem burn-out and some that seem ok. Do all the bulbs have to be ok in
order for all the bulbs to light up ...one burns out, they all go out?

Thanks,

NM


The bulbs are in a series-parallel arrangement. They are a 14v bulb
and are run in 6 pairs of 2 in series from the machine's 24vac supply.

This is a stupid and troublesome arrangement, as one of the 2 bulbs
will invariably overheat, blow and also burn out/discolour the
coloured hard plastic condom thing thats over the top of the bulb in
many rowe models (and these are about $2 each from our local rowe
distributor). The heat also does a lot of damage over time to the
bulb holders, they become brittle and crumble and wont fit back into
the PCB.


in all ours - we got a transformer that put out about 10v and wired
the bulbs ALL in parallel - they last much longer and dont overheat
everything.

Alternatively - you could make a small 4 channel light chaser circuit
- and run the bulbs that way.


as for the animation motor - a microwave turntable motor can do this
job very well - at about 10% of the price