Rockola 442

I have a Rockola 442, circa 1970. When making a selection, it does one of three things. 1. The selector wheel runs and the gripper removes the right record and plays it. 2. The selector wheel simply does not move when the solenoid releases....or 3. The selector wheel will simply revolve twice and then stop at the null where would normally stop after the last selection. Any advice? Contacts are clean, write-in and stop relays are new.

Originally Posted by Budd Paashaus

I have a Rockola 442, circa 1970. When making a selection, it does one of three things. 1. The selector wheel runs and the gripper removes the right record and plays it. 2. The selector wheel simply does not move when the solenoid releases....or 3. The selector wheel will simply revolve twice and then stop at the null where would normally stop after the last selection. Any advice? Contacts are clean, write-in and stop relays are new.

As I have gotten no responses on this, perhaps I didn't make it clear in my original post what I was trying to say. I would really like to come up with a fix on this, so let me try again: The selection USUALLY (I'd say 3 times out of 5) plays just fine when I press the appropriate buttons on the panel. But sometimes when I select a record, the wheel will simply cycle through both the odd and even numbers and return to the null (off) position and then stop....or else the select solenoid will just release and nothing happens, wheel doesn't turn, no record is selected. This seems rather erratic in nature. All solenoids on the selector wheel are good, both write-in and stop relays have been replace with new, and the contacts on the side of the pin wheel have been cleaned and burnished. What next? I also sprayed contact cleaner on all the selector buttons just in case......didn't make any difference.

Originally Posted by Budd Paashaus

As I have gotten no responses on this, perhaps I didn't make it clear in my original post what I was trying to say. I would really like to come up with a fix on this, so let me try again: The selection USUALLY (I'd say 3 times out of 5) plays just fine when I press the appropriate buttons on the panel. But sometimes when I select a record, the wheel will simply cycle through both the odd and even numbers and return to the null (off) position and then stop....or else the select solenoid will just release and nothing happens, wheel doesn't turn, no record is selected. This seems rather erratic in nature. All solenoids on the selector wheel are good, both write-in and stop relays have been replace with new, and the contacts on the side of the pin wheel have been cleaned and burnished. What next? I also sprayed contact cleaner on all the selector buttons just in case......didn't make any difference.

This is probably the last time I will post here, unless I get some kind of response, even a hint. According to your records it has been viewed but has not gotten so much as one response from anyone. I cannot believe there is no one out there with expertise on a Rockola 442. As you can see from past posts, this is an intermittent problem, and doesn't appear every time I make a selection, making it especially frustrating. It would seem I'm checking every contact and connection in vain, while something very obvious is probably going on right under my nose that I can't see. Please, can I get a little help here? Someone just reply to this so I know it's getting posted. Thanks.

To: Budd Paashaus
Rockola 442
By: Budd Paashaus to alt.collecting.juke-boxes on Sat May 10 2014 12:41 pm

BP just reply to this so I know it's getting posted. Thanks.

You are getting out. Sorry I can't help on Rockola. If it was a Seeburg or
Wurlitzer, I might be able to get you through it. What exectly is it doing, and
I will ask a friend that runs a shop.

- Fartvergnugen: The pleasure of breaking wind.

- C.G. Learn
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Originally Posted by DesotoFireflite

To: Budd Paashaus
Rockola 442
By: Budd Paashaus to alt.collecting.juke-boxes on Sat May 10 2014 12:41 pm

BP just reply to this so I know it's getting posted. Thanks.

You are getting out. Sorry I can't help on Rockola. If it was a Seeburg or
Wurlitzer, I might be able to get you through it. What exectly is it doing, and
I will ask a friend that runs a shop.

- Fartvergnugen: The pleasure of breaking wind.

- C.G. Learn
- Valhalla Home Services! - Telnet://valhalla.synchro.net
- A Gamers Paradise - Over 100 Registered Online Game Doors!

--- Synchronet 3.16a-Win32 NewsLink 1.92
Valhalla Home Services! - Over 100 Online Games! - telnet://valhalla.synchro.net

Thanks, DesotoFireflite, I was just going to give up on this post, thinking maybe I was doing something wrong, but it is nice to know it's getting out there. I'll leave this on for a while. hopefully there's a Rockola pro out there who knows what's going on with my machine. Nothing is quite as aggravating as intermittent problems, they're hard to track down. Thanks again for responding

Originally Posted by DesotoFireflite

To: Budd Paashaus
Rockola 442
By: Budd Paashaus to alt.collecting.juke-boxes on Sat May 10 2014 12:41 pm

BP just reply to this so I know it's getting posted. Thanks.

You are getting out. Sorry I can't help on Rockola. If it was a Seeburg or
Wurlitzer, I might be able to get you through it. What exectly is it doing, and
I will ask a friend that runs a shop.

- Fartvergnugen: The pleasure of breaking wind.

- C.G. Learn
- Valhalla Home Services! - Telnet://valhalla.synchro.net
- A Gamers Paradise - Over 100 Registered Online Game Doors!

--- Synchronet 3.16a-Win32 NewsLink 1.92
Valhalla Home Services! - Over 100 Online Games! - telnet://valhalla.synchro.net

OK, DesotoFireflite: You asked me to let you know exactly what the juke box is doing, so I am going to try. The Rockola 442 holds 80 records, 8 rows of 10. There is a write-in and stop relay on the rear firewall of the mechanism module. The record carousel is on the left hand side and runs around holding the records vertically. When a selection is made, a gripper arm moves up out of the mechanism, grabs the record and deposits it on the turntable (near the center of the machine) horizontally. After the record plays the process repeats itself. The selection mechanism is keyed by a two-sided selector wheel on the right side of the turntable. When selection is made an electromagnetic relay throws a pin....another mechanism on the other side of the selector wheel catches the thrown pin and selects the record.

Under ideal conditions, this is the way it works. The entire mechanism is operated by letter and number keypads on front of the machine. If all is well, when a selection is made, the visible display (mechanical) cycles through first the odd selections (side ones) and the even (side twos). When it encounters the thrown pin, it selects the record and plays it.

The problem I have been having is that maybe 2 times out of 5 the display simply cycles through both the odd and even selections without recognizing the thrown pin and returns to the null position, after which it just stops. Then again, it might simply do nothing....the keypads simply just pop back up and the selector wheel doesn't move at all.

I hope this is clear, it's rather hard to describe. Hope maybe your friend can help.