I started the day finishing up the black boxes. I had five that were torn down, inspected and initially tested. I got the sets of boards re-installed back in their cases. I then took ’em out to the test juke to verify they still work. I had to re-connect the DCC. It had been pulled in order to test another that went to a fellow in Michigan. I gave it a quick test to ensure all was good before connecting any of the black boxes for final testing. I connect them one by one and then make “standard” selections. There are four data lines used on the microlog jukes which are any of the ones using a black box. I can make certain selections that test all four lines. 100, 111, 133, and 222. I take it a step further though. I start with 255, it comes up quick and lets me know right away that the juke is gonna select. Then I’ll punch in 244, 222, either 200 or 100, 111, 123, 133, 147, 159, 168, 177. I mix it up sometimes out of boredom more than anything. Start with 266, then the others perhaps one number off at the end. I’m looking for the correct selection to be made but punching the others to make sure each digit gets represented as well as all four data lines.
I did this while tearing down the SMC2 mech for a cleaning. I’d pick a couple numbers with records on them and actually listen to the juke as well as test the black boxes. The jukebox is about half filled with music I enjoy, records I can listen to over and over. As I find other records I add them and eventually get titlestrips printed.
Once done with final testing all that’s left to do is put tamper proof stickers over the two screw holes holding the box together. Then I store them in a locker with the gray boxes that are ready. When they’re sent off I remind the buyer that they are warranted for 30 days as long as the stickers are intact.
I tore down or disassembled the SMC2 mech as I always do. Motor and trip coil come out. I cut the motor wires about half way down their length, cut the black and white trip coil wires leaving less than a 1/16 tag on the end, just enough color to know where they go back to. I took the tonearm assembly out. The limit switches have to come off first. The reed switch used for reject was half broken. I finished breaking it and it was a lot easier to remove. I take it off to keep from desoldering and resoldering the wires to it. Soldering wires to that switch is ticklish. It’s plastic and if the terminal gets too hot the plastic easily melts. It takes a light touch. I’ll install a good used reed switch on re-assembly.
Next up is the record rack. The SMC’s are a pain in the butt because Seeburg used Philips head screws to hold the rack down rather than the hex heads they used since 1948. And they can bind terribly to the pot metal rack. I don’t know what Seeburg used to install them but they are much too tight. I use an impact screwdriver on them. I don’t even screw around anymore to see if they’ll loosen without it. I have had to cut them out a couple times. And I thought I was going to have to do that again. I pounded and twisted and two wouldn’t loosen. I tried something new this time. I turned the mech over and sprayed silicone lubricant on the bottoms of those screws. They are “cutters” meaning they have that special triangular cut along the threads that enables the screw to actually cut threads. I was hoping this cut would allow the lubricant to seep in. Then I went to lunch to give it time to work.
And work it did! A couple of healthy whacks with the hammer on the impact screw driver and they loosened up. O Happy Day! With the rack off it didn’t take long to get the clutch out and now the mech was ready to wash. I use a 50/50 mix of water and a wonderful cleaner/degreaser called Oil Eater in a spray bottle with a toothbrush. I start at the rear and work counter clockwise once just getting everything wet. Next time around I start scrubbing with the toothbrush as I spray. Typically three trips around do it, four if filthy. This was a fairly clean mech that had a thin layer of oil everywhere. I like seeing an oil and grime build-up. It protects the metal underneath from rusting. After the first go-round with the brush this dude was ready to rinse. Before doing that though I worked over the clutch unit and the tonearm assembly.
It all cleaned quickly and well. I was very surprised at how shiny the mechanism and base were as a matter of fact. I didn’t do the record rack. It was actually clean and not oily. As a bonus I won’t have to replace the paper number strips denoting the records. This mechanism is going to go together and work really easily. After a thorough rinse with the garden hose I put the two smaller assemblies in the sun to help dry them out. The mechanism gets turned upside down resting on a couple milk crates. I’ll give everything 3-5 days to dry depending on humidity in the winter and heat in the summer. A couple days in 102 degree heat works wonders for moisture evaporation. Low humidity days in winter time works almost as well.
I ended the day by finishing the recap on the TSR6 receiver. This is a pretty straightforward job. I even have a preferred order of replacement having done so many. Same with amplifiers. Snip each end of a capacitor, unsolder the old leads, insert new capacitor, wrap the leads and solder ’em up. I always finish with the pulse amplifier. I like to take the one side off held by five screws. This gives plenty of access to change out the one .05uf film capacitor and ohm out the resistors and chokes. I’ve never seen one of the chokes be bad as in open or grossly out of tolerance. I’ve done hundreds of these pulse amps and I’d really hate like hell to not check one of the three chokes and then the pulse amp not work and I take for granted that the chokes are good only to eventually find out after hours of troubleshooting and questioning my sanity that, indeed, I did have a bad choke. So, they get checked. Tomorrow I’ll dig out a set of the tubes to test this unit with. That is straightforward as well. If the DC voltages are present the unit will work in a juke. There are two tubes though that can check good on a tube tester, and I have a good one, and still not work properly in circuit. The 2050 and the two 0A2’s. I made sure to have one of each in the toolbox back in the service call days.
My Seeburg Life 