I got my comeuppance as I usually do. At the start of replacing chips on this PCC board I mentioned I might learn something. I did. I re-learned an old lesson. Nothing takes the place of troubleshooting properly. I replaced all the chips on the PCC board with no results. So, I broke out the meter and started checking the transistors. I found an atypical reading on one of two that work together. Standard operating procedure is to desolder the transistors and check out of circuit. Lo….the collector legs fell off both transistors when removed from the board. I’m guessing they got bent and when straightened out the legs broke. Had I gotten out the meter like I should have in the first place this would have been a pretty quick fix. The only consolation I can take is that these two transistors work together turning on and off at the end of the first chips chosen for replacement-having to do with Side B. I replaced the two NPN transistors and now the mech will pick up a record when moving from right to left.

I started work on a fun project. A previous owner had replaced the bottom glass on the SMC2 with a mirror. Fine and good. Those glasses were prone to having all the pretty stuff flake off. Here’s where it gets a little strange. There is a lamp holder underneath that glass. It holds a starter and a 14″ lamp. It was removed and the wires pulled out of the harness loom as well as out of the molex plug. Why they didn’t just take the lamp out and leave everything in place is a mystery. So I get to make a lamp holder. I already have a replacement glass courtesy of Victory Glass and $165. This should be a pretty straightforward process.

First things first is to gather all the needed materials. I got a thin piece of steel from Lowe’s. A fellow was parting out a Seeburg DS and I got the front lamp holders and wiring from him. Thank you Berry B. I have lamps and plenty of white paint.

Friday!!! That word doesn’t have as powerful a meaning as it used to since I retired four years ago. Every day is Friday. Or Saturday…whatever day take your pick. By the way…I highly recommend retirement. I get to do what I want to do most of the time now instead of grabbing bits of time here and there. I have a car show tomorrow with my Camaro and the club so I did get to spend a few hours today working on the dread PCC board. The chips and sockets from Mouser arrived.

The first chips I changed were U1, U6, and U10. This is tedious work. I am always very careful to keep from ruining a trace or solder spot. To keep heat to a minimum on a board I will clip all legs on a chip, remove it, then start desoldering each pin. It’s easier to get a single pin out than try to remove a chip with 16 legs all at the same time. Too easy to ruin a trace. I always use a chip socket when replacing a chip just in case it ever needs replacing again. The amount of extra work is so negligible and the cost of sockets so low that it is a no-brainer. I tested the board and it still won’t pick up a selection moving from right to left.

So, I changed U7 and U3-no joy. I quickly changed out U8, U11, the three tantulum 1 uf capacitors-no joy. So, U2 and U4 followed with the same results. I can see it now. I’ll change the remaining chips Monday probably with the same results. This is the downside to shotgunning chips without real troubleshooting work.

The new Gen 2 board for the SMC1 arrived. It stays in the package until I get this problem straightened out using the Seeburg MCU. I am stubborn of nothing else.