1984 Rock Ola 490 Jukebox - Repairing the Amplifier and Mechanism

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[@dirtnap4342]

Working on the same jukebox now. Your videos are really helping. Everything works on mine except the pick up arm, it is so gummed up so I'm anxious to get new grease ordered. I found some synthetic oil on ebay I'm going to try. i have about 1000 45's from when I DJ back in the 80's so it will be fun to listen to them all again.

[@LyonsArcade]

DirtNap very cool man yup that mech once you grease it will be good to go!

[@garyfoster6369]

Just wanted to say I’ve used your videos many times for reference and guidance to work on rocolas just thanks a lot for doing this 👍

[@richardlooney6238]

I also have one of those that won't select now I have new idea thank you

[@LyonsArcade]

Hope you get it going!

[@EsotericArctos]

The caps on the tweeters act as a basic high pass filter to block the bass from hitting the tweeters so much. They seem to often dry out as they are usually electrolytics. Good find there.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Brendan, we got it sounding pretty good!

[@ponakai]

Thanks for ideas on Rock-Ola Jukeboxes. The mechanics are similar yearto year.

[@LyonsArcade]

Yes sir they're all pretty much the same, minor differences every few years.... I wish more people would fix them, I see way too many of these being destroyed it's crazy!

[@andybradley9882]

@@LyonsArcade love it man! I recently acquired a 488. Same amp as yours. Could you do a video of actually testing and replacing caps on the board and most common issues. My speaker overload indicator light comes on when record lays on turn table. TIA!!!

[@js2clevr]

These videos are so satisfying.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you for watching Lee, we appreciate it!

[@pezjohnson]

Another good video. Glad you're making your way through it. I just used my sewing machine last week. We adjust clothing in my family all the time since the kids are really between sizes. Or if there's a sale and they only have larger sizes.

[@LyonsArcade]

That's good, they used to teach that stuff in school but that was a LONG time ago!

[@MrButtonpresser]

Maggie may, but you guys do, deliver. Very interesting.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you for watching MrButtonpresser, we appreciate it as always!

[@Jackpkmn]

I have a sewing machine i put on my electronics work bench from time to time to repair my cloths with. Maybe sometime i should get a nice table for it and make some new clothes like my grandma taught me.

[@LyonsArcade]

I'm glad a few people are still keeping it going!

[@pacscalatorarcade5736]

Great Video Joe! I love how you upload videos about arcade machines and other products that you work on!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Pacscalator, we appreciate you watching!

[@jimmycarter9099]

Great video I always put a old no good record in the griper arm and you can bend it just a little to hold the record I’ve done a ton of them like that

[@Mad-Duk_Machine_Werkes]

it's using those caps on the speakers as a Crossover filter - keeping frequencies above or below a certain value out-

[@dennislett7896]

It's funny you say sewing machine i repair sewing machines and had a store owner ask if i could fix jukeboxes , I said no guarantees. I ended up fixing a seeburg ds160 and word in my town got around and now i have a gentleman wanting me to work on a rockola and a seeburg.

[@LyonsArcade]

I can see that... those seeburgs have some very fine components in the carriage definitely reminds me of some of the stuff you would see in a sewing machine where precision is important. Thanks for watching Dennis, good luck with those boxes!

[@danijelcar5184]

Great work ,work almost like from factory 😎

[@LyonsArcade]

Not quite yet but it's getting there!

[@randymancuso6326]

I own a rock-ola 460. Selection system seems to be working with exception of the turntable will not turn. It chooses record correctly a turntable is not turning. Deposits record tonearm comes over stops. What could the problem possibly be? Thank you very much

[@cliffburridge]

Sweet vid, fella!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Cliff

[@shotgun161]

You deserve more likes and subs!!!! I learn so much just watching your videos thank you!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Jake, we appreciate you watching!

[@OhRonaldo]

Found Part 2! Woo hoo!

[@action76]

Your videos have been very helpful as I learn to repair this jukebox! Thanks for doing them. Is there a capkit for these and if yes where can I get one? I actually have a 488 but the amp looks the same. Thanks again.

[@LyonsArcade]

There's not a go to place that I'm aware of that has a ready made cap kit but there may be one somewhere. There's a company called Victory Glass that is the largest jukebox parts company, but the models from this era not many people make any parts or anything for. You could take the schematics of the amp, or open it up and write down the values of the caps and order them individually if you had to.

[@icub4ucu]

Excellent channel !! I just picked up a Rock-ola 440. Have you made any vids on that one? Also, where is the best place to buy a pdf of the owners manual? Cheers

[@memyopinionsche6610]

And how dose the arm grab the record. Dose it have little nubs at both ends to grab the record and when it lays it on the turntable. The nubs relax until the record ends then the arm nubs grabs the record. Sends it back to the carousel? It's a deep dive I'm probably sure it's not going to happen on the video.. But I'm so fascinated. I really like deep technical stuff. But this video otherwise.

[@LyonsArcade]

On the next video we take the whole thing apart and show how it works, there's a little v shaped piston on one side and a v shaped armature on the other side, when it grabs it the piston moves in and pushes the record from one side into the groove on the other side of the arm. Very clever design!

[@memyopinionsche6610]

I kind of figured but the song would it fit so perfectly... Lol. And the KZbin copyright Bots are working like T-1000.. It probably wouldn't be a good choice but it would at the same time.. Just saying. But looking forward to the next video. Just to see how everything works.

[@izzynutz2000]

The Guess who Do Ron Ron and the Duke of Earl they were friends of mine

[@LyonsArcade]

Such a great song, lol

[@rgeller56]

It's the optic eye

[@LyonsArcade]

Yes it was!

[@mikee4216]

You replaced the capacitors in the amplifier. After replacement you said it sounded the same and were going to rebuild the amp. Did you rebuild the amp or find another problem?

[@clintcurrie30]

Hey there I have a similar unit. Had one burnt out channel and used to squeal time to time. Then the other channel went out. No blown fuses I'm assuming it's something in the amp itself? Any help would be very much appreciated. I'd bring it in but I live in Canada. Thanks.

[@LyonsArcade]

If you open up that amp (just take it out of the box) inside it you will find two little boards that disconnect, one is for each channel, you probably had those preamps stop working, you may have a fuse or two bad INSIDE the amp. So to fix it you'd need to replace the electrolytic capacitors inside of it, if you have any blown fuses inside it's likely the transistors mounted to the big heat sink....

[@clintcurrie30]

@@LyonsArcade hey thanks so much for that information! Will do my best to rectify.

[@coinheaven]

great video! i have a rockola 477 with a similar amp and the "SPEAKER OVERLOAD" light is on and it makes a machine gun like sound when i turn it on. any idea what it could be? I replaced the original amp with a working one and it worked for 2 weeks and then the sound came back! I'm out of ideas. thanks

[@LyonsArcade]

These old machines have capacitors in them and over time the capacitors wear out. So the capacitance of them changes, which means all the voltages are different than they're supposed to be, some are higher, some are lower. To fix it, you take the capacitors out one at a time and replace them with a brand new one. Yours probably had bad capacitors in the power supply that are sending too much voltage to the amp, and then the amp is getting damaged by the over voltage slowly, so after about two weeks it wore out whatever it had worn out on the first amplifier. If you go replace all the electrolytic capacitors it will probably fix it.

[@coinheaven]

@@LyonsArcade thanks for the info! I'll do some investigating!

[@kaimononen7248]

We have a similar 477 with a similar kind of problem. Sometimes the machine starts so squeal VERY loudly like an air horn when turned on but it doesn't trip the speaker overload thingy. Sometimes it works fine but during a song the overload trips and it goes mute. Probably craps out the same way but the overload catches it and the squeal doesn't go to the speakers. Haven't had time to mess with it, but my guess would be a bad cap somewhere or the output transistors in the amp.

[@CrystalMcNair]

Wow. XD Lots of wow and flutter on that drive... Is it a direct gear or belt driven? Also... "Clap for the Wolfman!" Hell yeah.

[@LyonsArcade]

It's a direct gear.

[@coinheaven]

Do you know if this amp will work in a 477 machine?

[@LyonsArcade]

Unfortunately Zooey I'm not sure, sorry.

[@theresacrabtree4654]

I have a 494 that is giving me fits. I have had the processor reprogrammed and now a local tech is trying to find schematics for the power supply. I have for the 490 but he says the power supply is different when looking at it and schematics for the 490. Do you have or know where to get for the 494?

[@LyonsArcade]

I haven't seen it scanned online anywhere, hard to track down. I think you can get it from the guys at www.JukeBoxParts.com though.

[@theresacrabtree4654]

@@LyonsArcade Thanks. Love your videos.

[@arthureverett8220]

The optic sensor is not working or way out of adjustment

[@johnegan4826]

do you have to do it for each record or just once

[@wilder9777]

good video joe´s

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Wilder!

[@JaredWilbanks]

I've gone through every comment and reply, but don't see where anyone has asked where you get your capacitors. I left a comment on one of you other videos about a Rockola 2 I'm picking up this weekend (thanks again for the reply!) and imagine I will have to replace them in the near future. Although, it was serviced within the last few years so they may have already been replaced. Anyway, where do you recommend purchasing the capacitors? Thanks!

[@LyonsArcade]

The way I usually do it is I make a list of the ones I need, then buy them from www.Newark.com . I'm usually going to buy 100 at a time though so I have extras long term for other stuff I work on, and that's the cheapest way. You can buy ready made kits from www.JukeBoxFridayNight.com , that's Bill Bicker's site he's the resident expert on rebuilding amplifiers for jukeboxes.

[@JaredWilbanks]

@@LyonsArcade Thank you! I had actually checked out Bill's site, but his cap kits only go up through model 435. Obviously this is all very new to me, so I haven't had a chance to research which parts crossover to different models; maybe one of those kits listed has caps that will work with the 490? I will check out newark. Thanks again for your help!

[@JaredWilbanks]

​@@LyonsArcade Alright, so I went through my amp and wrote down every capacitor needed. Then I went down the capacitor rabbit hole and discovered there are general and audio grade ones. Obviously anything I read on the internet I take with a grain of salt, but what I believe I've found to be true (correct me if I'm wrong) is to use audio for anything the audio signal goes through and general for anything power related. So, for the amp I'm thinking: Pre-Amp - Audio caps Driver PC Board - Audio caps Power Supply - General caps Muting and Squelch - Audio??? Or is general OK since the purpose is to mute the sound after a selection is finished playing? Thanks!

[@MrMikeThrasher-ol5oi]

My Rockola Supersound 2 490-1 has a speaker overload issue. I play 5 or 6 records then the red light comes on and no more sound???

[@johnegan4826]

have the same amp looking for the male and female connectors on the pc boards thank you from john

[@andybradley9882]

What does a unit like this sale for?

[@LyonsArcade]

This one was $1299...

[@memyopinionsche6610]

Just curious. When you put 45's in that revolving Carousel wheel thingy. What holds them in place and keeps them from falling out?

[@LyonsArcade]

There's a big metal band that goes all the way around that they ride on when they're sideways or upside down so they don't fall out.

[@georgeprice4212]

How'd you get an OG Maggie May?

[@LyonsArcade]

We have people bring us records all the time...

[@georgeprice4212]

@@LyonsArcade lucky! And the record didn't sound that bad to me.

[@michaelhomer1659]

Why was the title "repairing the amplifier"!!!

[@LyonsArcade]

Because I repaired the Amplifier . Are you blind or ignorant?

[@memyopinionsche6610]

How about a song you should be playing if the KZbin Bots aren't so annoying.. JUKEBOX HERO by FOREIGNER. it just makes sense. Just saying.

[@LyonsArcade]

I don't have the record, LOL!

[@chrismayer3919]

If nothing else, that magazine array needs oil the WORST way! It squeaking more that a German Tiger tank full of white mice!

[@sadmac356]

"does anyone use sewing machines anymore?" I occasionally use them, but I do more hand sewing.

[@LyonsArcade]

Very cool, it's a good thing to be handy at!

[@naytch2003]

My wife left me hers but..damned if I can use it..I'll have to ask the Gnomesteader or..read the dang manual 😁

[@jimmycarter9099]

Going to drop mine off