On Nov 13, 4:17*pm, "Cliff Tucker" wrote:
Hello all,
I am a pinball hobbiest having restored many classic machine.
Today I got a bargain on a Rowe AMI RI-1 Jukebox. It is old and has a couple
of problems (as expected) and hope you can offer some advice.

The problem is that the turntable isnt turning at the correct 45RPM speed,
is very very slow.
I thought it may have been a drive belt problem but I dont see a drive belt
in it.

Any advice on this greatly appreciated.
oh, and also, who is a good jukebox parts supplier for the AMI Rowe jukes?

Regards all,
Cliff

these have an idler wheel that goes between the turntable and the
motor drive shaft. For starters, make sure that the idler wheel is
riding on the thickest part of the 2 surfaces at the end of the shaft
for 45 rpm. The thinner section (at the tip) is for 33 1/3 RPM.

To access this, you can pull the turntable straight up, with one hand
pulling at each side


Failing that, you can check that the turntable is moving freely, you
can check the hole where the centre shaft goes in, put a couple of
drops of oil in there, and on the shaft. Put it back in and turn it.
When putting back, push the idler wheel inwards with your finger, as
you lower the turntable so the wheel goes underneath the turntable
rim.

A last thing you can do, is underneath the turntable shaft housing
there is a metal plate with 2 screws (facing down). You can remove
this, and there will be a white nylon spacer and nylon (possibly not
nylon , but who knows) washer. This washer is the TT thrust bearing.
These do wear over the years, and a groove appears with metal embedded
in it, but you can turn the bearing upside down, and put it back, and
it should be ok for a long time yet.

If worn on both sides, you will need to replace it. You probably wont
be able to get one, but you never know, ROWE made bubblers and some
other models with 45s in them for some time after cd came out (I
think) and these later models would likely have the same bearing.

Failing this I have heard of people getting offcuts of polycarbonate
of that same thickness, cutting them to size and putting them in with
no problems. Places that make skylights usually use polycarbonate,
and have plenty of offcuts or small pieces for sale (or free


Finally, you may have worn turntable motor bearings, in which case you
will need a new motor, or get the bearings replaced. This is unlikely
to be cheap.

Other methods used involve force fitting a spring over the motor shaft
to increase the diameter and therefore speed. Trial and error is the
order of the day here.


Australian made Rowe AMI's are easier as they used a locally made
motor with a brass shaft that also was much thicker (due to it being a
much slower RPM 2 pole 50HZ motor rather than the 4 pole 60HZ used in
USA) , you can tin this brass with solder, and sand it down as needed
to get the right diameter.

(Note this also if buying replacement motors on Ebay from countries
that use 50HZ mains, (UK, Europe, Australia). the shaft is usually a
different diameter and they will run too fast on US mains. )