AMI/Rowe Photos and Repair Journal
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Updated 8/9/05
1972 Rowe MM-6. We purchased this unit for the shop and used it in a Jukebox Rental engagement. It had rubber bands on the search unit motor which was causing very poor search performance. We replaced the rubber bands with the proper belts, replaced all capacitors in the amp and replaced a very weak 7868 tube, and replaced the volume control wiring. Also had to repair poor connections in the speaker leads. We set up a plug arrangement to allow the cabinet volume control to be plugged in if the jukebox is used in a rental engagement. A wall mounted volume control is plugged in in the shop to easily control the volume. We also connected a cable to the auxiliary output to allow the MM-6 to be played over our P.A. system.

Pictures: Front view with lid up and front panel off.   Mechanism.  Amp.

The Rowe MM-6 was used in a jukebox rental engagement at the Crestview Baptist Church in Midland and was enjoyed as part of their Seniors' activities.
Pictures: Rowe on the truck, ready to go to the church.  People making selections at the Rowe.

Update: 8/9/05. The MM-6 had been playing well at the shop for several months, however a strange problem cropped up recently. The machine would imediately reject some records, some would play for a few seconds and then reject, and some would play fine. There did not appear at first to be any pattern to which records would play and which wouldn't. I first suspected bad connections at the microswitch bank as that was a problem on an MM-4. I cleaned off the terminals on the switches with Deoxit and a contact burnishing tool, but this did not solve the problem,

Then I recalled back to a problem on the model "K" where the gripper motor was coasting due to the rotor not popping out of the armature when the power cut off, thus moving the mechanism forward when it was supposed to stop and this was triggering the reject cycle.This was fixed on the "K" by lubricating the rotor. I lubricated the gripper motor and geartrain on the MM-6 with S'OK! penetrating oil and this quieted up the mechanism but did not solve the problem.

I then looked at the records which were playing and the ones that were rejecting. It did not matter where they were placed in the magazine, only certain records would play. Comparing the records which played to the ones which rejected, those which worked were thicker. The problem was, that the thick records would hold the magnet far enough off the reed switch which trips the reject cycle, but the thin records were allowing the magnet to get too close too early in the record's play cycle.

Adjusting the magnet adjustment screw on the tonearm allowed proper reject operation.

1960 AMI JAK-200. This machine is part of our own collection....you can read the full story on its restoration on the AMI Model K Restoration Page.
1970 Rowe AMI MM-4. This machine was having a problem with the keyboard when it came in: selections would not write in to the memory. Cleaning the keyboard switch contacts restored functionality. Also, the "A" side of the record was not loading: Lubricating the pivot point bushing fixed that. We have repaired the amp and preamp with new electrolytic and mylar capacitors and a new 5U4 tube.
We also found that sometimes the mechanism would intermittently not start up even though the keyboard was active and the buttons were staying down. We traced this to oxidized and corroded connections on the microswitch bank on the left side of the mechanism. Cleaning the terminals with Deoxit restored functionality. Always check these Quick-on terminals on the microswitches for corrosion when there is trouble with the Rowe mech.
We repaired the flashing light unit behind the Rowe monogram and installed new fluorescent lamps. A new stylus also was installed.

 Photos:
.MM-4 with front panel off for service, before cleaning. MM-4 Mechanism being tested. MM-4 Amp before servicing. This machine uses a tube type amp: Rowe was the last jukebox maker to use tubes.

The original warrantee card was still inside the jukebox:

Rowe AMI Warrantee Card, Rowe AMI Warrantee Card Reverse Side

Repair of the amp:

Rowe Amp before service (top view) Rowe Amp before service (underside)

Rowe Amp with new capacitors, underside view  Rowe amp cleaned with new 5U4 tube, top view

Rowe Amp reinstalled in jukebox

Re-assembling the cabinet:

Top of the cabinet reassembled Front panel installed and lighted

Completed unit with new fluorescent lamp for keyboard.

Rowe International lighted monogram The monogram has 2 red flashing lights behind it.

Repairing the power supply.

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