Wurlitzer 1100 Jukebox Repair Journal
By Chad Hauris, Retro Electronics and Audio Lab,
Midland, TX. 10/29/05, revised 2/3/06
Wurlitzer 1100 repairs
journal, page 2.
Wurlitzer 1100
repair journal, page 3
Wurlitzer
Jukebox Page
Retro Electronics Home Page
The Wurlitzer 1100 is one of the most beautifully designed jukeboxes
out there, made from around 1947-1948. It is, however, mechanically
complex and requires proper cleaning and lubrication to function well.
This 1100 had been cosmetically restored, but there were a lot of
functional problems lurking under the beautiful exterior. Please click
on the photos for larger views.
Unit as received, before repairs.
The front panel swings out, and there is another hinged panel for the
speaker and coin unit.
Here are the selection coils. When a button is pushed for a selection,
one of the coil solenoids pushes out a pin. There is also a "wobble
plate" in the middle of the mechanism that tilts when any coil is
activated. This activates the "override switch" which is a microswitch
under the plastic cover that starts up the motor to begin the selection
cycle. The mechanism scans until the crank arm hits the pushed-out pin,
then the transfer cycle begins. The operation of this memory unit is
very similar to that of the later model Wurlitzers, only they have more
coils or a motor to move the selection coil to the appropriate pin.
This is the selection button and title strip unit. There is an 8X3
matrix on the buttons giving 24 selections. Each time the center button
is pushed, the title strips rotate to the next group of 8, and a switch
moves the selection buttons from "1-8" to "9-16", etc. We will discuss
this mechanism in greater detail on the next page.
To begin our assessment of the W-1100's condition, we checked out the
amp. It appeared that someone had replaced some of the capacitors, but
some of the old ones were still connected.
Here is the amp in the cabinet, before repairs.
Amp on the bench, before repairs.
Here is the amp, after all old capacitors had been replaced with new.
The Cobra phono preamp is in a small case next to the amp: the dome is
a shielding cover over the tube.
The old capacitors in the preamp had been already replaced recently, so
we left it alone.
We also installed new 6L6 and 5U4 tubes in the amp. After the amp had
been checked out, the unit appeared ready for an initial test.
Continue to
Wurlitzer 1100 repairs, page 2.
Wurlitzer 1100 repair
journal, page 3
Wurlitzer
Jukebox Page
Retro Electronics Home Page
