My new project / Motorola SK111W-FMZ console stereo

[Scottintexas]

You probably haven't seen one of these since a grandparent's house which is where this one came from. About 10 years ago my wife's grandmother passed away and me and the brother in law got tasked with getting things out of the house. This was going to get left behind as junk and at the last minute I thought we shouldn't it was still in great condition. Unfortunately in the move I didn't "lock down" the turntable and it must have broken something and since then I think one of the grandkids manipulated the arm off it's base. The radio works and sounds great. I know nothing about electronics or old turntables but thought I would get on the road to get it working again. Unfortunately I haven't found the JBN of turntable restorations forums yet.

I found this piece along with a spring and small set screw inside/under the turntable the cabinet.

 

[Bruce]

That is pretty!

I know some guys in Arkansas that could likely repair it. One repairs jukeboxes.

 

[RightStuff]

I have one of those as well, got it from my grandparents! It's not the same brand or anything, but still funny to see something so close, they just don't make 'furniture' like that anymore... I'll try and post pics of mine at some point.

Keep posting anything you find and I'll try to do the same with mine. On mine the turntable works ok (not perfect), but the speakers crackle and just don't sound that great at certain volume levels. I'm hoping some new speakers, wires and a good cleaning inside/out will do the trick.

I was also thinking about how cool it would be if I could adapt a bluetooth receiver to it. No idea if that would even work though.

 

[Bruce]

I have one of those as well, got it from my grandparents! It's not the same brand or anything, but still funny to see something so close, they just don't make 'furniture' like that anymore... I'll try and post pics of mine at some point.

Keep posting anything you find and I'll try to do the same with mine. On mine the turntable works ok (not perfect), but the speakers crackle and just don't sound that great at certain volume levels. I'm hoping some new speakers, wires and a good cleaning inside/out will do the trick.

I was also thinking about how cool it would be if I could adapt a bluetooth receiver to it. No idea if that would even work though.

I would look at https://www.parts-express.com for replacement speakers.

Does yours have any external inputs. They might be RCA connectors or 1/4" jacks. If so then you could add a bluetooth receiver.

 

[RightStuff]

Good link, thanks @Bruce!

It doesn't have anything external except for the power cord, everything is inside the cabinet, so I'm not expecting to find any extra empty jacks. I haven't taken the time to open it up yet since it just kinda works ok for now to play records.

 

[Bruce]

@RightStuff, the least expensive option for adding bluetooth capability might be to add a second amplifier and a bluetooth or I prefer DLNA receiver inside of the cabinet. You would use an A-B Speaker Switch to switch sources.

 

[GTBRMC]

Make sure to post pix of your work once you get that SK111W-FMZ installed in your AR-230!

 

[Gym]

That piece you showed @Scottintexas looks like the table drive wheel. The wheel should have a belt that drives the turn table. It looks like there are belt marks on the shaft near the wheel.

 

[Tha67lane]

I have one of these except mine doesn't have the radio. I got mine from a friend of my grandmother when she died. It has worked flawlessly everytime I've used it. Would you like for me to take some pictures of the inside? Would that help you?

View attachment 29729


You probably haven't seen one of these since a grandparent's house which is where this one came from. About 10 years ago my wife's grandmother passed away and me and the brother in law got tasked with getting things out of the house. This was going to get left behind as junk and at the last minute I thought we shouldn't it was still in great condition. Unfortunately in the move I didn't "lock down" the turntable and it must have broken something and since then I think one of the grandkids manipulated the arm off it's base. The radio works and sounds great. I know nothing about electronics or old turntables but thought I would get on the road to get it working again. Unfortunately I haven't found the JBN of turntable restorations forums yet.

I found this piece along with a spring and small set screw inside/under the turntable the cabinet.

View attachment 29727 View attachment 29728

 

[Scottintexas]

@Tha67lane glad to have you on board, thanks for the offer but it's already at the shop being repaired, update your profile with your location so it will show on your posts,

unfortunately stereo shops appear to be like boat mechanics and the 3-4 week estimate has turned into 10 weeks now with a phone call last week of "do you have any parts you can give us? it appears to be missing some things" of course when I dropped it off I left about 10pcs in a ziplock that they now can't locate,

fortunately they are all simple parts from the motor that they can buy on ebay for $15. (but they would rather make me wait few more weeks to look for the parts, I told them to just buy them to be done with it!)

 

[biglar155]

That's cool! My folks had one like that (a Zenith I think) in the front hallway for years. Only had the turntable, no other features. They weren't real big into music, but we used to fire it up around the holidays to listen to Christmas albums (Mitch Miller, Perry Como, etc). I remember the delay while waiting for the vacuum tubes to warm up and the funny "warm electrical" smell that it would put out. Not a "burning wires" smell, just a "warm" smell that mixed with the smell of wood from the cabinet.

It would eventually be removed from the house when Mom bought a more modern stereo (a Sears unit with a turntable, cassette deck, and (of course) 8-track player). It was eventually dismantled and fed to the garbage man a little at a time. (This was based on the theory of "Everything comes apart and they'll be back next week.")