Thanks, Nancy. Rusty and I really appreciate the kind words. It is my understanding that the Christmas bubble tubes were indeed filled with dichloromethane. It is toxic if you consume it, but relatively harmless on the skin....quick to evaporate (and thus cold to the touch), like acetone. In the old days, if a kid broke one of these lights, the parents would probably scold them rather than file 9 lawsuits and call in a hazmat team. I miss the good old days.
Thanks, Gary. I restored jukeboxes for many years, prior to the discovery of guitars and amplifiers. My current amp restoration is simply a continuation of those skills. Your village guitar shop sounds like a great place......White Falcon's and Mark Knopfler's own Stratocaster......what a way to spend an afternoon!! My local shop is lucky to have a shredded First Act guitar with a warped neck that Mark Knopfler wouldn't use as firewood. .... :)))
Wow!! A successful diagnosis and treatment......and the patient has already recovered !! What a great way to start the day. Thanks for sharing this good news. I'm very glad to have been of assistance.
Thanks for sharing this. I've worked on many of these machines, and many years wondered how they bubbled. You answered my question and now I've filed away even more outdated information that I'll probably never use again. But you made me smile.
Knowing that the video actually helped you makes it all worthwhile, and I salute your contributions explaining the coin grinder levers. As a retired teacher (math and science), I definitely agree with your comments regarding the value of education. Thanks !!!
I posted a couple of videos about the coin levers in the coin grinder last week...very crude...but might help someone to understand that operation. Know that your video was a big help to this 1015 owner. Working on these is like working on anything: I rarely learn how something works until it breaks...like a head gasket or drum brakes. Knowing how things work is half the battle. Thanks again for taking the time to educate.
I feel privileged to know this sort of 'magic', a very simple concept, that I never would have guessed. Thanks for sharing and contributing in laymans terms.
Thanks so much for your kind words, Cal. I'm glad you enjoyed the 1015 videos. It sounds like your jukebox has a great history, and it's fortunate to be in your "protective" (and appreciative) custody. I hope you continue to get many more years of enjoyment from it.
What a pleasant surprise to hear your familiar voice Uncle Doug. Been watching your amplifier videos for years, and came across this just searching for how the bubblers work. Nice to see the good boy at the end there too
Outstanding videos Doug. I have been a jukebox collector for almost 40 years and have 18 restored grade 1 jukes, including a 1015 that was restored to perfection in the same N. Tonawanda plant where it was built in 1947. As an FYI, the so-called sand granules at the bottom of the bubble tube were called "bumpers." When the granules were agitated by the heat they would start to spin and "poof" -- the liquid boiled and began its journey to the top of the tube. Great videos!
5 лет назад
That was an education Doug! I've never seen a fully operational wurly like that. What a beauty.
Merci Uncle Doug. le meilleur ingénieur et en plus excellent pédagogue...J'aurais tellement eu besoin de vos conseils à l'époque où je réparais les amplis des copains et les miens
Thanks for letting us understand the origin of the bubbles in a 1015 wurlitzer. I am restoring a 1015 and bought new tubes and saw your video. My experience and advice to others: check the resistors well for left over pieces of broken tubes
Thanks, Ed. When I worked in a chemistry lab many years ago, we would put glass "boiling" beads in the bottom of vessels in which liquid was to be boiled. The beads produced small bubbles, rather than the big ones that can displace the liquid and make a mess. I guess it's the same process with the "bumpers" in bubble tubes. Thanks for your input.
Doug, now that's service! Your response was super fast, but after posting I went up to my machine, armed with my new learning from your video and checked to see if the the tube was snug against the resistor. It was not. I checked the others for comparison, and it would seem that shim has come out or was never in. I moved the machine on its back, so that may be the issue. I put a piece of folded tin foil in to check, and it didn't make the noise, so I'm getting a proper shim. Thanks.
My grandfather had a Wurlitzer like this in his BBQ\beer joint (in deep S. Texas we referred to it a bar if inside the city and a beer joint if outside the city) many years ago when I was about 10 years old, and I remember feeding that thing all evening just so I could watch the platter mechanism and tone arm search the stacks for each song. A real bonus was seeing the upside down tone arm come swing into action when the chosen track was on the bottom of the 45. I would love to have that old jukebox now. Thanks for the memory!
Thanks, Ed. I appreciate your kind words and advice. Back when I was restoring jukeboxes full time, the direction of color cylinder rotation was something I would discuss with customers, offering them the choice of inward or outward rotation. As I recall it was about 50/50 either way. I guess it's just a matter of personal preference. Thanks again for your interest and input.
Thank you, Uncle Doug for this very interesting story about the greatest juke boxes ever made. I grew up in North Tonawanda and knew folks who worked there. It was an enormous plant
Doug - your 1015 pilasters are rotating outward -- they should be rotating inward toward the center of the cabinet. Simple fix: exchange the motors in each pilaster and it will be rotating in the proper sequence. You can hand-position each rotating carriage so that all colors match perfectly as they spin. Great job!
Wonderful video! I now have watched all videos related to the original 1015. I have a repro OMT vinyl model first generation computer currently being repaired. Interestingly, this OMT is a survivor literally in that it was all that remained after an Oklahoma tornado decimated the saloon in which it was located. In its move to my duplex, the gripper arm became disabled -only playing the A side of each 45; 2 broken bubbler tubes,& it fails to "remember" all selections cued to play but I love it!
Hi, Mr. J. I think it may have to do with inadequate contact between the bubble tube and the heater. This would also explain the late starting, since the fluid in that tube would not be heated as quickly. You need to add a brass shim or two between the bulb and heater to tighten up the gap between them and improve the heat transfer.
Nicely done Doug. As an FYI, many years ago an old Wurlitzer Operator told me that those granules at the bottom of the tube are called "bumpers." If you watch them as the tube heats up they begin to spin or agitate. This assists the bubble tubes from starting normally and not "jolting up" when the liquid expands. Unfortunately some years ago my left front tube burst(nasty!!) it came out as a puke orange liquid and ruined several plastics and had to be replaced. Expensive! You cannot remove the stains -- everything must be replaced. So I tell people treat them with care. Also, the liquid is extremely toxic and if a tube bursts and you are right on top of it and breath it in it will squeeze your lungs shut and instantly kill you! No joke. I heard a rumor many years ago that the liquid was banned from public use but obviously they are still in existence. Thanks for your great videos.
Greetings, Ed. The liquid is methylene dichloride, which is a prime ingredient in paint strippers, thus the awful effect on back-painted plastics. The fumes are toxic and unpleasant, but (from my experience) not lethal.....having inhaled way more of them than I should have during my years as a painter/restorer :))
I was hoping there was a more accessible way that this was done. I wanted to put the concept into a car I am working on. Thanks for posting none the less.
Another great video Sir. Mr Fuller did A great job with this eye catching design. I have one upper tube that is slow getting started. One day I may get to it
The same technology used in chrismas bubble lights which were actuality invented before WW2 by NOMA. Unfortunatly the war delayed their mass producton due to the war effort. What better way to celebrate the end of the war than with this beautiful animated juke box whose design it's timeless. I love my ROWE cd bubbler. I hope i can get a vinyl one someday. Thank you for the video!
Wow very cool. I've always wanted to have an old jukebox, it seems they would require a lot of upkeep, but it must be a labor of love. I figured the tubes were heated by a light bulb, the way the old Christmas tree lights were, someone was clever in using a resistor.
Yes, they do require maintenance, Will. In fact, I don't suggest that anyone buy one unless they are capable of doing the upkeep.....or know someone who is.
With my old phones, if you use them a lot, they can require some maintenance, but the most technical part is usually the dial, quite mundane compared to what's going on in a jukebox. I will admit you get quite a feeling when you take an old broken down item, and spend time on it to bring it back to life again.
The Xmas Lava lamps do not use a heater -- they use a low-wattage light bulb that slowly moves the liquid around. The Wurlitzer 1015 used heaters to keep the bubbles circulating in the thin tube. It was invented by the Biolite Company in NY in the mid-1930's.
Brian Waldie Thanks, Brian. Glad you liked them :)
5 лет назад
Crystals are one of the most fascinating things in nature for me.. probably because I know almost nothing about them lol. From Piezo effects of electricty, how they 'grow' and other amazing things like data storage or information 'fixing' (quartz lock) to making BUBBLES !!! LOL super.
The crystals only provide a surface area for the bubbles to form upon. The bubbles themselves are created by heat causing vapor bubbles to form in the liquid.
No, if this happened, they would eventually be consumed. They are completely inert and do not contribute anything but surface area to the bubble process.
Two thumbs up! Your explanation is perfect, especially in regard to the tube acting like a car radiator removing the heat from the resistor. Question: Christmas bubble lights - are they made the same way? Given the chance of them breaking, especially in proximity to children, makes me believe that the liquid inside Christmas bubble lights is not Dichloromethane. In closing, may I had that the Workshop Dog, aka Rusty the Wonder Dog, was the pièce de résistance for this fine video.
I have a bubbler tube just like yours. I used it in my 8th Grade science project (about 1974) on solar energy where I built a solar collector and used the bubbler tube as a visual display to show that the water in the solar collector was warm. I never understood the "magic" of how the bubbler tube worked until I recently gave the tube to a friend of mine who is a science gadget nut and he found your video and sent it to me. So after all these years, I now understand how it works (simple boiling). In your video, you said that there is a tube inside the glass tube at the bottom. What is the purpose of that tube? Thank you!
There are crystals pinched in a bulb at the base of the tube that foster production of small bubbles. The small tube passes the bubbles from the crystal bulb upward to the rest of the bubble tube.
Hi Uncle Doug, I have four bubble tubes and four heat resistors (like the ones in this video.) I wanted to use them for ornamental purposes. But I'm worried about using an electrical heat source. Are there any tips? Failing that i'll just have to sell them on. In the UK our plugs distribute 240 w. Not sure what it is out in the states? Thanks for your time...
The Jukebox uses an electrical heat source to make the tubes bubble, so that is not a problem. However, your 240 VAC supply may be an issue. We use 120 VAC here in the states, so you may have to compensate for the difference in voltage. Good luck.
Hi Uncle Doug, sorry to keep mithering you. Is it possible to attach bubble tubes to heat resistors through use of batteries? I understand old 1015s to be one of the many machines once containing battery generated bubblers? Thanks again for your time...
@@pauldorrington509 Greetings, Paul. In all my years of jukebox restoration, I have never seen or heard of battery-powered bubble tubes. The batteries would quickly lose their charge due to the current flow required by the heaters. Your best bet by far is to stick with 120VAC, as the designers intended.
Doug I love all the vids. What a beauty of a jukebox my friend... Please can you tell me what type of crocodile clips do I need for my bubble tubes? Is it just a case of picking any off of eBay and connecting them to regular leads? I really quite perplexed 😆
I don't understand the question, Richard. Crocodile clips are not normally used with bubble tubes. They fit into tubular resistors with a brass shim to assure good contact.
@@UncleDoug Yes I understand. But to me it seems, watching the clip, that all you need are clips attached to wire connected to a plug on the other end. My concern is on the amount of electricity released. You mentioned busting bubble tubes... Thank you for the reply.
Hi again Would you have a video showing the mounting and hook up of the counter that mounts just to the right of the selection wheel of a Wurlirzer 1015. (Inside on the front right side) Mine is missing but I need to kniw how it works and hooks up to the jukebox. Thanks Doug
I believe you are asking about the play counter on the left, rear of the mechanism (when you are facing the rear of the mechanism with the back door open). The best I can offer is a video (already posted) showing how the selector mechanism works. It should contain some close-up shots of the counter. I hope this is helpful. Good luck.
Years ago, while I was working in a research laboratory, TJ, there was an ether explosion that destroyed an entire room, including a huge stainless steel hood. Since then, I am quite wary of ether.....it's not only explosive, but does not require an open flame to be ignited, only a hot surface. If you are using ether in bubble tubes, for heaven's sake, be careful.
Hi Doug , I am in the prosess of restoring 2 x 1015's 1946-7 and two of the straight tubes " looking new " came with the boxes , only bubble with hardly any Bubbles, I have swapped them over against a few resistors , no'p any thoughts as to why they have died please ? ( no cracks no external damage ) many thanks Tim.
For some reason, older tubes seem to lose their ability to bubble, Tim. I think it has to do with the "crystals" seen within the bulbs at the base of the tubes. Nothing, in my experience, will rejuvenate them. Sorry :(
Doug, I have a 1015 that I got recently and have been enjoying it. All of tubes work, but one bubbles noticeably later than the others, and when it begins to bubble, there is a loud thump, as if there is something mechanical at work that starts the process. I know that isn't the case, but what could be causing that knock?
Uncle Doug, your video is amazingly informative. I recently purchased a Wurlitzer OMT and during moving it, I accidently cracked one of the curved bubble tube and the liquid leaked out. I have taken the unit apart and removed the broken tube. I am looking feverishly for a replacement. Any ideas? Please and thank you!
+DeadKoby It's probably what's used in the "hand boilers", DK, because these bubble tubes will also boil just from the heat of your hand. I thought the "drinking bird' simply used water. A Google search might reveal the answer.
The hand "boiler" just uses water or any other liquid. It's not actually boiling. What happens is it forces water up the tube due to expansion of air in the lower chamber from your hand's heat. When the water level gets too low it breaks the seal causing some water to pour back down and the air pressure in top and bottom to equalize. This makes it seem like it's boiling but you're really just seeing water gurgle around inside your heat engine.
Liam, I would think that any good, light mineral oil would work, like 3-in-1Brand. If you can't find it, then 10-30 motor oil would probably work just fine also. Good luck :)
Cheers mate. Very informative video. Googled it and read explanation but your video could not be more clearer. Especially using the resistor to heat it. Great stuff. They stopped producing the jukebox in 2013. I wonder if this has anything to do with the internals of the machine i.e. safety risks with exposed live contacts, the chemical used etc. I have a 1015 from 1984 and it's like an industrial machine inside not sure if it's changed a lot to the new one.
jbrwelcome Thanks, JBR.....glad you enjoyed the video. I understand the newest jukeboxes are simply satellite links, allowing you to request tunes and pay using your cell phone, which is all fine and dandy, but I still prefer the old metal and wood electromechanical gems from the 1930's and 40's.
Actually, production of all Wurlitzer jukeboxes ended in October, 2013. Gibson bought the company some years before but the demand decreased so they decided to end all production. Including the 1933 Debutante which was made by Wurlitzer but did have the nameplate until 1934, jukebox production lasted 80 years. Not a bad run.
hi where are you located? i just bought two new tubes from germany at great expence but only one arrived whole the other the top end broke off in transit
Two things that puzzle me, are the bubbles a gas and if the bubbles are a gas then that gas can't escape as the top is sealed so what happens to that gas, as the level of the liquid doesn't go down when the gas rises to the top, also the crystals at the bottom, do they ever stop producing bubbles or will they last forever.
Good questions, DooRon. Yes, the bubbles are a gas but as they rise away from the heat source at the base of the tube, the gas gradually changes back (condenses) into its liquid phase, so no excess pressure (accumulated gas) is built up at the top of the glass tube. The glass crystals at the bottom don't really create the bubbles, but provide a large surface area for bubbles to form upon. The heater elements actually create the bubbles by changing the liquid into a vapor (gas). The glass crystals are not consumed in the process and last indefinitely.
+dooronron69 It is not a gas but a liquid that boils at 40 degrees Centigrade. Once the bubbles start to climb up the tube they simply recirculate due to the heat and will continue to do so until the jukebox is turned off. There are 8 independent tubes in the W1015. While it looks like there are 2 huge tubes going up the cabinet (front and sides) there are actually 8 tubes. Once the jukebox is turned on, after a few minutes you will see small granules start to "churn" at the base of the tube -- called "bumpers" they were designed to release the liquid up the tube/s when they were at the boiling point - the bumpers were used to reduce the pressure of the heated tube expanding too fast -- otherwise they could break and cause an expensive mess!!
dooronron69....The bubbles shrink and "disappear" as they rise and cool. I have original 40's Wurlitzer bubble tubes which are still working perfectly......Hope this answers your questions.
Carcinogenic...something that would be banned a few years later, like lead in gasoline and paints. I remember Christmas light bubblers back in the late 50s that bubbled like that. These had a small coloured tube and a large bulbous housing at the bottom of the tube that was made from a plastic material, which I suppose housed the resistor that was probably in series with the other 10 bulbs in the string, (12 volt drop across each) for 120 volts AC.
The Christmas lights (which I can attest were still around and popular in the early '70s) were heated by their own light bulb. My understanding was always that there was alcohol in them, but this stuff would make more sense.
Yes, it is an unpleasant solvent, SC; often used in paint stripper. I've seen the Christmas bubble lights for sale in some antique shops, which makes me feel old, since we used to have them on the tree when I was a kid.
Yes, the sealed system does make more sense.....but the thought of a highly toxic solvent boiling in sealed glass tubes in my living room still makes me nervous :)
That is a good point, would you happen to know of a modern replacement?, I imagine that with current science people have made something that can serve the same purpose and not kill you.
why don't the bubbles create pressure? is it the mechanism of air contained in the tube, being brought down and simply 'recycled' by the action of the crystals.. lacking some physics education lol
The crystals provide a large surface area for small bubbles to form, gather into larger bubbles, and rise upward until they reach a cool area of the liquid and are reabsorbed. The vapor in the bubbles simply recirculates within the liquid, never reaching the top or increasing the pressure within the tube.
