JOBO CPA 2 Rotation motor died

After all these years my CPA2 gave out. I use it with the lift, the pump still works but it no longer rotates. As per the Jobo website, a fuse governs this but it appears to be good...as per email to Jobo, they referred me to Omega Sattier (their website is www.omegasatter.com) but they have not answerd...got Calumet working on getting parts information...
Can anyone out there help?
Nancy

Nancy,

I used to half groan and half laugh when I heard Jobo used the same motor that BMW uses for windshield wipers in some model. Perhaps someone knows which models. A cheaper one might be available at the junk yard though you would still need to deal with the 12 volt DC vs 120 volt AC. I would be interested to read what price is quoted by Calumet.

If the stars are lined up just right right you might want to check that fuse with a continuity meter. On very rare occasions older fuses look okay but are no longer passing electricity. Pray for this one.

John Powers

A few of us have had good luck dealing with Omega Satter for Jobo parts, I'd try calling them.
OTH if it really is an automotive part too, you could see if there is a part number printed on it somewhere and google it, that might give you some leads on finding one from alternate sources.

Dave Smith (AKA joboman@aol.com) is the person you want to contact. He just finished fixing my CPP-2 and he's been nothing short of fantastic. Turns out that he's not only one of the nicest people I've ever met, but he knows his stuff too. Oh yeah, he's the factory rep that Omega will refer you to anyway. (He also repairs Beseler and Omega enlargers and is the rep for Arkay as well)

I thought the rotational motor in my CPP was dead, turns out it was the rotary switch instead. All hope may not be lost.


Regards,
Andrew

Thanks for your replys, I wll try Sattier again...I have only e-mailed them and called them once so far...Calumet was looking to see if parts were available to them, they don't repair Jobo. The old Jobo site listed the parts as several hundred dollars...how much worse could it get.
BMW, what do you know!
Will check the fuse.
Andrew, I wll try joboman, thanks for the reference.
Nancy

I've had the same trouble with my CPP-2.

There is, to the rear of the rotating cog mechanism, a curious three-fingered white plastic pick-up sensor that "counts" revolutions, and reverses the rotation direction after every two rotations. At the back of the "cog" itself, there is a floating pin that contacts this three-fingered thing, which through a cam on the shaft that it is mounted on, opens and closes a switch. This switch is an open affair with simple make and break contacts - succeptable to contamination and especially water. I have cleaned these contacts a few times. To reach them. it is necessary to remove the control assembly, undo all the screws holding the upper and lower parts of the unit together, gently and patiently pry them apart (usually sealed with waterproofing compound) and operate with a bright light, needle-nosed pliers, tweezers, and tissue paper. Not much fun.

Try contacting Omega-Satter for their advice -they have been most helpful if not the fastest repliers in the universe.
I have had nothing to do with Dave Smith. I am going to add his address to my bookmarks for future reference.

In case anyone is interested, here's the rundown on what was wrong with mine.

Apparently, the way the rotary switches are mounted on the control board makes them prone to failure should there be too much strain put on them (i.e., pulling the knobs off to clean). This is what happened to my unit. Upon inspection (after dismantling the housing) I noticed that the guts for the switch were spilling out all over the place. I really started thinking that I had a very expensive paper weight on my hands.

For my service Mr. Smith; replaced the rotary switch (the replacement is much beefier and less prone to failure), beefed up the fuses, inspected the rotation motor and gearbox and cleaned and lubricated the water pump. I found his pricing to be reasonable and his willingness to share his maintenance tips with me was an added bonus.

The head unit arrived today so I'm really looking forward to running some film and chemistry through my newly-freshened CPP!

Regards,
Andrew

Hi, I'm sorry to dig this post from 10 years, but I've just purchased a CPA2 with water pump problem wich I've already fixed.
But when I started to do my first batch of three 120 rolls of Trix 400 loaded into my tank on the 31st of december ag 6 pm (you can't fight against film processing obsession) , and just before putting my first chemical, I tried to set up the rotation speed, and all of a sudden, the rotation stopped rotaring.. I started and finish to process my rolls turning the jobo with my hands, and the result was alright. But reading your post I assume this is a rotating switch problem. And opening the Cpa2 I found the switch in a bad shape, I dismounted it and now, I'm looking for the reference to change it. Could you help me with that please ?

Ps : When I bought the Cpa2 there was already a problem, because the switch on the "0" position the motor was still running.

Happy new year from France.

Kaz

Hi,
I found the problem.
The rotary switch includes an On/Off switch inside, only this part was broken.
So I bypassed it with a classical switch from an electronic broken machine and it works perfectly.
I also found, thanks to an electronic tech I know, a 4$ equivalent on an electronic parts reseler on the web.
I'll try that, the shaft is 1cm too short so I'll have to adapt it, but for this price, I can manage to do it.
I developped my first C41 rolls with my Cpa2, 20 years after my first black and white roll.. made me happy..

Thank you for existing

Kazari said:

Hi,
I found the problem.
The rotary switch includes an On/Off switch inside, only this part was broken.
So I bypassed it with a classical switch from an electronic broken machine and it works perfectly.
I also found, thanks to an electronic tech I know, a 4$ equivalent on an electronic parts reseler on the web.
I'll try that, the shaft is 1cm too short so I'll have to adapt it, but for this price, I can manage to do it.
I developped my first C41 rolls with my Cpa2, 20 years after my first black and white roll.. made me happy..

Thank you for existing

Click to expand...

Hi, just saw your post. These old machines are tough. I have a CPP2, I had to replace the motor rotation switch in mine as well. For future reference Jobo service in United States is www.catlabs.info These folks are very helpful, owner's name is Omer Hecht. He does more than just Jobo.
Best Regards Mike