3a. When Thing Still Don't Work: the Check List
So you're the impatient type, and couldn't stand to wade through all the above
information and things to do. You want the bare essentials. Well this checklist
is for you if your EM game doesn't work. Just follow this list...
- Make sure game is off.
- Verify the power outlet the game is plugged into works.
- Verify 115 volts is getting to the transformer. Thirty year old (or older)
power cords can easily have breaks in them. Check the voltage with your digital
multi-meter (DMM) on the input side of the transformer.
- Check all fuses with your DMM. See the Check Fuses section.
Check the fuse holders too, especially on Bally games.
- Make sure the coin door is plugged in (especially if a Gottlieb game).
- Check that there are credits on the credit wheel. If not,
add some (manually if you must). Or better yet, make the game
Free Play.
- Make sure coin door switches are not stuck closed!
- (Optional) Manually set the player one score reels to anything other
than zero. This allows you to see if the game is able to reset the
score reels to zero. Remember if score reels can not go to zero,
the game will never do a full reset and game start.
- Verify the power switch is functional (if it has one).
- Turn game on. Some lights should go on. Remember on many 1970s
Bally and Williams games you must press the left flipper button for
the game to "light up".
5. Lift the playfield amd manually spin the score motor a bit.
Does the score motor turn on and move to the next 'home' position? It should.
(On Gottlieb games there is a 'home' position every 120 degree, on
Bally & Williams games home is every 180 degrees.)
If the score motor does not turn the game will never start.
There may not be 30 or 50 volt power (blown fuse or bad fuse holder), or
check the score motor 'home switch'.
- Try the coin door start button.
If nothing happens:
- See the Reset Bank section (but make sure the game has credits
or is on Free play!)
If the score motor continues to run:
- If the game has score reels, see the Score Reel section.
If either of the
two "zero position" switches on any score reel is out of adjustment, the score motor will continue
to run.
- If the game does not have score reels, see the Stepper Unit section.
If a stepper unit does not reset, the score motor can continue to run (actually this can happen
on games with score reels too) because the game can not reset the stepper to the zero position.
- If a Gottlieb game, make sure the score motor "brake" switch (a single switch
on the score motor that has *no* wires attached to it!) is hitting the metal
rod as the score motor turns. The purpose of this "brake" switch is to make sure the
score motor stops at an exact home position and doesn't "over run",
and continue running endlessly.
- Check the score motor's "home" switch (on Gottliebs usually at 1C or 4C).
This switch is what turns off the score motor when it rotates
to a "home" position every 120 degrees. Because of the score motor's electro-motive force (EMF)
when the motor turns off, the score motor home switch gets a "blue arc" (easy to see when the score
motor rotates!) every rotation of the
score motor. The blue arc is *twice* the powering voltage due to the EMF that
occurs as the magnetic field of the motor collapses when the power is removed.
This blue arc makes the home switch wear and pit easily, and go out of
adjustment. If the
home switch is out of adjustment or worn, this too can allow the score motor to "over run"
a home position, and perhap never stop running!
- If the game starts and:
- blows a fuse. Either a coil is stuck on, or if a 70's Williams or Bally, see
Bridge Rectifiers section. If it is a "GI" (general illumination)
fuse, this won't usually stop the game from working. Just the playfield or backbox
lights will be dead. There could also be of course a direct short somewhere.
- a coil or score reel is stuck on, see the Score Relay Stuck On
section. Often it is hard to see a stuck on coil. I always look at the bells or chimes
to see if a plunger is stuck "up", in addition to the score reels. This usually means a
playfield switch (or a relay activated by a playfield switch) is stuck
closed, and it will prevent additional scoring of that point value or prevent the
game from advancing to the next ball.
- certain features don't reset (like number of players, credit or ball number, etc.),
see the Stepper Unit section.
- certain game features don't work, see the Game Features section.
3b. When Thing Still Don't Work: Typically What's Wrong
Bridge Rectifier and capacitor on 1972 and later Williams' EM games. Note
the two different types of bridges used. They both work the same, they
just look different! Bridges you buy today will look like the one on the right.
The bridge and the capacitor convert AC voltage to DC.
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- The main solenoid fuse blows on 1972 and later Williams EM's and 1976 and
later Bally EM's.
Starting in 1972, Williams changed their pop bumper and slingshot
kickers to operate on DC voltage. Bally also made this change in 1976.
This made these solenoids a bit
more powerful and snappy. To do this, Williams and Bally used a silicon Bridge Rectifier.
Unfortunately, sometimes these bridges short internally, and will
blow the solenoid fuse when a game is started.
Replace the bridge with a new 100 volt (or greater), 25amp bridge.
For quick analysis, you can buy a 50 volt bridge at Radio Shack if
you're in a pinch, but this is barely enough. But it will work.
If the fuse blows that is situated right next to the bridge,
check all DC components (bumpers, kickers, etc.) for a short.
3c. When Thing Still Don't Work: Buzzing/Noisy Relays and Coils.
In most EM games there are momentary and hold style relays.
Momentary relays activate (energize) for just a moment.
Hold relays activate for long periods of time. Examples of
hold relays include feature relays (that keep a set of lights
or features activated on a pinball playfield). Or the "hold"
relay on a Gottlieb game (which is energized the entire time
the game is turned on). Bally also has a "hold"
relay that activates at power-on after the left flipper
button is pressed.
Hold relays are designed to be activated
for a long period of time, without burning. In order to do this,
the hold relay's coil will have high resistance (compared to a
momentary relay). It should have 30 to 150 ohms. The higher the resistance
the better (but the higher the resistance the less "pull" the
relay will have).
Hold relays, becauese they are energized for long periods of time,
can be noisy. This buzzing is caused usually by one thing: the spring resistance of
the relay is too high. Either the relay spring is too short/tight,
or the relay's switch blades are adjusted to provided too much
spring resistance. If a relay has to really work to pull in its
activator plate, the AC 60 cycle hum will cause hum while
the relay is "holding". The AC 60 cycles sets up a vibration which
causes the noise. AC means "alternating current", as the voltage goes from 30 volts, to
0 volts, to 30 volts again and again, 60 times a second. As the
relay goes to 0 volts, the armature on the relay can release
slightly, and then the voltage goes back to 30 volts pulling it
back. This often causes the buzz or hum.
Take a DMM and measure the resistance of the hold relay coil.
It should be in the 30 to 150 ohm range. If there
is the same relay coil number used elsewhere in the game, compare the
two resistances, as they should be the same. If the suspect coil's
resistance is lower, replace it.
With time hold relays can get warm (hot), and burn the insulation
off adjacent windings. This will lower the overall resistance of
the coil. Then the coil gets hotter due to lower resistance, and
the cycle continues until the coil burns crispy and brown.
Assuming the relay's coil has proper resistance and is not burnt,
there are a couple things that can be done to minimize the buzz/hum.
Adjust the relay with as little
spring resistance as possible to pull in the armature plate. This will
minimize the noise. Adjust the relay's switch blades and lengthen the spring
so only the minimal amount of tension is needed to return the
armature plate back to it's resting position.
On Williams games there is a brass rivit on the activator plate.
Sometimes this rivit is missing. This can also cause the hum.
Or the rivit can become loose and that can contribute to the
noise, though this is rare (usually the relay is just adjusted
too "tight", causing the hum).
Another hold style coil (though not a relay) are the flipper coils.
If the player holds in a flipper button and the coils make a loud
buzz, this can be often be fixed by replacing the coil stop. The coil
stops on EM coils are slightly magnetic. This minimized the problem with
the 60 cycles per second AC vibration.
3d. When Thing Still Don't Work: the Gottlieb Reset Bank and Reset Relays.
The reset bank is what starts up a game when the replay (start) button is pushed on the
front of the game. If a game won't start, below is some history on the reset bank,
and a list of things to check (last game being Soccer).
Note starting in 1975 with Fast Draw/Quick Draw
the reset bank was replaced
on multi-player games with Ax (reset control), Bx (last ball), and sometimes
Cx/Dx relays. Single players got just an Ax relay.
A Gottlieb Reset bank.
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Gottlieb coin unit (left) and Ax (reset), Bx (first ball), Dx (last ball) relays in a
Target Alpha 4 player bottom cabinet. This rig was used on multi-players after
Super Soccer in 1975. The Ax/Bx short throw latch relays are a major
headache in 1975 and later Gottlieb multi-player games, as the switches must be
adjusted *perfectly* for the game to operate correctly. The coin unit tells the game
how many coins were inserted for the current game (how many players are playing).
The backbox's player unit keeps track of the current player and ball number
being played.
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Reset Bank.
The Gottlieb Reset Bank was used till 1975 (when it was
replaced by the Ax, Bx {and sometimes Cx/Dx} latched relays on multi-player games,
and just an Ax on single players). Super Soccer/Soccer (1/75)
are the last multi-player game with a reset bank. Single
players games got rid of the reset bank sooner; Pop-a-Card (3/72) and
Space Orbit (4/72) were single player games with a reset
bank (Grand Slam 7/72 does not have a reset bank).
Top Card (8/74) also had a reset bank. By 1975 the
reset bank was definately gone.
The bank was eliminated largely for cost reasons.
The reset bank is basically
a whole row of relays mounted in a metal rack with a master
reset bar. When the reset bar is pulled (by its BIG 120 volt solenoid,
top right in the picture),
all the relays are reset to a known state. This happens at the start
of every game.
The Gottlieb reset bank includes several important relays that are crucial
to starting a game. This includes the Game Over relay(s), Reset relay, Tilt relay,
and the Start relay.
Make sure all these relay's switch contacts are clean and adjusted. In order to
see any reset bank relay switches, you have to loosen the two wing nuts
at each end of the reset bank, and "flip up" the bank.
Unfortunately, flipping up the reset bank is deceptive. When the
bank is in operating position, many of the switches rest against
the reset bar. But when the bank is flipped up, the reset bar is
out of the picture. This can give false switch contact adjustment
readings. Just be aware of this.
The Gottlieb reset bank must be positioned correctly, or the bank will bind
and not work properly. The rounded edges of the rotating reset bank should
line up perfectly with the rounded edges of the locking plate (as shown here
with the arrow).
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The main Gottlieb reset bank solenoid (the BIG one, upper right corner
of the above picture) operates at 120 volts on many games! Also the
start relay operates on 120 volts too. Keep this in
mind when working on the reset bank. Don't shock yourself.
The Gottlieb "S" Start Relay.
Almost every Gottlieb EM with a reset bank has an "S" start relay.
When this relay gets activated (by pressing the coin door start button),
the game goes through its start-up sequence.
Generally speaking, here is the start-up sequence:
- Press the start button on the coin door. This completes the circuit
to the start relay, and causes this relay to pull in and close some switches.
- The score motor starts.
- The score reels reset to zero.
- Any Feature relays or Feature banks reset.
- The reset bank solenoid pulls in, and resets all the relays in the bank.
- The ball is served, and the game can begin.
If you have cleaned and checked all the score reels switches and
stepper units, and the game still won't start, check these things:
- There could be
no credits on the game; check the credit unit as there is a single
switch on that unit which when open, will not allow a game to start.
- On manual ball load games, there is a switch on the ball release
hold mechanism. When the ball release coil is energized, this switch opens,
and will not allow a new game to be started, until the ball release
coil de-energizes (after the first points of the game are scored).
- On Gottlieb games, make sure the coin door is plugged in. The
game won't even turn on if the coin door is not plugged in.
- Make sure the hold relay is pulled in, and the switch(es) on
the hold relay are working properly.
- Gently rotate the score motor slightly with the game on. Does the
score motor advance 120 degrees? Sometimes the score motor can get "stuck"
in an "off" position, and manually rotating the score motor can be enough to
awaken it (also check the score motor's "home" switch for pitting and mis-adjustment).
- A dirty switch on the "S" (start) relay, or game over relay(s), or reset relay(s).
If there are credits, flip up
the reset bank, and clean and check all the switches on the "S" and game
over relay(s). While you're at it, clean and check ALL the switches
in the reset bank. If the score reels are OK, it's almost a given
that your Gottleib game start up problems lie in a switch in the
reset bank.
If a Gottlieb game to will not start with the coin door replay
button, try manually reseting the reset bank. This will
often be the kick that gets a game awake from the dead.
The Gottlieb reset bank with the end wing nuts loosened, and the
bank "flipped up". You have to do this to clean any of the switches.
Note you can see the nasty start relay EOS switch at the bottom left.
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The Gottlieb Armature Activated Start Relay Switch.
Another particularly nasty animal is the Gottlieb armature activated start relay switch.
This switch lives under the start relay, and can't be seen unless the
reset bank is lifted. Unfortunately, it is difficult to see and adjust this switch unless
the reset bank is down. So how do you see and adjust the switch?
Well you really can't without unbolting and removing the entire reset bank
from the bottom panel! Often this switch is dirty or mis-adjusted.
If mis-adjusted, the game won't start properly: the score reels and feature banks will
reset, but the start sequence just stops there. So it's a pretty
important (and over-looked) switch! The switch is activated by the
armature mechanism that trips the start relay. It is labeled on the
schematics as the "S Armature" switch.
Gottlieb Single Player Games without a Reset Bank (1972-1978).
Single players games got rid of the reset bank around 1972. Pop-a-Card (3/72) or
Space Orbit (4/72) were the last single player games with a reset
bank (Grand Slam 7/72 does not have a reset bank).
The reset cycle on these 1972 and later non-reset bank games is pretty simple:
- Pressing the coin door replay button (assuming there are credits on the game!)
pulls in the start relay (if this does not work, the start relay on the
bottom board can be activated manually).
- A switch on the start relay causes the hold relay to pull in
and lock on. This turns on the playfield lights and completes part of the
power path to the playfield solenoids.
- A switch on the start relay causes the score motor to turn.
- A switch on the start relay and the score motor causes the
ball count unit to reset (to position zero).
- If the game has drop targets or a playfield relay bank, a switch
on the start relay and the score motor will cause these to reset.
- A switch on the start relay and score motor pulls in the V reset relay
(an interlock relay). A switch on the V relay causes the start relay
to de-energize (the start relay was energized for just an instant while
all the previous steps occur).
- A switch on the V relay and the score motor (which is still turning)
causes the score reels to reset to zero.
- As soon as the score reels reset to zero (closing all the score reels
zero position switches), the Vr relay pulls in. This releases the V relay
(the V relay was locked on for a few seconds as the score reels reset
to zero).
- If there is a ball in the outhole (closing the outhole switch),
the Ball Return relay pulls in for an instant. A score motor switch and a
switch on the Ball Return relay will energize the outhole
kicker, and kick the ball from the outhole to the shooter lane.
- The score motor will stop running as soon as the Ball Return relay
de-energizes.
- As the ball rolls into the shooter lane, the ball rolls over a switch which closes for an instant.
This advances the ball count unit from the zero position to the ball one
position. A switch on the ball count unit then closes which turns on
solenoid power on the playfield.
- The game is now ready to be played.
The ball count unit is a potential problem in this reset sequence. When the
ball count unit is at the zero or six (game over) position, a switch is opened which
does not allow power to any playfield solenoid. So the increment of
the ball count unit to ball one turns on all the playfield
solenoids. Likewise, the game is over when the ball count unit moves
to position six (this again opens a switch and turns off the power to the playfield
solenoids, and turns on the "Game Over" backbox light).
If the game resets, but none of the playfield solenoids work, there are
two likely culprits. First is the hold relay. There is a playfield solenoid power
switch on the hold relay. Second is the ball count unit. If the zero position switch
does not close when the ball count unit is advanced to ball one, no power will go to
the playfield solenoids.
Modifying the Continuous Duty Relays for No Burn, as used in Ax/Bx Games.
Starting with Fast Draw/Quick Draw in 1975, Gottlieb
felt the reset bank unit was too costly, and looked for
a less expensive replacement. The result was the Ax (reset control) and
Bx (last ball) latch relays. Also implemented was the continous duty
Tilt-hold "H", Gameover "Q", and First-ball "U" relays. By continuous
duty I mean these relays are always energized when the game is in
"game-over" mode (like the old school "H" hold relay, before 1975).
The list of problems with this setup are immense. First the Ax/Bx relays
have very little switch throw, yet must be adjusted perfectly for
the game to reset, start-up, and end. The make/break switches on these
two latch relays are very hard to adjust perfectly.
The next problem
are the three continuous duty relays. These are A-9736 (First-ball), A-9738 (Tilt-Hold),
A-9740 (Game-over) relays, which are all basically 30 to 35 ohm relays (old school R20-5).
When these games were new, this setup probably worked fine.
But now that these games are 30+ years old, these relays are usually
baked and fried. These can be replaced with the same relays, but why do that
(other than to make Steve Young smile!) A great idea is to use a
Gottlieb System1 and System80 ORANGE coin door lockout relay coil A-16890 (220 ohms) to
replace the low-ohm relay coils (anytime you get a system1 to system80 up to Hot Shotz
in your shop, steal the coin door lockout coil, which isn't being used anyway!)
The A-16890 relay coil will never burn at 220 ohms,
and consumes a lot less power in the process. But at 220 ohms, it's
not strong enough to work with the 25 volts AC used in EM games.
Gottlieb actually started to do just this on the last EM games like Joker Poker.
Using the A-16890 relay coil for continuous duty coil as shown here. Note the
capacitor and resistor really isn't needed, but the two 1N4004 diodes are required.
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The solution is to use the orange A-16890 relay as a DC coil. That is,
leave the 1N4004 diode in place on the relay, even though you're installing
this relay in an EM game. Attach the BLACK relay coil wire(s) to the NON-banded (anode)
diode lug of the relay coil. Then use another 1N4004 diode and attach
the BANDED diode end (cathode) to the other lug of the relay coil. And finally
attach the game's relay coil signal wire to the other end (NON-banded side) of this added diode.
So basically the banded ends of the two diodes "point" together at one of
the relay's coil lugs.
What this does is effectly converts the AC power to DC in a half-wave format, but just
for this relay. This allows the A-16890 relay to work in an
EM game (if you don't use the diodes, this relay will chatter and not work).
And this continuous duty relay coil will never burn up, and consumes a lot
less power in the process. Gottlieb adds a 50 mfd 50v capacitor (installed
on the coil lugs parallel to the coil diode,
with the cap's "+" lead connected to the diode banded lead) and a 6 ohm 2 watt
resistor (in front of the second diode) to the circuit too.
But personally I have found these to be unnecessary.
3e. When Thing Still Don't Work: Score Motors and Other Motors
I'm sure you've noticed by now that there's a motor in the bottom on
your EM pinball cabinet with a TON of switches. This is known as the
score motor. It's job is to activate relays repeatedly until a feature
or job is accomplished. If a job can't be accomplished (for whatever
reason), often the score motor won't turn off. It just won't quit
till the job at hand is completed!
(Left) Gottlieb score motor.
(Right) Williams/Bally style score motor.
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Because of this, score motor switches take a lot of abuse. And
often need adjustment. As you get experience fixing EM's, you'll
probably clean all the score motor switches as a rule. It's
a good idea, but don't go wild adjusting them! Particularily
on Gottliebs, the switch contact gap distance can be critical
in making a game work.
Many beginner EM fixers want to adjust the score motor switches because
the score motor won't stop running when a game is attempted. However,
the score motor is running because a switch somewhere else is causing
this problem! Typically it's a switch that should have opened in the score
reels (zero position switch) or in the score relays.
The many levels of switch stacks on a Gottlieb score motor
(as viewed from the side).
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Getting to those Pesky Score Motor Switch Contacts.
Score motors usually have cotter pins to allow you to release
and hinge up the motor, making some switches easier to get at
(of course the switch that needs to be adjusted or cleaned will
never be one of those switches!). Most have 3 cotter pins to
allow you to remove the whole thing away from the frame for better
access. They also usually have a disconnect plug to stop the
motor from turning. This can be useful in really in-depth
troubleshooting; you can try and make the sequence happen slow enough to watch
what is happening by using this plug as an on/off switch for the
score motor.
Lubricating a Score Motor.
The only part that needs lubricated on Gottlieb score motors is the
felt needle bearing pad. This is accessed via a small hole on the
bottom of the score motor. Just put a couple of drops of 3-in-1 oil
on this pad. No other lubrication is needed! For example, do *not* lubricate
the brass gears of the score motor. Brass on brass gears are designed for
no lubrication. Same thing with nylon on nylon gears, and nylon on metal
gears, use no lubrication. Remember the EM rule of lubrication, if in doubt,
do not lubricate.
Shown here is the bottom of a Gottlieb score motor,
and the oiling hole for the needle bearing felt pad.
The score motor is tipped up for this photo (most Gottlieb
score motors have a hair pin that allow the motor to be tilted).
The bearing pad can be lubricated with a few drops of 3-in-1 oil.
Do not lubricate any other parts (especially the exposed
brass gears).
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The Score Motor's Home Switch.
Check the score motor's "home" switch (on Gottlieb's, usually at 1C or 4C).
This switch is what turns off the score motor when it rotates
to a "home" position every 120 degrees. Because of the score motor's
electro-motive force (EMF)
when the motor turns off, the score motor home
switch gets a "blue arc" (easy to see when the
score motor rotates!) every rotation of the
score motor.
The blue arc is *twice* the powering voltage due to the EMF that
occurs as the magnetic field of the motor collapses when the power is removed.
This blue arc makes the home switch wear and pit easily, and go
out of adjustment. If the home switch is out of adjustment or worn, this too
can allow the score motor to "over run" a home position,
and perhap never stop running! Or on the other hand, when the score motor
starts running due to another switch, the home switch may be so pitted and
dirty it will not allow the motor to run to the next home position.
This will often freeze the game and not allow it to play.
Because of this it is absolutely necessary to make sure the home
switch is clean and properly adjusted on any EM game.
Score Motor Brake.
On Gottlieb games, there is also a "brake" switch. This is easy to identify; it's the
score motor switch with no wires attached! It's purpose is to stop the score motor
from "over running" a "home" position. If this switch is broken, this can also cause
the score motor to over shoot a home position, and to continue running endlessly.
Other makers use different brakes. Often the needle gear will disengage
after power is removed from the score motor, not allowing the motor to
over-run.
More Score Motor Stuff.
The next section discusses score motors and how they are implemented
into the schematics. Scroll down
or click here to continue to that section.
Different Motor Types.
If a game has a bad or missing motor, it can be a real bear to find a correct replacement.
Here are some things to consider when choosing a new motor:
- Motor voltage (typically 50 or 24 volts AC).
- Motor spin direction. AC voltage motors can not have their direction easily changed!
- Motor spin RPM.
- Motor shaft size (1/4", 5/16", or 3/8" are the most common sizes) and length.
- Threaded mounting positions on the gearbox and other motor mounts.
- Motor winding resistance.
- Motor/Shaft orientation. Is the output shaft opposite of the motor's
frame, or on the same side of the motor?
Sometimes a 50 volt motor can be made into a 24 volt motor by unwinding
some of the windings around the motor's layered plates. But do this carefully,
as the total resistance of the motor's windings should never be less than about
2.5 ohms, otherwise it will be a "short" and no longer a motor.
Don't forget to sand the painted insulation off the end of the new wire end before
trying to solder it to the motor's wire lug.
Fixing a Burnt Motor.
Burnt windings can be replaced by hand on a motor. This is not an easy task,
but it can be done. First using a micrometer, measure a single wire diameter of
the original (burnt) motor windings. Then find a coil with the same size wire
diameter. Now unwind or cut all the burnt windings off the motor,
and re-wind the motor's windings using the wire from the donor coil.
Yes this does take a while, but you don't have to be squeaky clean
with your new motor windings. Total resistance of the new windings
should probably be in the 4 ohm range (if you know someone with the same game,
get them to measure a good motor's resistance and try to match that).
Don't forget the sand the painted insulation of the ends off the new wires before
trying to solder them to the motor's wire lugs.
Slow and Sluggish Game Motors and Score Motors.
This information applies to any motor in a pinball, baseball pitch
and bat, gun game, fortune teller, or any other EM arcade game.
If a game is having a hard time resetting the score reels (they
reset slowly), this is usually due to a sluggish or slow score motor.
Other game motors (as used in EM arcade games) may be slow and sluggish too.
This happens because the grease inside the motor solidifies with
time. If this happens, often the motor may need to be taken apart and re-lubricated.
Also sometimes the gears inside the motor strip. If this happens new
gears will be required (donor motors can be used as parts).
First step is to remove the motor from the game. I can't really give
specifics on how to do this, as it is often different from game to game.
But the motor will need to removed and isolated from whatever it is
driving. Usually the motor is mounted to some sort of metal frame with
four machine screws. The two power wires will of course need to be
desoldered from the motor's lugs. Any motor switches should be attached
to the metal frame and not the motor itself.
If the motor is sluggish, before "splitting the case", often the
gear box can be soaked in alcohol or white vinegar. This can often
break down the solidified grease, without take the whole motor apart.
The downside is no new lubrication can be added this way.
Just let is soak overnight and see if that helps. Sometimes it works,
but usually I find myself splitting the motor case anyways for a
good cleaning and re-lubrication.
Splitting the Case.
First remove the motor from the gear case. This is not alway
possible (depends on the motor), but it is very helpful if it can be done.
On most motors other than Multi-Products motors, it's usually just
two machine screws that hold the armiture to the motor, and
the motor itself from the gear case.
Be careful when removing the motor from the gearbox. Often there
is a small lightweight spring on the armiture, along with a brass
bushing. Don't loose these parts! The spring is used to push the
armiture gear away from the first gearbox gear. This way when the
motor first powers on, it does so in a "free-wheel" mode. As the
motor come to full power after half a second, the armiture is pulled
towards the center of the motor's layered frame plates. This compresses the spring
and engages the armiture to the gearbox. Likewise when power is removed,
the spring pushed the armiture gear away from the first gearbox gear,
causing the gearbox to immediately "stop on a dime".
The motor has been removed from the gearbox.
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With the motor separated from the gearbox,
to get inside the gearbox case, the case will need to be split.
The gearbox case is often riveted together. If this is the situation,
grind the face off one side of the rivets
using a Dremel tool, and knock them out with a punch and a hammer.
Some gearboxes used screws which can be easily removed.
Here the four rivets have been ground and knocked out.
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After the rivets or screws are out, the top half of the case can be removed,
exposing the gears. Remove the gears ONE AT A TIME and clean them
with alcohol. Be careful, take notes and maybe digital pictures,
so the order and position of the gears is documented.
Clean the gear case behind the gears too (and of course clean the
removed half of the gear case).
Re-lubricate the gears with a *light* coating of Radio Shack or Super Lube Teflon
Lub Gel.
The top half of the gear case cover has been removed. This motor looks
pretty good - not much solidified grease here. But remove each gear, one
at a time, and clean it with alcohol.
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Re-assemble the gear case. Replace the rivets with some old
EM switch stack screws and nuts! These work great and are the perfect size
(I believe they are #4 treaded bolts and nut).
The Motor's Brake.
Now check the armature. Many motors have a built-in brake system.
This is done so after the power to the motor stops, the motor can not
"coast" past a certain switch position. Gottlieb for example uses
a switch blade as a brake, mounted on the score motor's frame. But
they are the only company I know of that does that.
Most other companies (especially Williams) use a spring loaded armature.
As power is applied to the motor, the magnetic force pulls the spring
loaded armature towards the motor's layered plates. This engages
the armature to the gearbox, and the gears turn. As power is turned
off to the motor, the spring pull the armature back to the resting
position, which disengages the gears. This allows the armature to
coast (continue spinning) without turning the gears.
If your motor has this spring loaded armature system, it is *very*
important to check that this is working! If the spring is broken,
the motor can coast past the position it was intended to stop.
This can cause all sorts of problems (like a motor that never
stops running, or game features that don't reset properly).
If the armature spring is broken, it can be easily replaced. But
don't use too strong of a spring, or the gears may never engage
(or not engage fully, causing the armature gear to strip the first
gearcase gear). If the spring is too weak, it won't dis-engage
the motor from the gearbox. It's all trial and error. I personally
keep both a 30 and 50 volt AC transformer on my work bench just
for testing motors. This is very handy when having to replace
the armature spring, as I can see on the work bench if the armature
brake is working correctly.
Motor Repair.
I received this email from Multi-Products regarding
motor repair (Multi Products is the company that made
most of the motors used in coin operated EM games.)
From: Mark Patzke
Subject: from_Marvin3m.com/parts.htm_webpage
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 20:28:19 -0500
I was looking at your web page about parts and repair
resources and would like to let you know that I can
still repair just about any motor that we have made
throughout the years. As for ones that weren't ours,
I can take a look at them and give a quote to repair
if I able to.
Thanks,
Mark Patzke
President
Multi Products Co. Inc
www.multiproducts.com
3f. When Things Still Don't Work: Start-Up Sequences (Reset Sequences)
Starting in the early 1970's, "operation manuals" became available from
EM game manufacturers. These manuals outline a "start-up sequence". This
is the sequence of events that happens after you press the game's
start button. If your EM game doesn't start up properly,
this sequence of events can help determine the problem.
The start-up sequence is game specific, but generally can be applied to
most games. This is helpful especially on older EM's where there is no
operation manual.
The following start-up sequences were outlined from mid-1970's
games. They may not apply to the game you're fixing. But they
will give you a general idea of what an EM game does when you
press the start button.
Bally Start-Up Sequence.
- Coin is inserted into the game. The coin relay will energize.
It will stay energized through its own hold-in switch and a score
motor switch. If the credit button is pressed (instead of a coin being inserted)
and there are credits, the credit relay will be energized which energizes
the coin relay.
- The coin relay will energize the lock relay (this turns the general
illumination on). The lock relay will stay energized through its own hold-in switch
and a delay relay switch.
- The coin relay will energize the reset relay, through a game over
relay switch (if your game won't start, try cleaning the contacts on
the game over relay; a very common Bally problem).
- The score motor will operate. This will energize the score reset relay(s).
The score reset relay(s) will attempt to clear the score reels to zero.
This is done by operating the score motor. Each turn of the score motor
will operate the reset relay once, which in turns moves a score reel one
position, until the score reel(s) are at zero. If the score motor continues to
run when a game is started, there's a good chance the zero position switch
on the score reel(s) is dirty or mis-adjusted.
- The coin relay, through the score motor, will advance the total play
meter.
- The reset relay, through the score motor, will reset the stepper
units (zero the ball count and player units).
- The coin relay, through the score motor, will decrement the credit
unit.
- The coin relay, through the score motor, will energize the game
over latch relay coil.
- The coin relay, through the score motor, will energize the 100,000
relay latch coil(s) (if the game supports scores greater than 99,999).
- If the outhole switch is closed (single ball games) or the ball
trough switches are closed (multi-ball games), a ball is released
to the shooter lane through the outhole relay (single ball game) or
ball release relay (multi-ball game) and the score motor.
- On multi-player games, the credit button may be pushed again to
add a player. This time the coin relay will not energize the reset
relay. Instead it will (through the score motor) advance the total
play meter, decrement the credit unit, and advance the coin unit.
1950s Gottlieb Start-Up Sequence.
This applies to single player Gottlieb pin games without score reels
(light box scoring), from Triplets (7/50) to Ace High (2/57).
These games have no game over relay, and there is power to the
playfield at all times (even when the game is over, so a patron
can still operate the flippers after a game is finished). Backbox
scoring (no score reels) single player
games Royal Flush (5/57) to Dancing Dolls (6/60) basically
also operate the same, except they have a "game over" relay to kill
power to the playfield after the last ball is drained.
- Insert coin or press the "F.P. Button" coin door start button (if credits
are available - the "Zero F.P." switch is closed on the
credit unit and score motor switch 1C is closed).
Another manual reset method is to reset the Points unit by hand,
and then reset the 100,000 unit by hand - this will cause
a game reset too (but no credits will be removed).
- The "S" start relay trips (this is often located on
an under playfield bank). This is a 120 volt relay.
- If the game has trap holes, a switch on the Start "S" relay
will energize the Shuffle coil and release the trapped balls.
- Using the same Start "S" relay switch above, the
Points unit will reset to negative one ("-1 pos"),
assuming the Points unit is not already at the reset position.
- Using the same Start "S" relay switch above and a
Point unit reset position switch, the
100,000 unit is reset to the negative one ("-1 pos") position,
assuming the 100,000 unit is not already at the reset position.
- Again with the same Start "S" relay
switch closed and score motor switch 2C, a credit is
subtracted from the credit unit and the mechanical game counter
is incremented.
- With the 100,000 unit at the negative one position,
and using a switch on the Start "S" relay and score motor switch 4C,
the under playfield bank is reset. This will un-trip the
Start "S" relay.
- With the 100,000 unit still at the negative one position,
the score motor turns on.
- With the Points units at the reset position,
the ball release tray solenoid pulls in (dropping the
balls to the ball trough for play).
- The continuous 10,000 unit is reset
to the zero position. This is done using a negative
one position switch on the 100,000 unit, a switch on the
ball release tray solenoid activator arm, and score
motor switch 1A (the score motor will not stop until
the 10,000 unit is at zero). Note the 10,000 unit relay
is not used for reseting the 10,000 unit.
- The Points and 100,000 units are moved from the negative one to the zero
position. This is done using the 100,000 relay (which increments the 100,000
unit) and a Points unit negative one position switch, which increments
the Points unit using the 100,000 relay.
The 100,000 relay is engerized by the 10,000 unit being in the reset
position and a negative one switch on the Points unit, and score motor
switch 1A, and a switch on the ball release tray solenoid activator arm.
- Game is ready to play.
- As soon as the 10,000 point relay is scored once or twice,
the ball release tray solenoid will de-energize allowing drained
balls to be trapped.
1954 Gottlieb "Double" Games.
Double games allowed the player to put in an additional coin at the game start
to double the number of any replays won. When one coin is inserted,
the "thimble" light (on the lower ball arch) is lit, telling the player
he can add another coin for a "double" game. This light stays on until
the 10,000 unit is moved, turning off the ability for the player to
add a coin for a "double" game. If a second coin was added,
this will also turn the thimble light out, and the "double" light on
the backglass goes on. Note the credit unit on a double game is slightly
different than a conventional 1950s Gottlieb woodrail. It has an additional
coil and mech that increments the credit unit two credits, instead of just one.
1960s & 1970s Gottlieb Start-Up Sequence.
Games with score reels.
- Inserting a coin or pressing the coin door start button (Gottlieb
calls this the "replay" button) activates
the "S" (start) relay. The start relay will lock on from its own
switch and a score motor switch.
- The "S" relay will energize the main hold relay to illuminate
the game (if this is the first game after power-on).
- The "S" relay will start the score motor running.
- The "S" relay and the score motor increment the total play meter.
- The "SB" relay (the secondary start relay) is activated through
the score motor. The "SB" relay energizes the reset relays ("Z1" and "Z2"). If
a single or two player game, there may be only a "Z" relay.
- The "Z2" relay will reset the player 3 and 4 score reels to zero through
the score relays (4 player games only). The "Z1" or "Z" relay will reset the
player 1 (and player 2 if present) score reels to zero through the score relays.
- The "SB" relay resets the player unit through the score motor.
- The "U" relay resets the reset bank (or Ax, Bx, relays on
1975 and later multi-player games and Ax on single players) through the score motor.
It also resets the bonus unit or drop target banks (if the game has these).
- On multi-player games, inserting more coins or pressing the coin door
start button activates the "PBx" relay, through the score motor. The
"x" represents the player number (from two to four).
- If the ball is in the outhole, the "O" relay activates. The "O" relay,
through the score motor and a switch on relay "XB", will kick the ball
to the shooter lane. Note: the "O" relay will not activate unless the
bonus unit (if the game has one) is reset to zero (there is a bonus unit
zero position switch).
- When the ball re-enters the outhole after game play, the "P" relay kicks the ball
back to the shooter lane. Switches on the "XB", "ZB", "P" relays and
some score motor switches advances the player unit (if present)
and player relays ("PBx").
1975-1978 Gottlieb Start-Up Sequence.
Multi-player games with Ax/Bx relays.
- Inserting a coin or pressing the coin door start button (Gottlieb
calls this the "replay" button) activates
the "S" (start) relay. The start relay will lock on from its own
switch and a score motor switch.
- The "S" relay will start the score motor running.
- The "S" relay and the score motor increment the total play meter.
- On a 4 player game, the coin unit (next to the chime box) will
decrement four times to the home (zero) position, and then kick up
one position (to the 1 player position). Note if players 1 & 4 are
lit on the backglass, the coin unit is not stepping up from the zero to
one player position.
- The "S" relay engerizes the Ax relay through the Bx (Last Ball)
relay (sometimes), but always thru a switch on the "S" relay, "U" relay,
and score motor switch at 2C. This should energize the Ax relay.
- The "R" hold relay pulls in and stays in, this turns off power
to the Game Over relay (which stays energized when a game is finished).
- *On a 4-player game, the Player Unit in the backbox increments
until it reaches the Z1 position.
The Player Unit stops and the Z1 relay in the backbox energizes. The score motor
resets the player 1&2 score reels through the Z1 relay. When all eight score
reels are at "zero", the Z1 relay de-engerizes and a normally closed switch on Z1
(very top switch, looks un-natural) allows the player control unit to increment
to the Z2 position.
- *On a 4-player game, the Player Unit stops and the Z2 relay in the
backbox energizes. The score motor
resets the player 3&4 score reels through the Z2 relay. When all eight score
reels are at "zero", the Z2 relay de-engerizes and a normally closed switch on Z2
(very top switch, looks un-natural) allows the player control unit to increment
to the "home" position (this is the "player 1, ball 1" position).
(On a 4-player game there is a player unit switch stack for each player.
This controls which set of score reels will score in the game.)
- *On a 2-player game there are no Z1 and Z2 relays. Instead the player unit
uses two switch stacks (which would be the player3 and player4 stacks)
and the score motor to reset all the score reels, instead of the Z1/Z2 relays
and the score motor.
- Player unit is now at the "home" position ("player 1, ball 1" position).
This is the P5A and P5B switches on the player unit, which is the switch
stack closest to the backglass with only 2 switches. This causes the Ax relay
to reset and the bonus unit to reset (if the game has a bonus unit). Often
the P5A and P5B switches are dirty/mis-adjusted which will not let the
score motor stop running.
- If the ball is in the outhole, the "O" relay activates kicking the ball
to the shooter lane. Note: the "O" relay will not activate unless the
bonus unit (if the game has one) is reset to zero (there is a bonus unit
zero position switch).
- The ball passes over a trough switch as it is kicked from the outhole,
which de-energized the "first ball" relay. Now the game will score. If
this switch is closed after the "first ball" relay is de-energized, it will
advance the player unit.
Williams Start-Up Sequence.
- When the start button is pressed, the credit unit is decremented.
This is done through the credit unit zero position switch and the 2nd coin relay
(and the ball count zero position switch).
- The end of stroke (EOS) switch on the credit unit decrement coil
will energized the coin relay.
- The coin relay will trip the game over relay.
- The coin relay will energized the reset relay. The score motor will run.
- The reset relay will energized the ball count unit reset, through the score motor.
- The reset relay energizes the 2nd coin relay latch
and game over relay latch coils.
- The reset relay will energize the score reset relays, through
the score motor.
- The score reel reset relays will zero the score reels, through the
score motor. The score motor will continue to active the score reset relays
until all the score reels reach the zero position.
- The reset relay activates the bonus unit coil until the bonus unit
zero position switch is activated.
- When the bonus relay drops out, the outhole relay is energized through
a different bonus unit zero switch and score motor switch.
- The outhole relay will run the score motor. The bonus unit will step up
once. The ball will be kicked to the shooter lane.
Following these sequences step by step, you can usually generally locate
the start up sequence problem. For example, say you have a Gottlieb multi-player game.
After pressing the start button, the score motor starts turning, and
the score reels all move the zero position. But the score motor keeps
spinning and nothing more happens. Looking at the start-up
sequence, we can see this would probably be a problem with the
"SB" relay and the player unit (or maybe a dirty score reel zero
position switch, which occurs in the previous step).
3g. When Thing Still Don't Work: Reading Schematics
Reading EM schematics is an art. It takes practice. But being able to do
it well increases your chance of fixing a game completely.
I'll be using Gottlieb schematics for this example. They are the hardest
to read (in my opinion). So if you can figure out a Gottlieb EM schematic,
you can read any EM schematic!
First, before starting, note there is a BIG difference between a "schematic"
and a "wiring diagram". A wiring diagram shows how the wires run through
the game. A schematic shows how switches, relays, etc. are connected LOGICALLY to each other.
Two parts that are logically connected on a schematic may not have a wire
running directly between them! This can be confusing at times when tracing switches.
A Gottlieb schematic showing relay and coil usage.
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Relay, Control Bank, Other Coils Matrix.
First lets look at the "relays", "control bank", and "other coils used" matrix
on the left side of the Gottlieb schematic. This lists all the relays and
solenoids used in a game. It provides some other cryptic information too.
"INDEX" is the index reference. Notice the numbers down the left side of the
schematic, and the letter across the top and bottom? These are the index.
This makes it (fairly) easy to find where a particular coil or relay is
written on a schematic.
"NO." is the letter abbreviation for any coil or relay
used. Most Gottlieb relays will have a sticker on them with this letter.
This helps you find the coil or relay inside the game. This abbreviation
is also used within the schematic itself.
"COIL" is the coil number used for the relay. If you need to order a new
relay, this is its part number.
"TYPE" is the type of relay. "INTERLOCK" is a hold relay. "AG" is another
style of relay used.
"CONTACTS" tells the number and type of contact switches used on the relay.
"4A,1B,2C" means this relay has 4 normally open switches (form A), 1 normally closed
switch (form B), and 2 make/break switches (form C). The letters following the numbers
are known as "forms". Form A is normally open, Form B is normally closed,
and Form C is make/break. The number before the form is the number of
this type of switch form used in the relay.
"USE" is the verbal description of the relay.
Schematic Markings.
A Normally Open (NO) switch is two vertical parallel lines
on the schematics. A Normally Closed (NC) switch is two vertical parallel lines
with a diagonal line across them. A Make/Break switch is a NO and NC switch
next to each other with a arrow line pointing to them both. The curly pig tail
marking is a coil or relay. A short curly pig tail with a circle around it is
a light bulb. Sometimes Williams and Bally uses a circle around a dot to indicate
a score motor contact. Other weird markings are usually labeled.
Gottlieb Schematic Markings: most manufacturers use approximately
the same marking for their schematics too.
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Wire Color.
Another matrix on the EM schematic is wire color. Each manufacturer has their
own abbreviations for wire color (to keep it interesting). Check the schematics
for this chart. Notice the schematic wires have this label (though some
times you have to follow a wire back far through the schematic to its originating
point to find the color marking). Some manufacturers use letters for colors,
and some use numbers.
Gottlieb uses the "-" and "&" markings between wire colors to mean
different things. For example, "BL-WH" means a blue wire with a trace (small)
amount of white. But "BL&WH" means a blue and white mottled wire, where each wire is 50% each
color.
Bally sometimes uses numbers after their wire color abbreviation. This is the number of
times the same wire color has been previously used in the game! This keeps things
interesting.
Especially on Gottlieb games, the color red on the wires often fades to white.
This makes a white and red wire look all white! This is very common.
When a wire contacts a load (such as a lamp or a solenoid), the wire color will
change. Wires that go through connectors should maintain their color(s). The
connectors are very seldom shown on the schematics.
Also note wire colors on the schematics can be wrong. It doesn't happen a lot,
but it does happen.
Gottlieb's drawing of the Score Motor:
it's a VERY deceptive drawing. Note the "side"
view is devoid of all switches. The switches bolt
to the metal frame with all the holes, and run at
right angles to what the diagram seems to imply.
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The Schematic's Score Motor.
How Gottlieb refers to the score motor is quite interesting and confusing.
They give a diagram which shown the top and side views of the score motor,
and labels each level or section.
The top view shows each stack of switches is numbered, one to four.
Note the angled switch stack, right next to the "cutout" at postion 3 1/2.
This is a point of reference. Most
score motors have number stickers on them to avoid confusion, but
many times these sticker have fallen off.
The side view shows the level letter of each stack of switches. The level
closest to the bottom of the game is "A", and the top most is level "E".
For example:
- A = switches below the cam
- B = switches activated with pins below the cam
- C = switches activated by the cam itself
- D = switches activated with pins above the cam
- E = switches activated with TALL pins above the cam
Armed with this info, you can figure out where a schematic switch is
located on the score motor. For example, say you are looking for the
switch that is labeled "Motor 1C". This would mean you look for the
"1" stack of switches, the middle-most "C" level. If you examine
this switch stack you might see four switches! Which one is it?
This has to be determined by the wire colors, which should also
be labeled on the schematics.
A Genco schematic (1954 Two Player Basketball). Notice the numbers next to the
switches. These numbers refer to the relay or unit the switch is mounted. For
example, a switch with "23" next to it indicates this switch is on relay 23 ("home
center trip" relay). The larger number ("1515") refers to a unit. The number under
the "1515" is the actual switch number and unit layer ("1B"). In this example,
there is a top and bottom ("T" and "B") layer to the 1515 unit. So the "1515/1B"
indicates the unit, the switch, and the layer of the unit.
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3h. When Things Still Don't Work: Reading Schematics (part two) and
Fixing Game Features
This section is a continuation of the previous section entitled,
"Reading Schematics".
Often a particular game feature just won't work properly on an EM pinball.
These can be frustrating to fix, especially when the rest of the game
works perfectly. We will going through an example, and using the same
schematics that were pictures in the previous section on "Reading
Schematics".
Remember when looking at schematics, that they lay them out with some
general electrical path in mind. In Gottlieb's case, this means the
left side BLK wire goes to the right side RED-WH wire. Just
keep that in mind.
Helpful Hint: Using Feature Lamps to find Schematic Parts.
An easy way to find out what controls a playfield feature is to find
the lamp(s) associated with that feature on the schematics. Once the
lamp(s) are found, you can trace them backwards to the relay that
controls them. For example, say the "special when lit" feature is
not working on your game. Find this lamp on the schematic, and
trace the wires back to the relay that controls it. Now check and
clean the switches on that relay and your problem may be fixed.
Helpful Hint: Using Alligator Jumper Wires.
Another helpful hint is to use those alligator clip jumper wires to
bypass elements when trouble shooting. For example, if there are two
switches going to a non-working coil, use the alligator clip jumper
wires to bypass one switch. If the coil now works, this shows the
problem lies somewhere in the bypassed switch area. If there are a
number of switches, start "furthest" away, and bypass all the "in-between"
switches. If the coil works, move the jumper one switch closer to the
coil. Repeat until the coil no longer works. Using this technique the
area that has the problem is made smaller, and easier to examine and
find the problem.
Gottlieb's "Batter Up" EM Pinball Schematic: this section of the
schematic deals with the "Home Run" game feature.
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An Example.
Let's say the rollover switch on the playfield for the "Home Run" doesn't
work. The switch itself is fine; clean and adjusted properly. But what
ever it controls is not working.
Looking at the "RELAY" matrix on the schematic, we can see there is a
relay that controls the Home Run feature. It's abbreviated as "H",
and is located at index 6E. Going to this part of the schematic,
we see a relay coil labeled "H" with a WH-BL wire connecting
to it. This is the Home Run relay coil. If you follow the wire to the
right, notice it hits the "Home Run Rollover Switch", two normally open
switches. These are the playfield mounted switches. The wire then continues down and to the
right through "Motor 1C".
At this point you need to check the score motor switch 1C and clean
and adjust it. After that is done, test the feature. If it works,
you're done. If not, you need to see what other paths exist for
this feature.
Notice just to the right of coil "H", the WH-BL wire goes down to a normally
open switch labeled "H". This switch is on the H relay. Following it
further down it continues to the right and eventually hits a normally
closed switch through a WH wire labeled "Motor 2B". I would clean and adjust
the WH-BL wire switch on the H relay, and clean and adjust the WH wire switch
on the score motor at 2B.
There's yet a third path that the Home Run feature takes: through
the Vari-target. So if the feature still doesn't work, I would clean
all the contacts on the Vari-target, and the OR-WH switch that
goes to relay "U" (vari-target reset relay). After the U relay
the wire terminates thru the NC motor 2B switch, which we previously
cleaned and adjusted.
Another Example.
Here's another (trickier) example of using schematics.
This time, when pressing the start button on a Bally Nip-it,
the game would not reset properly. The "ball in play" display
on the backglass would stay at ball 3. The stepper unit
was recently rebuilt, so there were no mechanical issues.
If I manually pressed the ball count unit reset coil, the stepper
unit would reset, and the backglass would correctly state
the first ball as "ball 1".
Bally's Nip-it: Note the "Ball Count Unit Reset Solenoid", top center.
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Looking at the schematic's "Ball Count Unit Reset Solenoid",
I could see there were several other things getting reset
through the same set of switches. Note the make/break
Reset Relay switch, to the left. And just before that, was the Total
Play Meter and Coin Unit Step Up coil. And controlling them was a
switch on the Score Motor (3A), and
a switch on the Coin Relay. Going in the other direction
(to the right) effected the Player Unit only, and didn't
seem to have anything to do with the reset sequence.
I also noted that when I pressed the start button, the
Total Play meter did not advance. This ruled
out the make/break switch on the Reset Relay. Only thing
left was the score motor switch 3A, and the coil
relay switch.
I examined both switch and they were clean and adjusted
correctly. So what was causing the problem?
If I looked closely at the Ball Count Unit Reset coil, I could
see it was trying to reset when the start button was pushed.
The pulse to reset this coil just wasn't long enough
to pull the coil in and reset the stepper unit.
Going back at the coin relay switch, I used a wire with
two alligator clips and made the coin relay switch permanently
closed. Hitting the start button now allowed the Ball Count Unit
Reset coil enough time to reset properly!
Since the coin relay switch was on the Coin Relay, what
ever was controlling the Coin Relay wasn't keeping this
relay energized long enough. Back to the schematics to
look at what controls the Coin Relay!
Bally's Nip-it: Note the "Coin Relay", upper left corner.
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The Coin Relay is controlled by two parallel switches: one
on the Coin Relay itself, and a switch on the Credit Relay.
Then these go to the score motor switches 8F SCM and 10F SCM.
First I looked at the two score motor switches (8F & 10F SCM). These were
clean and adjusted properly. Next I checked the
switch on the Coin Relay itself. This was a "hold" switch,
and was clean and adjusted. That only left the Credit Relay
switch. Hitting the start button while watching this
switch, I could see the switch arcing. This was the problem!
The switch was dirty enough and mis-adjusted enough to
not make good contact. Adjusting and cleaning this switch
fixed the problem.
3i. When Things Still Don't Work: Other Problems/Stories
Here's some other problems I've come across that may be interesting
to a beginner EM fixer.
- Problem: On a Bally EM, the general illumination (GI) dims during
game play.
Solution: Check the fuse holders. Particularly on Bally games, the
fuse holders can lose their tension, causing the fuse to be loose. This
can cause dim GI. The only solution on Bally's is usually to replace the fuse holder.
Most other brands you can re-tension the fuse holder. In a pinch, you can use
an aligator clip over the fuse and fuse holder saddles to keep the fuse in place,
and provide proper tension and conductivity to the fuse holder.
- Problem: On a Gottlieb EM, the Pop Bumber relay is stuck on. This in turn
causes the score reel to be stuck on.
Solution: To understand what was wrong, we have to know how the pop
bumper works. When the ball on the playfield hits the pop
bumper, it closes a switch which in turn, energizes the pop bumper relay.
Then the relay does the following by closing it's normally open switches:
- Closes a switch which keeps the pop bumper relay energized.
- Energizes the associated score relay (to score the points).
- Energizes the 00-90 unit (to advance the match and ring
a bell), or activates just the bell solenoid.
- Energizes the pop bumper coil itself to kick the ball.
When the pop bumper coil itself is energized, the mechanism pulls
in the coil plunger on the bumper. At the end of stroke (EOS)
of the plunger, there is a normally closed EOS switch. When this
switch opens, it interrupts the power to the pop bumper relay,
which releases the relay.
The solution is to clean and check two switches. First, clean
and check the pop bumper coil EOS switch. If this fails, the
pop bumper relay will forever stay energized because the
power to it never gets interrupted. Second, there is
a large set of contacts on the pop bumper relay, which controls
power to the pop bumper coil. It turns out this contact was
dirty and gapped to large. Hence the pop bumper relay would pull
in, but not energize the pop bumper coil itself. Since the pop bumper
coil never got energized, it never pulled the plunger in and
never opened the EOS switch. Without opening the EOS switch,
the power was never interrupted to the pop bumper relay.
Cleaning and adjusting this switch fixed the problem.
- Problem: On a Gottlieb EM, when a coil is energized, the
lights dim on the game.
Solution: When a coil fires (such as the pop bumpers), this
significant power drain can dim the playfield lights
slightly. If this happens more than "a little", the cause could be
this: the Tilt relay!
When a game is tilted, the tilt relay pulls in and turns off the
power to the playfield lights and solenoids. If the tilt switches do not
have good contact or good switch tension, playing the game
can cause the tilt switches to open very slightly as the game vibrates.
This can cause the game's lights to dim
when a pop bumper is activated during play.
To fix this, make sure all the switches on the tilt relay are clean,
and making good contact. Also make sure the switche blades have ample spring
tension, keeping their switch contacts tight when the relay is not energized.
- On my Williams Magic City, the ball wouldn't kick out of the outhole strongly.
It would usually just roll halfway up, then roll back
and be kicked again.
Solution: What I thought was a problem with
the outhole kicker solenoid turned out instead to be a misadjusted switch on the
score motor. This mis-adjusted score motor switch caused the solenoid to be activated
not long enough to give the ball a good kick.
3j. Gottlieb Coin Doors and Flipper Buttons: the Shocking Truth
You have your favorite Gottlieb game up and running (well almost). You're
proud of yourself. So you decide to play a game. But you touch the
start button on the coin door and ZAP! You get a nice friendly shock!
The fish paper that touches the start
(replay) button on this game has shifted
over (and may be torn). This allows the
metal start button to make direct contact
with the switch blades. SHOCKER!
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The reason this happens is because the metal start (replay) button is connected
directly to the start relay. This relay operated on 115 volts, not 25 volts,
like most other relays and coils. Since the start button is metal, Gottlieb puts a
fish paper
insulator between the button and the switch contacts. This
prevents a shock. But with time the fish paper wears, tears, or shifts to the side.
This allows the metal start button to touch the switch contacts directly. When
you press the button, you become electricity's easiest path to ground. Hence
you get a shock.
Another way to get a shock is from the coin door coin switches. Again, at least
one of these switches are connected directly to the start relay. If the fish
paper that insulates these gets worn, torn or shifts to the side, again you'll
get a shock.
Notice the fish paper on this coin door coin switch is ABOVE the
lever that trips the switch. This could cause a coin door shock. The
fish paper should be between the trip lever and the contact blade,
insulating the contact blade from the trip wire (which is metal and
touches the metal coin door).
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To make sure you don't get a shock, it's a good idea to replace the
fish paper on the start button, and to check the fish paper on the
coin switches.
Install a new power cord: cut the old power cord out of the game.
Wire a new one in (see black wires), and attach the green ground
wire to the metal frame of the transformer. Shown here is the brown
line cord which goes to a power switch at the front of the game.
When done, use nylon wire ties to attach the new power cord to the
existing wiring harness (like the old one was attached). The "hot"
(black) wire of the new power cord should route to the game's
power switch. It won't mess anything up if it's backwards, but
for safety reasons it's better if black goes to the power switch.
If there is a rib on the old power cord's insulation, this is the hot line.
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Installing a New Power Cord.
I always replace the power cord on any EM game I fix up.
The originals are usually worn, or the insulation is cracking.
You can replace the original two prong cord with another two prong power
cord - just go to the local Dollar store and buy a 15 foot two prong extension
cord for $2. Cut off the recepticle end of the cord, and you have a new power cord
for a nice low price.
Note the original power cord should have one line with a "rib" in the rubber
insulator. This is the black or "hot" line. If possible wire the new
power cord's "ribbed" line (which connects to the larger power prong)
to the same lug as the original. This should be the line that
connects to the game's power switch (if the game has one).
For better safety, it's not a bad idea to replace the game's
original two prong power cord with a grounded three prong cord. Again,
the same technique can be used - buy an inexpensive three prong 15 foot extension
cord at the Dollar store and cut off the recepticle end. Also again
the new power cord should have a "ribbed" insulator wire which
connects to the larger of the two power prongs. This is the "hot"
(black) wire. Again try and connect this the same power lug as
the old ribbed power cord line (the line going to the power switch).
The green ground wire should connect to the transformer's metal frame bolt.
Optionally, additional grounds can then be run from the transformer's metal frame
to other metal objects (like the lockdown bar and metal side rails and metal leg plates).
Flipper Button Shocks.
Just like the coin door button, flipper buttons can often give a nice
shock too. This usually happens if touching both flipper buttons. Gottlieb
used metal flipper buttons from 1960 (wedgehead cabinets)
all the way into the 1970s, so this problem is fairly common. Again just
like the coin door replay button, there is fish paper which insulates the
the metal activator from the flipper switches (which are 30 volts). If
the fish paper wears or breaks, the player can get a shock from the
flipper buttons. Replace the fish paper (or use electrical tape) and
the problem should go away.
Grounding the Game.
Another good idea is to ground your game. Installing a NEW three prong power
cord and plug is a good idea. The original power cord is probably 25+
years old. Remember the black power cord line is "hot", and should run
to the game's power switch. On the old power cord often there is a "rib" on the wire
which denotes the black (hot) power line.
Run the power cord's ground wire to the metal frame of the power transformer.
Then run a wire from the transformer's frame to the back end of the metal side rails.
Run another wire from the front end of the side rail to the coin door and lock down bar.
Lastly, run a wire from the coin door to the other side rail. While you're at it,
it may not be a bad idea to add a power switch to your game too (as discussed
previously in the Typically What's Wrong section).
3k. Coils Explained:
Coil Power and Size, Testing Coils, Low Resistance Coils, Big Blue Sparks, Rewinding Coils, Coil Equivalents.
Coil Voltage.
Most EM game makers used 24 to 30 volts AC for coil voltage.
One exception was Bally during the 1970s (50 volts), and Williams.
Williams used 50 volts AC for coil voltage
until 1963, when Williams changed to 24 volts AC. The reason?
Fifty volts is potentially lethal, so Williams felt it
was better to use a lower voltage. Also using a lower
voltage meant using less copper wire for coils, so there was
a cost savings too. But the down side to a lower coil voltage is
there's less ability to really tune coils to the exact power
needed (this is why Williams went back to 50 volts for coil
voltage in the 1980s). Also 50 volt games tend to be a bit
more 'peppy'.
Coil ohms vary dramatically between 25 and 50 volt games.
For example, Gottlieb used 25 volts and their pop bumper
coil ohms are around 3 ohms. Bally used 50 volts and their
pop bumper coil ohms are around 10 ohms. Even though both
coils look the same (same frame size), if you put a Gottlieb
pop bumper coil in a Bally game it would be WAY too powerful.
Likewise a Bally pop bumper coil in a Gottlieb game would be
way under-powered.
As a basic rule, increasing the coil wire gauge by two
sizes will double the coil resistance per foot (making
the coil less powerful). So if a 25 volt coil uses
20 gauge wire for a pop bumper, going to 22 gauge would
be about right for a 50 volt application (given the same
number of coil turns).
Coils Power Explained.
A coil's strength is basically determined by
three things: the voltage to the coil,
the number of turns of wire, and the gauge (thickness)
of the wire. Since the voltage usually can not be changed in a game
(other than putting the game on "high tap"),
only the number of turns and/or wire gauge can be changed.
Here's what to remember:
- The higher the voltage feed to the coil, the more powerful it will be.
- The lower the resistance of a coil, the more powerful it will be.*
- The less turns of wire, the lower the resistance, and the more powerful
the coil.*
- The thicker the gauge of the wire, the less resistance, and the more
powerful the coil.*
- * If coil resistance is too low (about 2 ohms or less), a coil stops having
magnetic strength and starts becoming a dead short.
The "less turns of wire, the more powerful it will be" rule is only
good up to a point. That is, if the resistance of a coil goes below
about 2.0 ohms, it becomes essentially a dead short. This means the
coil will not work correctly, and may blow fuses too. Also a coil
with too little wire (or shorted wire) can have an inadequate magnetic field.
With this in mind, if at least one lug of the coil can be desoldered from its
attaching wire, the coil's resistance can be measured using a DMM
(Digital Multi-Meter). If the coil is measured with the DMM
"in circuit", an accurate reading may not be seen unless one lug of the coil
is freed from its connecting wire. This isn't the rule, it just depends on
the coil being tested. Remember electricity takes the path of least resistance.
So if the coil being test is a pop bumper coil (a low resistance coil), there
should be no problem testing it in-circuit. If the coil is a hold relay (higher
resistance), it may not test well in-circuit because there are other lower resistance
coils in that circuit.
Coils range in resistance from about 2.0 ohms up to 150 ohms
(the lowest resistance coil I have ever encountered is on Williams'
1965 Mini Golf, which uses a 21-475, 1.8 ohm coil, but this is the
exception not the rule - also the Gottlieb A-5141 flipper
coils have 1.7 ohm resistance on the power side). The higher
the resistance, the less powerful the coil will be. But on the other
hand, high resistance coils can stay energized for a long time without
getting hot and burning! That's why "hold" relays, which stay energized
for periods of time, use high resistance coils (usually 30 ohms or higher).
Remember flipper coils are actually two coils in one package. There is
a low resistance (usually 3 ohms or so), high power initial flip coil.
And there is a high resistance (usually around 125 ohms),
low power "hold" coil. The high power side is activated
initially, to kick the ball hard. The hold coil is then placed in
series with the power coil (using the now open flipper EOS switch)
to allow the player to hold the flipper button in, without burning the coil.
Coil Frame Size.
The nylon frame is what the coil wire is wound around.
As a general rule, Gottlieb and Bally used a 1 1/2" coil frame
(with a 1 5/8" long coil sleeve). Williams used 1 5/8" coil frame
(with a 1 3/4" coil sleeve). This is good to know if you are
trying to use cross a coil from a different manufacturer into
a particular game. That is, Williams coils won't physically fit well
in Gottlieb or Bally games, and vice versa.
The Big Blue Spark.
If the playfield is raised on an EM pinball and the lights are out,
you can see a lot of "blue sparks" coming from the switches. This
is normal to some degree. But none of the blue sparks should be "huge".
The largest of the blue sparks can be seen at the flipper coil's
EOS switch. No other switch in an EM game should have a blue
spark as large as the flipper EOS switch.
Remember the flipper coil is actually two coils in one
package - a high current, high power, low resistance coil. And a
low current, low power, high resistance coil. The EOS switch spark
is the high current, high power part of the coil collapsing, and
causing the blue spark. This happens because the flipper coil's
high power side is often very low ohms (around 2 ohms often).
And the flipper EOS switch is what turns off the high power side
of the flipper coil.
So Why the Big Blue Spark?
The only reason a switch gives a big blue spark is if something is
consuming masses of current. And the only way that happens
is if there is a low ohm coil in the circuit. Low ohm coils are nearly a
dead short (very low resistance), hence they consume lots of current.
The blue spark is caused by EMF - Electro Motive Force.
As any energized coil collapses,
it back-spikes *twice* the game's voltage back through the switches.
That means if a coil is energized at 25 volts, it will back-spike
50 volts. And the lower the coil's resistance, the more EMF and
the larger the back spike. Interestingly this is supressed on Solidstate games
with a diode on a coil (the back spike of EMF can ruin a CPU board).
But since EM games are AC power and there's no CPU, manufacturers don't use diodes.
Some switches in a game are prone to burning contacts due to EMF.
The two big culprits are the flipper EOS switches and the score
motor home switch. In the case of flipper EOS switches, as the
high power part of the flipper coil collapses due to the EOS
switch opening, it causes a large blue spark from the EMF. Again the size
of this spark is due to the low-ohm nature of the high powered
side of the flipper coil.
On the score motor home switch the
large blue spark is caused when the score motor's home switch
(the switch on the score motor that keeps the motor running through
a half or third of a revolution)
*opens*, turning the motor *off*. Interestingly, if you look at the home switch
when it closes the spark is really small or non-existant. But when the
switch opens, turning off the score motor, the blue spark is huge!
Again this is due to the score motor's coil EMF collapsing and back-flowing
twice the score motor voltage through the home switch. And if you measure
the resistance of the score motor it is often around 2 ohms, hence
the EMF when the motor turns off will create the big blue spark.
A big blue spark can also happen on stepper units.
Remember a stepper unit is merely a big stack of
switches. As the fingers move from stepper pad to stepper pad,
a "switch" opens as the stepper fingers move off a copper pad.
If a stepper unit's bakelite pad is burning,
there is most likely a low-ohm coil in that circuit causing
the big blue spark and burning the bakelite copper pad. This
happens as the stepper's fingers move *off* the burnt pad
(and a low-ohm coil collapses causing back flowing EMF to burn the pad
and cause a big blue spark).
How do Coils go Bad?
So how do coils go 'bad'? If they get hot, the wire's enamel painted insulation
will burn, allowing adjacent turns of the wire to short against each
other. This can greatly reduce the resistance of the coil, making it
unusable. Shorted coil windings (even if the total resistance is not
less than 2 ohms) also messes up the magnetic field of the coil too.
I like to keep a list of common coil numbers and their resistance.
This way I can check a questionable coil with my ohm meter,
compare the coil's ohms it to my list, and determine if the coil
is good or bad. Or if the coil is not on my list, if the game uses
the same coil else where, I can compare the two coils' resistance.
Here's a coil that is "cooked". Notice the broken wire in the windings. This coil
will measure "open" on the DMM. Note not all bad coils will be this obvious. The
best way to identify a bad coil is to test it with a DMM set to resistance.
Anything under 2 ohms is a bad coil.
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Testing Game Coils to Prevent Blown Fuses.
A very good idea for any unknown game just purchased is to check all
the coils' resistance. If the game is new to you, and you have not
powered it on, a quick check of coil resistance will tell you a lot
about your new game. This takes about one minute and can save you
hours of repair and diagnosing work. It can also save you countless fuses!
Any coil that has locked on will heat up and have a lower
total resistance. This happens because the painted enamel insulation
on the coil's wire burns, causing the windings to short against
each other. This will lower the coil's resistance, causing the coil
to get even hotter. Within a minute or so the coil becomes a dead short,
and usually blows a fuse. If the fuse is replaced, it will just blown
again and again until the low resistance coil is replaced.
In order to check coil resistance, put your DMM on its lowest resistance
setting. Then put the DMM's red and black leads on each coil's lugs.
The coils can usually be check right in the game without having to disconnect any wires.
A resistance of 2 ohms or greater should be seen. Anything less than 2
ohms, and the coil is bad! Replace the coil with a new one.
Coil Numbers.
Coils often have the numbers AE-22-1200-1 or something similar. Here's
what this means:
- AE = The coil form size (the size of the coil's frame).
- 22 = The wire guage. The higher the number, the thinner the wire (and
more resistive, and less powerful the coil). The lower the number, the
thicker the wire (and less resistive, and more powerful the coil).
- 1200 = Number of turns or wraps around of the wire around the coil.
The less turns, the less resistance and stronger the coil.
- -1 (optional) = This can denote the style of lugs on the coil, or the
type of coil sleeve used in the coil for a particular application.
Some manufactures (mainly Gottlieb), didn't use the the above coil
numbering system. Instead they just have a numbering system
that don't relate to the coil's wiring (like A-5141 for their flipper coils).
In this case, some people have documented the wire gauge, turns, and resistance
of these coils.
EM Flipper coils have a slightly different numbering system, since
they are actually two coils in one package. These usually have a coil
size letter, followed by two pairs of numbers.
The broken wire was reattached on this coil and checked with the
DMM. Note the resistance is only 1.0 ohms! This coil is *bad* and
must be replaced.
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Broken Coils.
Coils can often have the wire winding break from the solder lug.
This is often an easy fix. Just unwind a single "wrap" from of the
wire (if possible), sand the wire clean to remove the painted
enamel insulation, and then resolder the wound wire to the lug.
Then test the coil with a DMM to make sure it is not open.
A Low Resistance Coil Problem.
Problem: "The ball release coil on my Gottlieb 1965 Central Park doesn't
de-energize, and I see a BIG spark from the switch contacts on the
ball release coil and on the one point relay."
The ball release coil is a hold coil. It stays energized until the
first ball scores a point. There is a normally closed switch on the one point
relay. When a point is scored, this switch opens, and de-energizes the ball
release coil.
The key here is the "big spark" on the switches. This signifies
that the coil has a resistance that is too low. This happens often on
hold coils, which stay energized for a long time. These coils get hot,
and burn their insulation from the internal wires with time.
This causes an internal coil short, and lowers
the coil's resistance. This in turn causes more heat, and
more burning, until the coil is a near short (less than 3 ohms). Any hold coil should
have a resistance of 12 ohms to 200 ohms. Less than 10 ohms, and
the coil will get hot quickly and burn if energized for even short
periods of time.
When you get a "big spark" between switches, this mean electricity
is arcing between the switch points. This doesn't allow a normally closed switch
to really open, and the hold coil never de-energizes. Since the ball
release coil's resistance was so low, this made the release switch arc,
and never allowed the switch to open (and de-energize the coil).
After the ball release coil was replaced, the excessive switch arcing stopped,
and the coil worked as it should (it de-energized when the one point
relay was activated).
Rewinding a Coil.
In some situations you may be stuck with a burnt up coil, and perhaps
a new one can not be found or bought. This can happen especially
on 1950s EM arcade games and shuffle alleys that use coils
that are a lot harder to find. Perhaps the old coil wire is burned,
but the "frame" (the aluminum or brass sleeve and surrounding
fiber parts) are still usable. If this is the case you can re-wind
the old coil with new wire.
The original brass coil sleeve for a 1954 United Shuffle alley
is shown below. The plunger wore right thru the brass and into the
wire, causing a short in the coil. With the coil's sudden low resistance,
the coil wire burned. Here I have removed the old wire from the
sleeve, and slide off the old fiber frame pieces. I then transplanted
the fiber pieces to a new aluminum coil sleeve, and rewound the coil.
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Assuming the old coil's frame is usable (this obviously won't
work if the coil frame or sleeve is melted nylon!), remove all the old
burnt wire from the coil. Usually this is just a matter of
unwinding the burnt wire. Only takes a moment to do this.
With the wire remove examine the coil sleeve. If there are
no holes worn through, it can be reused.
Go to the game's schematics and find the coil. Usually there
is a key specifying the wire gauge and number of turns for
the coil (exception is Gottlieb, see chart below). In the case
of the shown United shuffle alley, the coil was marked on the
schematics as 24-965 (24 gauge wire, 965 turns). Now it's
just a matter of finding another donor coil with the same or
near specs. Again in my case I used a Williams bumper coil
(24-900). Not quite as many turns, but same gauge wire.
The frame size was smaller on the Williams donor coil, so
really it would have been better to get a 24-1100 coil (which
would more closely match the 24-965), but in my case I only had
the 24-900 coil. This isn't rocket science, so a close match
will work fine.
Another technique to finding a good donor coil is to match
resistance. But the problem is you need to know the resistance
of the original burnt coil. Perhaps that same coil number is used elsewhere
in the game and is still good. Check its resistance with a digital
multimeter. Now find a donor coil with the same (or close) wire gauge and
a close resistance.
After the donor coil is choosen, it's just a matter of turning the
wire off the donor coil onto the empty coil frame. This is easy to
do using a drill (see picture below). It is a two person operation though,
as someone has to hold the donor coil on a screwdriver shaft with
some slight tension, while another person runs the drill with the
accepting coil frame. Just attach the wire to one lug of the empty
coil frame, run the drill slowly and unwind the wire from the donor
coil onto the empty coil frame. Only takes about 5 minutes to do
an entire coil.
Winding the wire off the donor coil and onto the new
coil frame using a drill. Go slow, but an entire coil can
be rewound in about 5 minutes. Shown below is the empty
donor coil frame (on the screwdriver), and the freshly wound coil
(mounted on a bolt going into the drill chuck).
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Finally sand the ends of the newly transplanted wires (to
remove the painted enamel insulation), and wrap/solder the wire
to the lugs of the coil frame. Your newly rewind coil is
now ready for use.
Gottlieb Coil Usages and Coil Equivalents.
This is not a complete list, but it does give some substitutes for
Gottlieb coils. Use CTRL-F to easily find the coil number desired.
Please keep in mind a few things. For example, new coils are wound on
a nylon base where older coils may be wound on a fiber base. New coils
always use a nylon sleeve, where old coils may use a brass sleeve.
Also some new relay coils may have the coil lugs on the opposite end
of the coil (which is fine, just mounts slightly different).
As for part numbers, Gottlieb started all part numbers with
A-1 in 1946. The "A" refers to the size of the paper on which
the original mechanical drawing for the coil/relay/part was drawn.
This way all the "A" sized paper went into the "A" sized filing
cabinet. There are some exceptions to this rule, but for the
most part that's what Gottlieb did (note "A" does *not* mean "assembly).
Gottlieb ended in 1996 with part numbers in the 33,000 range.
Based on this, you can get a general idea of when a part was
implemented into production based on the part number.
| Coil Numbers |
Type |
Ohms |
Usage |
| A-1119 |
relay |
2.1 |
in series usage with another relay |
| R20-1, A-9746 |
relay |
1.5 |
in series usage with another relay |
| R20-2, A-7688, A-9733, A-487 |
relay |
2.5 |
Interlock, in series usage with another relay |
| R20-3, A-9742, A-7834, A-1084 |
relay |
10 |
Tilt |
| R20-4, A-9735, A-7676, A-7835, A-5662, A-3891, A-489, |
relay |
15 |
most common relay used for general use |
| R20-5, A-9736, A-7677 |
relay |
25 |
30v hold, Alt, Coin Lockout |
| R20-6, A-5294, A-3890 |
relay |
~385 |
120 volt R (reset) & S (start) relays |
| A-9740, A-6698, A-7846 |
relay |
22 |
Credit Hold, pop relay, vari-target |
| A-9738, A-7836, A-3498 |
relay |
32 |
110v hold, 30v hold |
| A-6821, A-5457 |
relay |
|
general |
| A-5141, A-1657, A-1546 |
solenoid |
1.7, 6 |
Flipper |
| A-5193, A-3104 |
solenoid |
|
reel drive |
| A-5195, A-1943, A-622, A-12092 |
solenoid |
12 |
Chime, Ball release |
| A-5196, A-1318, A-9479, A-15555 |
solenoid |
|
Bank step-up, Bank reset |
| A-9479, A-5196, A-1318, A-15555 |
solenoid |
|
bank reset |
| A20-2, A-17875 (use high power winding) |
solenoid |
|
Counter |
| A20-4, A-5197, A-7800, A-1640 |
solenoid |
|
Bank reset, Bank SU, Roto, turret shooter |
| A20-6, A-5143, A-5194, A-940, A-1448, A-3537, A-2563 |
solenoid |
3.6 |
Reset, Kicker, Bell, Knocker |
| A20-8, A-4893, A-939, A-2435 |
solenoid |
|
Bell, Pops, Hole eject |
| Gottlieb Coil |
Wire Gauge/Turns |
Ohms |
Wrapper Color |
Usage |
| A-5141 |
? |
1.7, 6 |
Green |
Flipper (EM) |
| A-5141 ydot |
? |
1.0, 6 |
Green w/ yellow dot |
Flipper High Power EM |
| A-1496 |
23-635 |
2.95 |
Yellow |
Pop Bumpers, Slings |
| A-4893 |
22-535 |
2.1 |
Red |
Up kicker, pop bumpers |
| A-5143 |
? |
3.6 |
Black |
1960s Bell coil |
| A-5194 |
24-780 |
4.5 |
Blue |
Up kicker, Pop Bumpers, Slings |
| A-5195 |
26-1305 |
11.6 |
White |
Knocker, Outhole |
| A-16570 |
27-1450 |
15.5 |
Green |
Ball release |
| A-17875 |
24-560/31-1100 |
2.8/40 |
Yellow |
Flippers |
| A-17891 |
22-850 |
3/35 |
Red |
5 bank reset |
| A-18102 |
24-1430 |
9.0 |
Orange |
3 bank reset (uses 2) |
| A-18318 |
24-1130 |
6.7 |
Orange |
4 bank reset |
| A-19300 |
25-1075 |
7.8 |
Orange |
Ball kicker |
| A-20095 |
22-450/31-900 |
1.55/35.5 |
Red |
Super flipper |
| A-21741 |
23-575 |
2.5 |
Orange |
Up kicker |
| A-16890 |
35-4000 |
225 |
Orange |
Q/T relays |
| A-20558 |
34-3400 |
156 |
White |
Gate relay |
| A-18642 |
33-1590 |
58 |
White |
Memory relay |
| Gottlieb Coil | Wire Gauge/Turns | Ohms | Wrapper Color | Usage |
|---|
| A-1496 | 23-635 | 2.95 | Yellow | General Purpose |
| A-4893 | 22-535 | 2.1 | Red | General Purpose |
| A-5143 | ? | 3.6 | Black | Bell coil |
| A-5194 | 24-780 | 4.5 | Blue | General Purpose |
| A-5195 | 26-1305 | 12.3 | White | General Purpose |
| A-16570 | 27-1450 | 15.5 | Green | General Purpose |
| A-16890 | 35-4000 | 231 | Orange | General Purpose/Relay |
| A-17876 | 28-1750 | 24 | Tan | General Purpose |
| A-17891 | 22-850 | 3.35 | White | 5 Target Reset |
| A-18102 | 24-1430 | 9 | Red | 3/7(x2) Target Reset |
| A-18318 | 24-1130 | 6.7 | Orange | 4 Target Reset |
| A-18642 | 33-1590 | 58 | White | Target Trip/Relay |
| A-19300 | 25-1075 | 7.8 | Orange | General Purpose |
| A-19508 | 32-1250 | 35 | Yellow | Target Trip/Relay |
| A-20558 | 34-3400 | 156 | White | Relay |
| A-21741 | 23-575 | 2.5 | Orange | VUK |
| A-26450 | 29-2400 | 42 | Pink | General Purpose |
| A-26451 | 30-3000 | 65.8 | Blue | General Purpose |
| A-26452 | 35-2450 | 137 | Pink | Target Trip/Relay |
| A-26926 | 27-2650 | 32.8 | Blue | 3 Target Reset |
| A-27926 | 29-3475 | 64.7 | Blue | General Purpose |
| A-30297 | 30-2750 | 66.5 | Blue | General Purpose |
| A-17875 | 24-560, 31-1100 | 2.8, 40 | Yellow | Flipper |
| A-20095 | 22-450, 31-900 | 1.55, 35.5 | Red | Super Flipper |
| A-24161 | 23-520, 31-1050 | 2.2, 40 | Blue S | small Flipper |
| A-25959 | 22-445, 30-1225 | 3.85, 202 | Red | Flipper (new) |
| A-26646 | 25-725, 33-3470 | 4.57, 201 | Blue | Flipper (new) |
| A-27642 | 27-950, 33-3700 | 9.1, 203 | Yellow | Flipper (new) |
| A-27643 | 28-960, 33-4700 | 11.59, 269 | White | Flipper (old) |
| A-28740 | 26-790, 33-3600 | 6.02, 207 | Tan | Flipper (new) |
| A-29876 | 23-560, 33-3325 | 2.36, 202 | Orange | Flipper (new) |
| A-30468 | 28-960, 33-4700 | 11.59, 269 | White | Flipper (Old) |
| A-31272 | 30-2200, 34-3575 | 44.8, 268 | Blue | Flipper |
3L. Pop Bumpers.
The Pop Bumper is one of the most common pinball features, as most games
from WW2 to present have at least one pop bumper.
When the ball hits the "skirt" it pushes down on the skirt. There
is a stem that extends down from the skirt and into the center of a concave tip
on a leaf switch. Pushing down on one side of the skirt causes the stem to push down on the
switch. The switch then energizes a pop bumper relay. The relay in turn usually
does at least two things: energizes the pop bumper itself, and activates
the one or ten or 100 point relay to score points (and ring a bell).
If a pop bumper locks on (stays energized) after a ball hits it,
usually the pop bumper relay is locked
on also. The key to fixing this is often the end-of-stroke switch
(aka scoring switch) on the pop bumper
mechanism. On Gottlieb games, this switch opens as the pop bumper
fully energizes. When this switch
opens, the power circuit to the pop bumper relay is broken, de-energizing the relay.
This in turn de-energizes the pop bumper itself (and the scoring reel and bell).
If this pop bumper end of stroke switch is broken or missing, usually the pop
bumper relay will stay energized once the ball hits a pop bumper skirt.
Pop bumper diagrams from Bally.
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Rebuilding EM Pinball Pop Bumpers
Having quick and perky pop bumpers make any game a lot more fun.
And chances are your game needs it anyway. Tell tale signs would
include chipped bumper skirts (the bumper skirt is the plastic part the
ball contacts on the bumper that tells the bumper to "pop") and lots
of dirt.
This procedure also applies to stationary bumpers. These
bumpers look like pop bumpers, but don't "pop". The have no
coil or rod & ring assembly.
The top of a pop bumper with the cap removed. Note
the two screws that hold the bumper body to the playfield.
Also note the wedge style light socket. This will be
replaced with a bayonet (#47) style socket. The top of
the metal ring of the rod & ring assembly is also visible.
From the top of the playfield,
remove the bumper caps. Usually two small screws holds it in
place (though some are press fit). Then remove the light bulb.
You will see two screws that hold the bumper body to the
playfield, next to the light socket. Remove these two screws.
Bottom of the playfield: This picture shows the lamp
socket leads and the rod nuts, and plunger/coil assembly.
From the bottom of the playfield you need to remove the
two locknuts from the rod & ring assembly.
Then unsolder the two light socket
leads underneath the playfield.
On some games (including this one), there are staples that secure these leads,
which you will have to remove. Now the bumper body and rod
and ring can be removed from the top of the playfield.
Also check the bakelite and metal armature links that slide inside
the coil plunger, which the rod and ring assembly bolt to.
These often crack or break and need replacement. The steel link
breaks the most often. The older Gottlieb version is no longer available, but you
can replace them with new Williams steel armiture links,
part number 01-5492. I do NOT recommend the Williams part
though. They are not hardened steel (like the Gottlieb part), and
often break. You can get a new style Gottlieb metal armature that
is hardened.
It is slightly bigger though. So you either have to
grind it smaller, or modify your pop bumper bracket (see pictures below).
Left: Modified Gottlieb pop bumper brackets
to accomadate the newer (bigger) Gottleib
metal armature plate. Note the sides are
indented with a grinder.
Right: The top of this picture is a new
Gottlieb metal armiture link. These are hardened
steel, and will not break. Below it is the cheap
Williams metal armiture link that is so soft, I can
bend it with my fingers!
Note when re-assemblying the armature plates, the bakelite
spacer mounts closest to the rod & ring nuts, and the steel
link contacts the metal bracket.
Inspect the Rod and Ring.
It is very important you inspect the rod and ring assembly
for defects. If the rods are loose, replace the rod and ring
assembly. If the threaded ends are not square to the rod,
this is also cause for replacing the rod and ring.
Tighten or Re-peen the coil stop.
The coil stop on the pop bumper bracket should be tightened
or re-peened (if it's a riveted coil stop).
Check the pop bumper spring.
The spring that goes over the pop bumper plunger
is probably very tired. You should either replace
this spring, or re-stretch it to the length of
the pop bumper coil.
Install a New pop bumper lamp socket.
Don't even attempt to re-use the old lamp socket. Buy a new
socket. The old socket is probably
corroded anyway, and should be replaced.
After removing the two screws inside the bumper body (and
disconnecting the rod and ring and bumper lamp socket from under the playfield),
lift the bumper body off the playfield. Note
all the dirt and crude that lives under the bumper body!
If you have clear plastic trim platter protectors, there will be lots
more crud under those. Now is a good time to clean the playfield under
the bumpers with Novus2. When finished with the Novus2, wax this
area.
Left: Removing the pop bumper coil and replacing the
coil sleeve.
Right: Note the metal armature link touches the metal
bracket. Also note the two links' openings face
each other, mounting from opposite sides.
Lifting the pop bumper off the playfield.
Note the chipped bumper skirt.
Trim Platters.
Gottlieb games after 1965 have round mylar (clear plastic film) "trim
platters" that protect the pop bumper area.
Remove the mylar and clean the glue off the playfield with Goo Gone.
Clean the playfield with Novus#2. At this point you can replace or add
the clear trim platters, but I wouldn't unless there's excessive wear.
Note trim platters come two ways: adhesive backed, and non-adhesive.
I personally like the adhesive backed units. They don't shift or move, and
dirt doesn't get under them. Also, the non-adhesive trim platters can actually contribute
to pop bumper wear. As the ball skates across the platter, they shift slightly
on the playfield. The shifting of the platter can cause wear, hence defeating
their purpose.
The parts of a pop bumper. The picture on the left was take before cleaning.
The picture on the right was take after cleaning the body, replacing the skirt,
and polishing the ring. Use these pictures for reference when re-assembling.
Note the orientation of the bumper base in these photos; the two lamp lead holes
have extents. These extents do not line up on top of the bumper body's extents.
Clean the bumper body with Novus#2. Replace if cracked
or damaged (bumper bodies aren't expensive). Sometimes the
bumper base will break off inside the bumper body when you
are separating the parts. Replace as needed.
Replace the bumper skirt. They are only 70 cents brand new,
and look lots better, even if the old ones aren't damaged.
Also install a new light socket for the
pop bumper. If you game had 555 wedge type bulbs (as this game does), get #47 bayonet
style sockets. The bayonet #47 light sockets sit lower in the bumper
body. This prevents the bulbs from burning the back side of the
bumper caps.
Fixing Pop Bumper Playfield Wear.
If you have excessive playfield wear around the pop bumpers,
there is an easy fix. Match the playfield paint and apply it
to the bottom side of a new (non-adhesive backed) trim platter. Then when the trim platter
is installed, it covers the playfield wear with the same color as
the playfield, shown through the clear mylar. A very clean
fix without altering the playfield itself.
Left: Ready to add a new light bulb.
Right: The finished product.
Re-assemble from the top of the playfield. If your replacement
bumper skirt has a small "tit", it goes
towards the top of the playfield (it stops the ball from balancing
on the top edge of the skirt). Secure the
bumper body to the playfield with its two screws. Then
from underneath the playfield, put the locknuts back on the rod & ring
assembly. Do NOT over-tighten the rod and ring locknuts, or you
will break the rod! Re-solder the light
socket.
Clean the Spoon Switch.
If you did install new bumper skirts, the bumper switch that the
new bumper skirt activates will need re-adjusted. This switch is
called the "spoon" switch (because the bumper skirt's "penis"
rides inside its spoon-like receptical).
But before you do that, remove that entire spoon switch assembly from the game.
Note the crud that lives inside the "spoon". This accumulates from
(wrongly) lubricating the spoon. Clean the crud out with alcohol and
leave this DRY (though some people say to lub the spoon with
white grease, I disagree, as it will only attract dirt).
Polish the surface with 1000 grit sandpaper (or higher grit).
Re-install and adjust the bumper skirt activated spoon switch.
Note if there is too much tension on the skirt's "penis" from the
spoon switch, this will cause the "penis" not to center. There should
be just a bit of tension, and no more. Also make sure the penis
doesn't ride outside of the spoon switch too much (or the skirt switch
will stick on, and lock the pop bumper coil on). You will have to
move the position of the spoon switch to adjust this.
For a final touch, install new pop bumper caps (if available
for your game). At $5 each, they really make your game look
sharp. Save your original pop bumper caps.
3m. Slingshots.
Slingshots are devices that are generally
found just above the main flippers at the bottom of the playfield. They are usually
set at an angle in such a way that they kick the ball to the opposite side of the
playfield as well as up the playfield. When the ball hits the rubber in front of
the slingshot, a switch closes which activates the slingshot coil. As the
coil plunger is pulled down into the coil the kicker arm is propelled forward by
lever action to shoot the ball away "like a slingshot". There is a second
scoring switch under the playfield that closes as the slingshot coil reaches
its end-of-stroke. This switch usually connects to a one or ten point relay
which does the scoring.
Slingshot diagram from Bally.
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On 1950s Gottlieb woodrails, the slingshot mechs are slightly
different. Instead of using a plunger/link mech, the plunger
connects directly to the "T" kicker mech via a hardened rollpin.
The slot which the rollpin moves wears a groove (the "T" kicker mech is
not hardened), which binds the rollpin, causing the kicker "T" arm
to bind. The best solution is to replace this entire setup with the
more 'modern' (late 1950s) slingshot kicker assembly.
Left: original 1950s Gottlieb slingshot assembly.
Right: 'newer' style replacement slingshot assembly.
(Compare how the plunger attaches to the "T" mech.)
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3n. Roto-Targets and Vari-Targets.
Roto-Targets.
Roto-targets are another type of stepper unit.
They don't require a lot of maintainence, but it's
a good idea to clean them to ensure good rotation.
It's not uncommon for a roto to only spin a number or
two when it's dirty. A good clean roto target will spin
180 degrees (or more) if properely maintained. They also must be
aligned so the rivets line-up with the target fingers. Otherwise
hitting the numbers with the ball on the playfield will not register
a score.
Roto-target from Flipper Parade.
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