Hello all,
This is my first post but have visited here quite a bit. Lots of knowledge to be had and I love the older EM pinballs. So i got my first EM bingo and it was purchased as-is needing TLC. I went through a LOT of the parts so far, and lubed, cleaned most of what I need to so far.
But I still have the same issue as when bought, hitting start relay or adding coins, the game never throws a ball in the lane to start a game.
When I first power up the game, both motors are running, and if there is any credits on the meter, it properly resets to zero. The motors stay running even with no coins (not sure if that is right or not).
Adding coins does get it to run through the steps of adding features, incrementing the pay tables, etc., but i never get a ball to start the game.

I have found if I hit the extra ball relay or some random relays, that occasionally it makes a ball pop up. If it does, then I can shoot that ball and the others come up as well. Scoring seems to be ok, though may need to clean contacts still a bit for bulbs. I can even do an extra ball and will get the five balls and game offers the payouts if i have a win. So, overall, the game seems to be functioning mostly once I can get a ball, but the problem is getting the ball.
Not really confident on the leaf switches on the shutter motor, as some arc a bit, but generally they are clean and do what they are supposed to.

Could someone maybe fill me in on what to expect when I power this game up, especially if the motors should turn off until I put in money, which they do not now? If i tilt the game, they do shut off, and adding a coin turns it back on.
And maybe you could suggest where to look or the sequence of events to have a ball raise up?
I have manual and schematics, but still very new to the way the schematics are laid out and a bit lost on what happens to start a game.

Thanks for any help!

Very, cool, thanks to both of you! I will verify the trough switch is working. I did make sure we had the right balls, as I heard they were different as well, and have all 8 lined up.
Throwing a credit in, the game makes plenty of cool sounds, the leaves me hangin! lol. I'll get back here after I check them out and see.
I have been on the cdyn site, but I missed any part on the steps it takes when a game starts, so was not sure where to look first. Love the info there though.
Thanks!

Quick question on the timer stepper as well. I have not seen it step at any time so far. When I power up the game and put in credits, it also does not increment at all. Is this because it is waiting on the ball lifter?

Well, went through the lifter circuit and now, lol, when i power up the game it immediately starts dispensing balls until it uncovers the 3rd trough switch. Ha,too funny. I literally only went through the switches and did minor cleaning of contacts, so not sure what happened. I will resume tomorrow, but if anyone had this before that know the best spot to look, feel free.
So basically 4 balls left and it stops. If I add a 5th one, it dispenses one. Would it make the extra ball stepper an issue?
At least I am starting to get the hang of the schematics.

Sorry if my explanation was confusing. Basically what i meant was that now, the lifter get power constantly, as long as there are 4 balls in the chute (3 in chute and 1 on lift). so if I kept adding balls back into chute, it would run endlessly, unless there are only 3 left, then it would stop. So it shuts off , only when the #3 trough switch is released.
Timer was rebuilt and is clean, contact, etc. very light lube on rivets and runs smooth. I will have to see what things are set at, as I went from no lifter working to now it runs continuous, so obviously I have to trace my steps there.
I will update when I can get another look.

Whoo, Hoo!! You guys are the best! Thanks for walking me through this. Part of my silliness is that I got the ball lifter working but still had the playfield up, so until you mentioned the lane switch, I was chasing my tail! Set er' down, and she is rockin! It kept spitting balls because I had the top up! lol.
Just need to go through the feature steppers to get some lights working, not flickering, etc. but overall seems good, though I think the scoring is wacky, but more cleaning to do before I try and figure that out.

Last question! Should i expect the CU motor to run hotter than the mixer motor? It seemed to run pretty hot when I first started testing it, but then I rebuilt the CU assembly, lube, neatfoot oil, etc. and seems to be fairly bind-free, but that motor coil sure seemed hot. Any idea on acceptable temps for these before I worry too much?

Thanks again!

Great thanks. Been testing the payouts for a bit and seems to level off at a "too hot to hold onto" but not too crazy heat. Maybe I'll throw an infared on them next time for some refernces.

So, I do have 2 more questions. Sorry,lol.

If I am at the base payout level, and no features lit (just like 1 coin in), should I get any wins from either of the supercards, if I have 3 in a row? Testing the payouts, I get the proper wins from the main card, corners (both from main card and supercards when lit), supercards 3-in-line gives 4-in-line wins, and whatever combos I tried. But the way it reads on instructions seems like I should get wins from the supercards even when not lit, but none of the combos I tried do anything unless I have a supercard lit.
If it should be paying, any idea where to look to try and troubleshoot? Seriously seems like all other payouts work a charm, so not sure if this a thing or not.

The other question relates to "freeplay". Whenever I power game up, it resets registers like it should, and always raises a ball right away, and i can actually just start playing a game. Basically seems like it "loads" a credit anytime it is on, and i am sure that is not typical. ANyoen know hacks I need to check on to see why this occurs. Last owner did install a button on the front to load more "coins" already, so not sure why it would also load a coin when powered up too.

Thanks all, again. This site is great info!!

Great news then, thanks! The instructions I read and even the card on the machine were kind of vague on that part. So with those 2 questions answered I think I am in fair shape now. Ran through a ton of games and she is running pretty well. Happy times! Thanks all, again!
I'll try to add where I can to this site, but still learning as I go on some parts.

Will Do! Still doing a little patchwork on the poor backglass to make it better. Had some heavy flakes, as usual. Once I get that I will be sure to post!

SO, noob question! I uploaded 3 photos to the bottom of the post area, but are they available to public there, or do i need to add them to a post now? Will add one to this post to see, but not sure how that works yet.
Playing the game a bit tonight and noticed the flashing lights, when you add credits and sometimes bumps up pay or features, seem to be touch and go. Sometimes they all cycle around nicely and other times I get not lights. Anyone have a go-to spot for me to check that feed power to the spotting wheel to output to the lights? Checking around seemed pretty clean now, but I am betting i am missing some contacts somewhere.
I already bought some new contact pads from Pinball Resource too, great fix for some of the really burned contacts too.
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LOL, yeah, funny that whomever had this before me, ended up getting "creative" with the front and right side of unit. So the left side is original, but the front and right are fresh paint, but at leats they made a little graphic 2-tone to look better. Kind of like it.
Thanks!