I know this may sound like a lot of work, but the first time I get an EM in I pull the bottom relay board out of the game. Set it on a workbench with good lighting and go through each and every relay, stepper and score motor switch. Move things by hand, clean each and every contact and adjust with a switch tool. Clean the brass rivets and apply a thin layer of contact grease. Make sure the fingers are making contact On the rivet and not next to it. Tighten switch stack screws and check for broken wires or any hack jobs it looks like someone did. The score motor switches are harder to check, but the schematic shows if they are NO or NC so check that.

Do the same for any similar components under the playfield and in the backbox. This also goes for all the score reels and switches on the score reels. I guarantee that you'll be at 99%.

Now, the bonus unit is under the playfield and probably something that will need to be taken apart and checked. The ratchet gear should move freely. Check that there is no wear on the advance and reset arms where it contacts the gear. There are contacts on there that need to be adjusted as well. One of them resets the drop target. It's possible you may have things missing too.

If you need me to take pictures of anything or describe how something should be, let me know.

On the scoring, run through a game with your finger. Does it score 10 points, 100 points or whatever it says on the playfield it should score. If the playfield says 10 points and your getting 50 I'd be looking at the score motor and figuring out why the 10 point relay is pulsing 5 times.

Hey schudel5 i dont mean to jump thread but i have question about KZ show. Have u ever gone to one and if so what kind of machines are at the auction. I have a Klondike im thinking about bringing to sell. A friend of mine said he hadnt been to one in years but he thought most were newer. Thx

Hey dude, yup, you're gonna have to take that stepper unit apart. You can do it without desoldering anything.

First, the stepper coils come out, and you can let them dangle by their wires. Then, the wiper fingers - the "spider" - comes off. Before you do that, you should reset the unit to zero and take a picture to remind yourself which way up it goes.

From there, you can remove the circuit board from the back of the unit, and let it dangle by its wires.

Finally, IIRC, this stepper unit has a switch to tell it when it's at its first position, and another switch to tell it when it's at its last. Take pictures of both so you remember which one goes where and facing which way, then remove them carefully - the screws like to fall out and into the depths of the machine, so maybe put a light-coloured blanket or sheet on top of the mechanism panel. Sometimes a switch will fall apart, sometimes it won't, this is why you take pictures first.

Now you have no wires attached to the mechanical part of the stepper unit, and you can take it off for inspection.

The stepper unit is removed via the screws at its base, that go up into the playfield. Take it off and take it away somewhere where you can sit down and work on it.

You'll need to take apart everything on that stepper unit. Take pictures beforehand. Each pivoting arm, the central spindle - it's all got to come off, because it'll all be filthy. Be careful with that central mainspring, it'll whip round and bite your finger if you give it half a chance. Likewise, when you remove the C-clips, they'll enjoy pinging off to find the darkest corner of the room, underneath the heaviest piece of furniture you own.

I use isopropyl alcohol and a microfibre rag to clean the spindles, and the inside of the shaft where the central spindle moves. It'll all be covered in black gunk. Use the rag, the alcohol, and if necessary, fine sandpaper or emery cloth. Make sure that everything moves freely. If you use sandpaper on anything, remember to wipe it down with your alcohol rag afterwards to get rid of any sanding dust. That goes for switch contacts too. Clean absolutely everything, with one exception - there's a nut and screw which affect the landing position of the step-up solenoid's armature. Leave that screw and nut alone for now.

Some people lubricate the pivot points with a light machine oil - I personally tend to avoid lubrication, because I find in the long term it causes more problems than it solves. Up to you. Remember, only steel on steel needs lubricating - steel on nylon, no lube. Steel on brass, no lube.

Now, once the mechanics are back together and moving smoothly, you'll need to inspect the contacts on the spider, and on the circuit board. These will probably need sanding a bit. Make them nice and shiny.

You have to ensure that the spider comes to rest precisely on the contacts it's supposed to come to rest at. You have two adjustment points for this - firstly, there's a little screw and nut that affects where the armature of the step-up coil comes to rest. Secondly, the circuit board has some leeway in how it can be positioned on the stepper unit. Fiddle with one at a time until you've got it centered and correct.

If you like, PBResource.com sells a conductive contact disc lubricant. Use very little. Good luck.

Okay - so it's a few months later, and I had agreed to take on this Super Star project.
I set it up and took a while just looking it over. Within a few minutes, I had discovered several switches that were mis-adjusted. In the switch stack in the kickout hole had one switch that was Always Closed instead of Normally Closed. So, I decided to tackle the Kickout hole / Drop Target assembly first
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Was pretty dirty / oily. I soaked in alcohol and cleaned it up. At some point in it's life, it had broken and was braized back together. It was done pretty well - I didn't notice until I got the crud off it.
20150527_173119.jpg

I also replaced the coil sleeve, reassembled and got it working smoothly.
Next, was the bonus stepper unit. I like to use Brasso. I took off the sprocket gear, and the "spider" contacts. Also I took off the coils and cleaned the plungers and coil sleeves. The pivot arms were fine, so I left them on. Before and after shots:
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I replaced the one coil sleeve, but I didn't have the shorter one. It cleaned up fine.

Part 2 - Neither the kickout, or the stepper unit repairs, fixed the original problems of the "V" rollover target, or the drop target resetting (Is that really a drop-target, or a dropping standup target?). I did spend the time to trace out the wires that control the drop target reset coil. What I learned is that many of the leaf switches did not have continuity when they were closed.
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On the score motor, the switch stack, second to the left includes the switch that runs the relay that runs the drop target reset. It didn't look bad, but apparently was corroded enough to not conduct properly.
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It was tedious, but I cleaned every switch below and on the playfield. Also, I cleaned under every piece of plastic and reconnected the wires that were cut to the score reels and the 10 point bell. Check it out!

Nice!!

That's what I do on every EM I get. I never chase issues or problems right away. Pull the relay board out and go over every relay, stepper score motor switch, etc., adjust and clean. Do the same for the playfield, backbox and all the score reels. Typically 99% of your problems will go away. Then you can start looking at things that don't work.

Glad you're back on Super Star. Quite fun if you can get past the backglass artwork.

If coils are bad they're not going to energize on their own. A coil that has a broken wire inside won't work and one that's shorted inside will blow a fuse.

Looking at your relays you have a bunch of messed up contacts. Let's start with your Special Relay. From top to bottom they should be:

Closed
Open
Open
Open
Open
Open

You can tell by which switch leaf is longer and going through the plastic switch actuator. Use a switch adjuster tool and make sure the top contacts are closed and all the rest are open. Then using your fingers push the switch actuator as if the coil is energized. The top one should open and the rest close.

The game over relay has two coils. The larger actuator coil and a smaller reset coil. Right now your picture shows the reset coil has engaged and is mechanically pushing in on (closing) the larger coil's actuator. Leaving the coils in the state as shown in your picture the contacts from from top to bottom should be as follows:

Open
Open
Open
Closed
Closed
Open
Closed
Open

If you then push on the smaller reset coil's actuator plate to reset the larger coil, the larger coil's plate should move away from the coil and the switches should change state to:

Closed
Closed
Closed
Open
Open
Closed
Open
Closed

I can definitely see someone has bent the switches improperly. I think you need to understand how the switch stacks work, with regards to the longer and shorter blades, to logically understand if a switch is supposed to be NO or NC just by looking at it's orientation. The long blade goes through the plastic actuator so the coil is either going to pull or push that blade to either open or close it when it energizes or de-energizes.

Hey guys,
Is this game equipped with a knocker by any chance? And I am having issue with some of the chimes not working! I cleaned the mech and the Jones plug that connects the mech thoroughly and still the lowest chime is intermittent. Thanks!

Yes this game has a knocker.

Hello, I just picked up the same pinball machine and was wondering where the chime unit is supposed to be? Would I be able to get a pic? Thanks! This forum looks like a great place to get info on these old machines.