Hey all, I've been working on bringing a Surfer back to life. A few notes:

1) I have the schematic for a Surf Champ (4 player version). I presume most of Surf Champ functions the same as the 2 player Surfer, with the exception of the extra stops on the ball stepper and reel-related configuration.

2) I wanted to really test myself with this machine, to see how far I've come with my pin repair experience thus far and my desire to continue trying to understand the schematics and figuring things out & fixing them on my own. I have many of you to thank for how much I've learned so far, through help you've provided on troubleshooting my other machines (seriously, THANK YOU), and I'm really proud of for how far I made it on Surfer -- especially with use of the schematic, with which I've run down issues with the ball stepper, drop target reset, incremental bonus, target/rollover bonus, rollover/light issues, etc. -- but finally, I hit something for which I need to bother you all for help.

So, here's my issue: While trying to run down one issue (drop targets not resetting, which I have since isolated & fixed), I found myself taking a look at Relay U, which (in the cabinet) is identified as "1st Ball Relay". The relay was extra tasty crispy -- crunchy brown label, one terminal nearly melted off, and the wires hanging on for dear life. It was obvious this needed to be replaced.

Fortunately, I had a brand new correct replacement in my box o' parts, so I replaced the relay. Naturally, I wondered what caused it to bring itself to such a toasty death, so I observed its behavior. Here's what it's doing:

-- Turn the machine on: U relay activates & holds.
-- Hit Start button; during the reset cycle the U relay DEactivates.
-- Launch a ball; once the ball trips any scoring switch, U relay activates & holds.
-- U relay remains held on throughout the entire remainder of the game.
-- Once game ends (Game Over), U relay STILL remains held on.

It's no wonder this thing roasted itself to a crisp; it's almost ALWAYS on. Based on its name and past experience (a similar relay I remember observing in a Pro-Football), its behavior seems OPPOSITE to what I'd expect. I'd expect it to activate & hold during the reset cycle, and deactivate as soon as that first ball hits a scoring switch. Hmm.

Anyway, since I'd been doing so well gleaning information off the schematic so far, I thought "let me look at the schematic to see what causes the U relay to activate" .... and then my brain exploded.

U-relay troubleshooting (resized).jpg

So ... any thoughts/guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated! Thanks very much in advance!

Really? That's how it's SUPPOSED to work?

WOW! Ok great I'm glad I asked, and hopefully this thread might help others as a reference in the future. I guess it's also great that it's correct, which means I don't have to fix anything with that. I'll keep an eye on it, to make sure it doesn't nuke itself again.

Thanks!!! Just one more issue to go, I'll post a new thread if I can't figure it out...