Stardust
Williams, 1971I have a Williams Stardust that the schematic shows 5 cent and alternator unit relays. Although there is some discussion about this, I'm still confused. There are no coils for these units and I don't see an alternator on the match unit.
Any help would be appreciated.
The alternator unit is used to count two nickels. There's a picture of it in the manual: https://www.ipdb.org/files/2359/stardustmanual.pdf
Quoted from redrock:There are no coils for these units
The alternator unit is on P.4 of the manual, and it's common to show a relay on the schematic but not actually have it in your machine.
When those machines were new they were like buying a new car - each feature was optional. Base machine would have one coin slot, next level would have two and top level would have 3. Companies charged extra if you wanted a nickel or quarter mech on a dime machine. If they didn't have a nickel slot they didn't need that relay.
Same as them selling two player & four player versions of the same machine (with different name and backglass). The 2 player version might have been $50 or $75 cheaper because it used less parts.
One more thought, if I may: How is a novice going to restore a machine if the schematic is not accurate and the wiring is faded? Although these machines are made of simple components, they are rather complicated. Pinside has a lot of information, which I appreciate. Youtube also is helpful. The bottom line is it's hard work and has taken much longer than I thought. I wonder if there are guides that can make it easier, or logically how to proceed.
Quoted from redrock:One more thought, if I may: How is a novice going to restore a machine if the schematic is not accurate and the wiring is faded?
By realizing the world is not perfect and making do with what he or she has to work with. I don't believe there has ever been a perfect, accurate manual.
LTG : )
Quoted from redrock:I wonder if there are guides that can make it easier
http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index1.htm
http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=EM_Repair
http://www.planetimming.com/Pinball/troubleshooting/EM%20Troubleshooting.pdf
Quoted from redrock:How is a novice going to restore a machine if the schematic is not accurate and the wiring is faded?
Faded wiring can be a problem but usually there's enough color left to work with, and less fading inside the wiring harness. Also, your Williams Stardust has a great manual that tells the position of wires on the relays and many stepper units. Here's a link to the schematic & manual, and just one example from your game.
https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=2359
And I monitor most EM repair threads and when it seems that a novice isn't getting anywhere with a repair, I offer to talk to them on the phone. You don't need that here, do you?
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St. George, UT
Ottawa, ON