Ok - I recently picked up a Cover Girl for a song... mostly because it was completely non-functional.

Among the several other things wrong was that the credit switches on the coin door had been mashed together... which probably explains why the replay/credit stepper was at maximum (showing 26...) A closer look at the replay unit showed that the main spring that helps the ratchet gear wind back down to zero was no longer anchored (still attached to the shaft, but the little hook that hangs out the side was unattached...)

So I took it all apart... removed the switches, unsoldered the coils so I could work on it out of the machine... and for the life of me I can't see how this spring would attach in a way that gives the wheel the full rotation expected to go from 0 credits up to 26

Unlike some other versions of this replay unit that I've found pictures for all over the internet it has two vertical posts to hit two different sets of switches - one of them is labeled 'knocker switch', and the other one are the normal two switches people seem to have on these.

If you see my attached pictures you'll see what I mean. One photo shows it at 0 credits, with only a small amount of tension on the spring

at zero credits

and the other photos show it at about 18 credits where the spring starts to bind. There is no way that you can get to 26 without really bending the spring and possibly unhooking it again.

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So, my theory is that the game would only allow you to have 15 credits even though the wheel shows 26. It must have stopped incrementing based on switch closure sometime around there... And that somehow the mashing of the credit switch on the coindoor made the thing add too many credits and then pop the spring off.

Or, I'm crazy and attaching the spring incorrectly. Anyone see this before and see what I'm doing wrong? or can you confirm that how I think it works is right?

I'll try that... but... the previous owner was clueless - I'm skeptical that he would have disassembled down far enough to take that post off, and then reassemble it wrong... But, I guess it could have been an owner before him... or perhaps the whole unit was a replacement that was improperly installed...

I'll try it and report back.

and - Thanks!

So I moved the post to the other hole, as indicated, and now I can get up to about 22 (out of 26) credits before it binds.

I've never seen the machine working. The schematics are ordered they won't be here for a few days. I am guessing that one of the switches is activated by this post, and keeps the machine from accepting extra credits, somewhere before it gets to the point that it binds.

I'll have to unsolder the leaf switches, re-attach them to the unit, and see where they line up with the posts. And I'll probably have to wait till I get the schematics, to verify my supposition.

With this being my first EM, I have to say that I'm pleasantly surprised about how much fun it is to work on. I've only ever worked on solid-state machines before...

Side question: is there some online resource that shows me what switches do what and should be normally-open, normally-closed, etc? Something to help me calibrate this? the switches were all bent to heck before I owned this...

So, I got it all back together, with the post in the original position (the 15 Credit position) and adjusted the switches "right" - and it's all working. Stops at max credit of 15 without over-tightening the spring. The extra numbers on the wheel were what threw me off.

I was able to play a few balls, but I still have several things to fix up till it's in playable condition.

Thanks all for your help.