73 gottlieb king pin ball in play lights

G'day all (sorry, I'm an Aussie, it's just habit to say)

I need a bit of help with an issue I can't seem to figure out.
The ball in play and game over lights on my king pin won't light.
The player unit seems to be functioning correctly and stepper shoes line up perfectly with the rivets. Rivets are all clean and tidy and it keeps track of the ball perfectly. Just no lights on the back box.

A bit of history which may help or not. Lights were working fine and game was working except the lit bonus wouldn't alternate so I cleaned and adjusted the AS relay and stepper which fixed that problem. While I was in the back, I decided to clean the player unit stepper rivets with isopropyl alcohol. That's all I did to the player unit. When I turned the machine back on to test, I noticed no ball in play light for ball 1. Once I hit some targets it came on again. Then when ball drained and game advanced to ball 2, there was no light and there hasn't been any since. I noticed the wires between the 2 shoes and the wire from single shoe to centre of stepper were looking a bit old so I've replaced those but still nothing. I've now cleaned the bottom of the shoes with flexstone and isopropyl alcohol and checked the springs. They all make good contact with rivets. I've tried pushing on and wiggling the stepper feet during a game while looking for lights but still nothing.

Any other ideas? Everything else on the game is working fine.

Thanks all

#2 4 years ago

LSW

Runbikeskilee

Pinside member

8y 43,150 722 10

Matty, It's been a few years since I had a Kingpin in the house, but I don't recall the machine having a Player Unit. I assume you were actually cleaning the Ball Count Unit located in the backbox?

The Ball in Play (BIP) and Game Over (GO) lights are on a pretty simple circuit. Power is switched to the respective lamps through one of the make/break switches on the R relay, a normally closed switch on the O relay, and then through the snowshoe switches on the Ball Count Unit.

Since the problem started when you cleaned the (assumed) Ball Count Unit, the issue probably lies there, but you might also want to check the switches on the R and O relays for continuity.

On the Ball Count unit, power comes in via a white-brown wire to the 0 terminal and then exits to the BIP and GO lamps on one of 6 various colored wires. Look for a possible break or bad solder on the white-brown wire.

Lee

#3 4 years ago

MPL

Matty80

Inactive member

Hahaha thanks Lee. How silly of me. Of course it doesn't have a player unit as it's a single player game yes I did mean the BIP unit. Thanks for the advice. I'll keep working away at it.

#4 4 years ago

SDM

EMsInKC

Pinside member

Kansas City, MO

10y 79,550 4,023 22

Are the wires on the back side of the wiper that connect to the snowshoes attached?

#5 4 years ago

KJH

pinhead52

Pinside+ Frequent

And... I believe there is a wire under a lug on the solinoid of the ball in play unit that drives the lights, its too easy for these to get knocked off.

#6 4 years ago

MPL

Matty80

Inactive member

AND THE WINNER IS..... *drum roll*

@pinhead52

That is a tricky little bugger that wire. Well hidden and was almost still touching the lug so hard to spot the first few times I looked.

Thanks again all for the help. Greatly appreciated.

@pinhead52 your prize is unlimited freeplay on the old girl if you're ever down here in Australia. ☺ Cheers

20190509_101639 (resized).jpg

#7 4 years ago

KJH

pinhead52

Pinside+ Frequent

I will be down to collect very soon. Common issue that wire.

#8 4 years ago

LSW

Runbikeskilee

Pinside member

8y 43,150 722 10

I was looking at a copy of the schematic. What color was the wire with the lug?

King Pin is a very fun game. I used to love chasing that red spot across the bank of drops. Wish I hadn't parted with mine, but I ended up giving it to a close friend who had an emotional attachment from playing the game as a teen.

#9 4 years ago

KJH

pinhead52

Pinside+ Frequent

Quoted from Runbikeskilee:
I was looking at a copy of the schematic. What color was the wire with the lug?
King Pin is a very fun game. I used to love chasing that red spot across the bank of drops. Wish I hadn't parted with mine, but I ended up giving it to a close friend who had an emotional attachment from playing the game as a teen.

Its the common feed into the ball in play lamps on on the ball count unit, upper left on the diagram.

#10 4 years ago

MarkG

Fun With Pinball

9y 71,300 4,363

The lug on the Ball Count unit probably has a white-brown wire:
King Pin Ball In Play lights (resized).jpg
And your match lights probably weren't working either since they're on the same circuit as the Game Over light.

/Mark

#11 4 years ago

LSW

Runbikeskilee

Pinside member

8y 43,150 722 10

That wire is one I suggested for the OP to check. How come no invite to OZ for me?

#12 4 years ago

KJH

pinhead52

Pinside+ Frequent

Quoted from Runbikeskilee:
That wire is one I suggested for the OP to check. How come no invite to OZ for me?

"On the Ball Count unit, power comes in via a white-brown wire to the 0 terminal and then exits to the BIP and GO lamps on one of 6 various colored wires. Look for a possible break or bad solder on the white-brown wire."

You didnt tell him where it was on the ball count unit

2 weeks later

#13 4 years ago

MPL

Matty80

Inactive member