(Topic ID: 96427)

Aztec weirdness

By zsciaeount

9 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 4 posts
  • 4 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 9 years ago by dtown
  • No one calls this topic a favorite

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#1 9 years ago

I just picked up an Aztec. Flipper coil was bad, and I replaced. All was well, except the middle rollover button didn't kick off a chime.

Cleaned ball sworls out of the playfield and waxed it with some paste wax to restore the shine, and then after about 3 more games, some weirdness started.

When I started a game, the score reel reset wouldn't stop spinning. I turned the game off and back on and that stopped. Then, I fired up another game, and found that the following:

1) chimes intermittent
2) 1000 point score reels for all players will not advance, except for +1 at the end of a ball, even if the bonus is much higher
3) The game will grind like it is counting bonus, but it is not reflected in the score reels. All I get no matter what is +1000
4) The 1000 numbers are centered at the beginning of the ball, but when they are supposed to advance, they just move slightly off towards the next number, but it is slight
5) the spinner works when lit for 100, but when lit for 1000, nothing is registered and no chimes sound
6) when there should be scoring but the reels aren't moving, there is a faint hum

I checked the playfield. I know that paste wax can sometimes jam the switches, especially the rollovers, but it does not appear to be the case. I used paste wax since I had to use a magic eraser to get out the ground-in ball sworls, and it was the best to restore the shine.

Since it's happening for all players, I assume it's something wrong with the relays in the cabinet, but I'm new to EMs, and even Clay's excellent guides aren't helping me. I'm sure it's something small. Any ideas would be most appreciated!

#2 9 years ago

Sounds like you have a maladjusted switch or maybe two on the 1000 point relay.

#3 9 years ago

Clean the player unit in the backbox.
Most of the time they are dirty giving these problems.
It is recommended to do so on all stepper units, rules out a lot of problems in the future.

#4 9 years ago
Quoted from wizardblom:

Clean the player unit in the backbox.
Most of the time they are dirty giving these problems.
It is recommended to do so on all stepper units, rules out a lot of problems in the future.

I'd go even further. I just finished an Aztec which was my first EM and had been sitting in a barn for 20+ years.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tackling-my-first-em-williams-aztec

My rule of thumb is to not care about playing the game (if it's been sitting unused) until I've cleaned every switch, score reel, stepper and anything that has a coil and plunger. Manually actuate all those components too. Stepper units and score reels should all move freely and once you've disassembled one or two the rest are pretty much the same. Take pictures if you think you might forget. Although I did keep the score motor cogs together while cleaning.

Obviously, this is hours and hours of work but when I finally turned that "clean" game on everything worked except for one misadjusted switch on the score motor (which was probably my fault for not seeing how it's supposed to move correctly). A lot of stacks can play tricks on the eyes. Waxing the playfield is one of the last things I do and not until the rest of the game is as clean as I can get it.

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