Usually on the ball count unit, press on the fingers one at a time and see you any lights turn on, or maybe a broken wire on that unit.

You can look at your schematic to see where the ball count lamps are located. Look at the 1st ball lamp and work your way back through the circuit toward the transformer to see what switches control power to the ball in play lamps.

Also, manually operate the ball count unit/player unit to see if it rotates properly.

Here is an interesting article about Gottlieb player units, which refers to the Spirit of 76 game as an example:

http://www.planetimming.com/Pinball/troubleshooting/Player%20Unit%20Troubleshooting.pdf

Surley, it is sellable.
Problems usually arise as the machines are moved, or as they are brought back to life. Tighten all the switch stacks and take time to clean all of the contacts, and Jones Plugs. This process takes time, be careful not to bend any contacts out of place.

I wouldn't scrap the machine just because of a few minor problems... Reading a schematic is easy when you understand the flow of electricity. You can always post a portion of the schematic with the lighting circuits, and we can specifically tell you where to look to solve the problem...

There is a wire that attaches to the frame of the player unit. When this one "disconnects" (usually breaks off of the ring terminal it is soldered to which is bolted to the player unit) there will be no Ball in Play lights lit.

Barky_Dog,

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger as far as schematics are concerned.
I could understand Physics, Chemistry, Pathology, Physiology, and even Biochemistry.
But I can't understand schematics either.
I watched every Youtube video and read every explanation and still couldn't figure out the schematic for my Bon Voyage game in spite of it being totally Electro-Mechanical and by comparison a relatively simple game.

The one thing I did learn which helped a little was an article which stated a schematic is not a simple wiring diagram and most people get confused because they want to read it as such.

The one thing that helped me was realizing Electro-Mechanical games at their most basic level are nothing but switches and contacts ( excluding Relays). Those switches and relays can be arranged in ways that will totally baffle you exactly how a particular function actually works but looking at components instead of functions helped me. I might not have understood "why" it fixed the problem but at least it did.

If you look carefully at leaf switches ( even on Score Motors and Relays with multiple contacts) you can usually tell if they are supposed to be open or closed by paying attention to what the particular switch or relay bank does when it operates.

After that it is a matter of carefully adjusting leafs and cleaning contacts. But don't start adjusting a bunch of leaf switches unless you are absolutely sure. One thing a restoration video said that was helpful is unless someone took a hammer to the game...assume most of the leaf switches are right. They may not be clean but most are adjusted properly.

Finally, realize one thing,,, these relatively simple games can do bizarre things even through one bad contact or mal-adjusted leaf switch.

Example:

1) I had a situation after I restored my playfield and hooked it back up that a a dirty Jones Plug caused half the lights on the playfield to blink when a Thumper Bumper activated.

2) The game would not reset and the Score Motor kept cycling because the roll over switch on the shooters lane was closed instead of open. It took hours of looking at every leaf switch to figure that one out.

3) The game would not start with the Start button ( even though it had in the past) but would start if I flipped the coin switch in the door. That made no sense because the coin switch was supposed to give a Credit...not start the game.
The problem was due to one leaf switch in the Score motor that had gotten bent slightly where it wasn't making contact when the score motor turned.

4) Another problem which was a little more obvious was sometimes the ball counter wouldn't switch to the next ball. Notice I said "sometimes". What I did was look around until I found two relays ( one labeled outhole relay and another named Ball Index relay ) and cleaned the contacts on both. That solved the problem though I wasn't sure which relay was causing the problem.

The list goes on and on.

You do have one big advantage in that you saw the game work right before the problem started so it is doubtful due to a wiring issue. That leaves contacts or maybe a bad relay as the most likely culprit.

A lot easier than if it didn't work when you got the game.
At that point it could be anything.

Simply check contacts and switches first.
Also, make sure that the steppers and wipers work when you push their respective solenoids and the contacts are clean.
It is a laborious task but realize that something you never would have guessed could cause a particular problem does.

If you have loose wires you are beyond anything I can deal with and hopefully someone else here more knowledgeable can.

One final thing.

I remember that game as it came out when I was a Senior in High School. That was one of the games we played every Saturday night at the Game Room in the mall. Brings back good memories.

Barky_dog

Looking at the schematics, I see the lights are in series with a AX(NC) contact (between blk-red and gr-wh wire) and a Q(NOC) contact (between Gr-wh and Yel wire). So best to find these contacts and adjust them. Succes!

Let us know if this works or was it the broken wire from the ring terminal that I mentioned.

Hi Barky_Dog
great, You could fix the problem. You write "AX-Relay goes out of adjustment at the oddest times" - is it a mechanical problem in / on the AX-Relay (M-P) ? OR is the "AX-Side" of the "Interlock-Relay" FAULTY activated (current flows to the coil) (C-P) at times it should not be activated ?

You start a game -> "AX-Side" gets current -> -> -> reset is done -> -> -> "AX-RESET-Side" is activated -> the Interlock-Relay clicks to "resting position" for the rest of the game.
I look in the schema "Royal Flush" -> the "AX-Side" is activated through a "Make-and-Brake-Switch on U-First-Ball-Relay" - and a "Switch-1D on Score-Motor" - and a "Normally-Open switch on S-Start-Relay".
Every now and then during play a feature lets the Score-Motor run - means: ALL Switches on the Score-Motor are actuated. IF (if) both switches (on U-Relay and on S-Relay) are faulty - accidentally now and then faulty closed: The "AX-Side" is (faulty) activated - giving strange behavior - the C-P problem ...

Due to shaking the pin / vibration the "Lock-in mechanism on the AX-Interlock-Relay" could "let go" - could be, might want to check ? -> http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index.htm -> http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index3.htm#axrelayvideo -> in the video at 1:34 to 1:42 a fully working Interlock-Relay. In the video starting at 2:48 is the adjustment shown -> 3:40 to 4:10 a "not properly working AX-Relay -> then the adjustment ...

"Replacing the AX-Interlock-Relay by something more solid-state / more reliable" ? I have never done such a replacement. I strongly advice NOT to do it - think of an latter owner (in the future) - he probably do not want a "hacked" pin.
One thought: Trying to replace the Gottlieb AX-Interlock-Relay (small Unit) with a "Williams (spare part) Interlock-Relay (bigger Unit)" - Williams runs 24 VAC as Gottlieb does.
Another thought: Replacing the AX-Interlock-Relay by "home-made Self-Hold Relay" - typical Gottlieb Self-Hold-Relays at that time were: U-First-Ball-Relay, R-Hold-Relay.
Chaning the wiring so the "new" relay pulls-in (pseudo) AX-Side is activated - and the "new" relay locks in (Self-Hold-Circuitry). When the (pseudo) AX-Reset-Side is activated: The "Self-Hold-Circuitry" is cut.
Again, I strongly advice: Do NOT do a replacement (not even by a Williams-Interlock-Relay).
Greetings Rolf

P.S.: Want to mark "topic is solved" ?