Hi,

I am new here; my father gave me his Bally Amigo pinball machine and it worked two-three years ago. Today, the machine has some issues that I want to look into fixing myself, since having a tech out sounded more expensive than the machine is worth.

First thing, the flippers are weak. Both of them. From my research this could be quite a few different things, from cleaning the buttons to replacing the flipper coils. Any suggestions in troubleshooting this issue?

Second thing, the play field lights don't work. They did power on when I first powered on the machine, but haven't since. Possible fuse issue here I believe, but I think the fuse board is broke/damaged. Suggestions? I attached a photo I happened to take after initial boot up where the play field is lit.

Third thing, the trigger that moves the ball over to the ball launcher isn't working; the ball gets stuck and pressing the Start button doesn't work either to kick the ball over. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any replies, I look forward to this learning project.

Thanks,
Matt

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I looked at it today, and the flippers don't even move, and the ball doesn't kick over to the launcher. I am thinking it's an issue with the fuse block. In the video, when I remove the white fuse, OR the in line fuse (orange wire), the back lights don't work.

No change when removing fuses 1 and 3. Those two are very weak, the fuse holder wings are not applying any pressure.

You can see a couple short clips of the machine here. I feel like first problem is the power issue.

Might be a good idea to replace that fuse board like edednedy suggested.

Thoughts?

Thanks so much for all the info. I have ordered fuse holders. Can anyone recommend a solder gun and solder? I haven't really done this before, although it seems very straight forward...just making circuits/connections. And I will be careful to not short anything out.

Update: I replaced the four fuse blocks, but no changes. The back lights still works, but the playfield does not light up. Also, the machine seems non-responsive, the start button doesn't kick the ball over. When turning the machine on it used to reset the score, but nothing happens when I turn it on except the back lights and quarter light turn on. When I hit start there is a click, but that's all.

Pics: http://imgur.com/a/UBTkfzG

What's the next suggestion? I have some stuff I'm reading up on to that was sent to me from a user, I will dig more into that tomorrow.

I want to add, the playfield did light up the first time I started it after moving it and I did get to actually play a ball, but after that, nothing. So idk if that would mean a loose wire or what else could possibly be happening.

Thanks,
Matt
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So the game was in free mode previously so I thought, but I tried this and manually hit the coin button...boom, the playfield lights up! It also added credits to the back board, so I clicked it enough times to put 10 credits on the machine. Also, the flippers are working (but still very weak)! What is not working is that the ball is not getting pushed from the bottom over to the launcher. How do I begin troubleshooting what would prevent the ball from getting kicked over to the launcher? Also, the ball gets stuck between the two guide rails and doesn't get launched out.

Making progress here, I appreciate everyone's help so far. That issue appeared to be user error. I'm learning...

Also, the fuses I believe are all good, since I tested all four by moving them to the fuse slots that powered the back panel and all four worked.

Thanks,
Matt

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Dumb question: Are all four fuses the same?

I see them labeled as 15a, 15a, 10a, and 8a. Do I need specific fuses for each?

I will look at the outhole later this evening and try to answer the above questions.

Update: I was looking under the play field at the outhole and noticed two wires, one disconnected, and one a terrible connection to the flipper. I don't think this is my fix for the outhole, but maybe the flipper power issue?

Do I need to solder these wires, one on each flipper? It looks like someone just wrapped wire around the connector instead of soldering it, and over time they came out of contact. Could this explain the lack of power to the flippers? I want to verify before I solder that those wires do indeed belong where I see them in the photos.

A few things:
1) It looks like I need to fix that exposed wire that starts in yellow sheathing and is then exposed.
2) In the pic with the purple trace, that wire is disconnected, but I believe it needs to be connected to the flipper, which is what I circled in red.
3) The pic with the green trace, that wire is connected, but barely. It looks like the same with the other side in the other pic. Someone must have lazily fixed this machine?

The pictures are the flippers, on the underside of the playfield.

Thanks,
Matt
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When a ball is in it, it does force the metal contact, but the outhole ball assembly solenoid does not energize or move when the switch is hit by the ball. All the wires look connected properly. How do I check zero position? I'm a bit confused there. Thanks!

I did a quick test with alligator clips, and sure enough it seems to have fixed that issue. Will continue focusing on the other part of the machine before I solder those wires, as the above analogy of replacing windshield wipers on a car that won't start makes sense.

None of the fuses matched the amps so will be replacing all four.

One additional thing, in the attached photo, this wire is not connected to anything. I know it's hard to say, but any ideas where it belongs connected to?

Thanks,
Matt

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So when I manually make the outhole relay connect (in photo), it kicks the outhole, and it works. It's not doing it automatically. For example, if the ball hits the outhole switch, it does close it. But nothing happens. If I manually hit the relay, it kicks the lever. The bonus switch is open, see photo. I guess it's maybe a bad connection somewhere...but where is the challenge. I guess that's my next step... trying to understand the schematics, but it's confusing to me. Will do some research. I reseated the Jones plugs, but no change. Also, I used a multimeter and there is power to the outhole.

Yes, I replaced those already this past week, thanks!

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Good evening,

So I think I need to take a step back and not focus so much on the outhole as I believe there are other issues.

1. The game seems to be stuck on player two, even after power cycling it. I'll turn it off and on, and still remains on player 2.

2. The "Ball Count Unit" never spins. I can change it manually, but it doesn't move on its on.

3. The "Coin Unit" never spins either. That's how it should be able to select 1-4 players, but I can't. Again, I can change this manually in the cabinet.

4. To start a game I have to hit the lever on the back of the coin area. There are 23 credits, and it seems the credit never decrease. I'm not sure if that's coin unit, outhole, etc.

I think I gave more problems than solutions!

Thanks,
Matt

EDIT: on second thought, and more looking into it, I think the above issues are all due to the fact the outhole is not being reset. Sorry, I'm all over the place trying to understand this, but I do think it's related to the outhole.