Hey Steve, that's good news! Since your game has been modified to accept quarters, you'll need to play off the replays by pressing the red button additional times to try to get the game to award the magic screen.

Of you have abcd or more lit, after shooting the first ball, you can move the screen with the left and right buttons on the footrail. This will reveal different colored sections corresponding with the red, green, and yellow odds displayed on the backglass (highlighted by a lamp).

Odds are awarded for 5 in a row, 4 in a row or 3 in a row (listed in descending order on the backglass).

In the section, instead of shooting for 3 in a row, you can get 3/4/5 in a single section, and they don't have to be contiguous. Big advantage!

The yellow button allows you to play a replay in exchange for potentially receiving an extra ball. Up to three extra balls can be awarded. You have to light #, extra, and ball before an eb is lifted.

Changing the card lamps isn't as difficult as it seems. I think baldtwit has a great write-up on his site, IIRC.

If not, you should remove the backglass, open the back door, and looking at the back of the screen unit, you'll notice two spring loaded little clips on the right edge of the track that houses the screen that rotates.

Pop these slightly aside and then you can press the solenoid plunger beneath the screen unit and gently, evenly, pull the screen around and out of the track. Do this for several segments and you'll have access to the glass card with numbers. This is held in with several screws. Remove these and set the clips aside.

Now you can get the lamps out but note that these are 17V lamps and not 6V. You need 1464 or equivalent to put in these sockets.

Reassembly is the same, but backwards.

Congrats Steve. From your description so far its working properly.
Steve

I'm not surprised......

The third button (marked 'R') on the footrail registers your winners. This circuit is very complex, but pressing that should cause a series of clicks, clacks and whirrs that result in the thunka-thunka sound we all enjoy.

See if that works. It will be locked until you shoot your fourth ball.

Hey Steve, things are going to start getting a little complex, and you'll need to view the back of the machine to make sense of what is happening.

There are a few units you need to know the position of -

The Timer Unit - this unit is making the occasional THUNK during the normal whirring after shooting the 4th ball. Eventually, it will time out the game (and throw it into a hard tilt).

The Control Unit - the big motor in the bottom center of the head. It has a motor on the left side and a series of cams. At the end is the "search disc".

The search disc is held in place by the search magnet. You can hear the "POP" when you initially press the R button.

The problem is that this disc is not rotating around. This is possibly (probably?) due to gummy clutches, but I want you to observe and see if it is rotating or not.

If it IS rotating, then the problem is getting power to the search relays at the upper left of the back door.

If it IS NOT rotating, then the unit will need to be disassembled (at least past the search disc wipers) to clean and re-lubricate the clutch washers.

To observe what the heck is going on, you don't need to be in front of the machine.

With the game running, in the back, you'll see a metal plate above the search magnet relay coil (on the right edge of the control unit). Press this armature down and see if the wipers make a full revolution and then land back in the default position.

If they do - then you've got a different problem (probably dirt on the search disc rivets/wipers or the slip ring wipers out of place). But from the sounds made, it sounds like gunky clutches is the issue.

There is a typical problem with searching that involves the timer unit, but that problem prevents it from stepping normally, and you do not have that issue, so you're left with the clutches, probably.

bingopodcast it sounds to me like the search index lock magnet is not pulling in to let the search disc go. Steve, set a winner and go to the back of the game. At the far right of the control unit as you look at it from the back there is a coil with a plate that holds the disc from rotating. Pushing the R button is supposed to activate this coil. Push it down by hand and see if the machine tries to do anything. I would do that before messing with the clutches for sure.

Definitely okorange (that's in my write-up, too)!

bingopodcast I have a lack of reading comprehension. I see it now! LOL.