Hello EM'ers! I have two Bally EM machines Fireball (1971) and Bon Voyage. Both of them have problems with the ball counter lights in the back box illuminating. PLEASE note this is not ball counter issue the game counts the balls fine. The ISSUE IS the lights do NOT come on consistently. I have tried changing and putting in new bulbs both 44, 47 and LED as well as old 47 bulbs that I know are working. For Fireball sometimes while you are playing the ball light will come on almost like you hit a certain switch and then it illuminates. Other times it never illuminates. Currently only ball "one" will light and this is after I replaced the new bulb with another working bulb from the backbox. I have the exact same issue with my Bon Voyage.

IS this a common problem and is there a common fix such as reflowing solder or using a certain kinda bulb etc?

Yes the player up light are all working. Let me check this specifically but if you have any other suggestions let me know.

I will but as I said it counts the balls correctly each time no matter how many players it just won't light up and right now balls 2-5 all seem to be dead.

Also on the socket I assume the bottom connection should be ground?

Actually wow this did the trick! I cleaned all the bakelight contacts and wipers as well as the stepper switches really well with rubbing alcohol and BANG all lights now work!

Thanks everyone case closed!

Thanks! BTW your Bon Voyage documentation is absolutely phenomenal. As a lifetime Bon Voyage owner I so appreciate everything you have done to document it as well as its benefit to the EM world in general. Look forward to your posts on Stepper units!