Hi Pinside!

I have a Bally Hokus Pokus that works great, except it doesn't register free games. When specials are scored on the playfield no credit is awarded. When the game matches no credit is awarded. When the game goes over the top no credit is awarded. Not sure if a credit is supposed to be awarded for going over the top, but a free game on points should probably have been reached by then. The coin mechs seemed jammed so I can't really see if a credit can be awarded from a coin.

I've only done a preliminary examination of the areas involved. The credit wheel seems to have had two wires cut, but have now been re-attached. Bare wires braided and still exposed. There are also a couple of wires cut on the coin mech, and both seemed to be jammed. The game is hacked to free play, so starting and playing a game works fine. All scoring works, except when special is lit, only the left side lights up, and doesn't score points or a credit when activated. The right side SPECIAL doesn't ever seem to light up. Doesn't seem to be a bulb issue.

I did notice the credit knocker in the backbox was pretty rusty. I'm wondering if maybe it had an issue and was disconnected.

Don't really know where to begin or what I should be looking for. Any help or direction would be great.

Thanks

Evan

Thank you, Dave.

I'm going to do my best to digest this.

Is the credit unit step up unit the coil that fires on the credit stepper? I think the wiring looked okay there. I'm going to double check, though.

I think it's set for credit, not extra ball, but I might be thinking of another one of my games I'm working on atm. I'll check that and clean the jones plug.

As for high score. I think there are a bunch jones plugs plugged into the wood. Probably meant to set high score thresholds. There is one plug in use.

I will try to manually fire a credit with the wire latch. There are a couple of wires cut there, so I'll grab their colors and report back.

Thanks for your interest

Evan

The left side only lights. Doesn't notch a credit or score, but does light.

Thank you @pinballdaveh!

New problem. The 0-9 was rusty and frozen. I manually unstuck it, but it doesn't look like the coil is firing. Going to unscrew it and try to restore it a bit. I'll let you know for sure if it's dead after I clean it up.

Neither of the coin mechs produce credits when activated. They seem dead atm. I'm going to take some pictures of the areas where wires are cut later tonight.

Thank you @baldtwit!

I'll check that switch when I go take some pictures later tonight.
That would be great, if that was it.

As mentioned above, I've also got a dead and rusty 0-9 unit that I have to rehab.

Well it's worse than I thought. The credit stepper is also in terrible shape. It'll be a bit while I rehab those two steppers, and we'll see what happens when they're cleaned up and moving again. Thanks everyone. Please stand by.

Hi @baldtwit,

The credit stepper is in bad shape. The switches look pretty bent and some are clearly not working as intended. I'm going to work on it today, and I'll let you know. Thanks as always.

Hi baldtwit

I've been trying to get the credit reel stepper unstuck. Having a bit of trouble since the switch stack that blocks access to the cog is a nut/bolt take it apart deal. Not sure I have the competence to do that safely yet. I have managed to work the spindle out a bit and get a bit of oil in there. I also loosened the tension of the spindle spring by one turn as it seemed to be overwound and it seems to be working. Wouldn't call it 100% yet. 90s but not perfect yet. I did mess around with the switches. I currently have them all closed and it doesn't seem to make any difference. I assume the one that stops more credits from firing is the top switch, as it would be the one to be hit when the credit reel came around. It's currently closed and cleaned. The center switch seems to be the credits in the machine switch and it has to be closed to start a game. Not sure what the final switch does. I have it closed atm too.

Just putting this here for my reference.

Hokus_Pocus_Manual.pdf

Great advice, Dave. I've brought a couple of steppers back to life, but this is my first try with a Bally. I think it's working pretty good. Doesn't seem to be firing at all, but at least I can manually step it up and down now. I'm going to try my luck with the 0-9 stepper next. That one has some rust on it, which I'll have to clean up first.

Yay! Thank you everyone! After getting the two steppers unstuck, my Hokus Pokus just gave me my first free game by match! Not sure if I can mark this as solved yet, as there are still specials and high scores that might need help, but at least the match free game has worked for the first time!

Thank you so much dgAmpGuy , baldtwit , @pinballdaveh, and @howardr.

EDIT: Both kinds of specials are working on the table now. Think the 0-9 solenoid might be dead. It doesn't seem to be firing atm. Still working on it.

Nice. Good thinking, @HowardR! Thx.

Hi baldtwit ,

Everything seems to be working on the Hokus Pokus now except the match unit isn't firing. Is there a nearby hack I can jumper to find out if it's dead? Don't want to swap it out, if it's not the problem.

Thx

Evan

Hi there,

So the coil is busted. Only one of the copper wires is connected to the coil and I can even see the busted wire pushed back and to the side, but not really reachable. So, I could probably fix that except I can't get the coil bracket unscrewed on one side. The screw seems to be rusted in place, and I'm afraid if I put much more pressure on it, I'll end up stripping it. I don't own a blow torch. Has anybody got a really good way to unstick a rusted/stuck screw, that doesn't involve a blow torch or heavy tools.

Thanx

Evan

Got the screw loose with an elastic band, 3 in 1 oil, and yes moving the bracket was probably the biggest help. The coil ended up being fixable. Back together. Working like a charm!

Everything seems to work on Hokus Pokus now, except the coin mechs and I don't care about them atm. Thank you so much for your help!