Most likely dirty, corroded, or rusty sockets. Best cleaning method I have found is a dremel with a #43 brush (game off, and unplugged) to clean out the inside. Have heard others use gun cleaning brushes, scotch pads, rolled up sandpaper, small wire brushes. Don't recommend ever using steel wool (the little bits that fall off are great for shorting out electrical connections).

If cleaning doesn't work. Then often it is a connection issue inside the socket. There are various threads / posts on Pinside on how to fix the loose connections. But many people just replace them. I have tried the solder on the outside of the socket method with mixed results.

Just replace them. Bally sockets are crap. Marco and PBR sell replacements. Flip the PF up so it lays on the head, using a blanket to protect it. Learn to solder if you can't:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/terrybs-soldering-guide-part-1

Remove the screw, use soldering iron to loosen solder and hold using needle nose pliers to keep from getting burned. Replace and re-solder. Stick a rag under your work to catch any loose solder.

Replacements:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/E-120-127

Best part of owing a pin, figuring it out yourself!

I too also got a Bally Playboy. Brought it home and never turned it on. Immediately started working on a full rehab of the game. Anyone will tell you that the sockets that Bally used were very poor in quality when they were new. Now some 40 years later they have not gotten any better.

If you plan to keep the game, start replacing all the sockets. There is also another option called the Yoppsicle where instead of replacing sockets and then possibly doing leds. You just use the Yoppsicle and in one step you have removed the faulty sockets and added leds to your game.

The sockets in the game are a real achielles heel. They will be fine, you turn your back and they’re not. Best to replace them all if your up to it. It is time consuming. I just completed this task on the backbox and it was laborious. Not hard just time consuming. But now that known issue is dealt with.

Guess it kind of depends on whether or not you enjoy playing the games more or working on them. Fir me it is the latter. Like to take an old girl and make her shiny and new not to mention reliable. That’s a biggie!!

Just go slow, do one at a time and pay attention to what you’re doing and you’ll feel accomplished and have a more reliable game.

I highly recommend going the Led route as well if for no other reason heat! The combined heat from all those incandescent lamps adds up. Leds are much cooler and won’t wear on the machine nearly as hard. Heat is a killer

Hope this is helpful

G

Sounds like a plan!!

On your next Marco order you might want to add a few 2n5060 or 2n5064 lamp driver scr’s, if you still have the original lamp driver board installed.

You will see them on the lamp driver board. Small half moon devices usually each one powers an individual lamp. Quite common they open and don’t allow the lamp to work, when you’ve ruled out the socket and bulb.

The lamp driver schematic shows this info. Every bulb on the playfield is described in some text next to connectors J1, J2, J3, J4. Each one of these is wired to a lamp driver SCR labelled Q14-Q53

Perhaps that bulb never turning on could be a switch problem instead of lamp problem?
All 5 of the drop switches need to register correctly for the lamp to ever turn on.

Check if all 5 of the associated switches for that lamp work or not:
Reset all 5 drops to the up position and start a game. Check if each individual drop are scoring points and making a sound during a game when they fall. Also when they all get knocked down they reset to the up position.

Does it always reset to the up position during a game after all 5 getting knocked down? If so, then the switches are working fine and not the cause of the lamp problem.

Also check in switch test that as each individual drop falls it changes the last closed switch number to the correct switch number. There should be 5 unique switch numbers displayed as each drop falls.

If you download the schematic from the database, it’s page 2 explains the pinout of the lamp driver board.

If you like the "original" look of incandescent lamps on the play field. I have found that using comet warm white frosted LED's anywhere you can't actually see the lamp when playing. Mixed with incandescents where you can see even a small slice of lamp. Brightens the game, reduces heat under plastics, and still gives pretty close to an original look.

The LED consideration also has to do with how often the game will be on. I've tried every kind of led in my games - warm white, frosted, clear, etc, in EMs, SS, and DMD games. I have colored ones under some inserts in some games for an extra pop of color, but zero in any GI, whether visible or not. Only DE SW has them in the backbox because it was dark. They just don't look the same to me. I run 44s in all of the GI.

We're fortunate enough to have a decent size collection and the games are rarely played, and when they are we just fire up the one we're playing. We have a couple parties a year when the entire game room may be lit up for 5 or 6 hours, but I'd be surprised if any of these machines are on more than 24 hours a year. Consequently there's no concern about keeping incandescents in them.