Hi nice machine. Welcome. Here is another good resource for info

https://bingo.cdyn.com/market/resources.html

The videos from Richard are very good info too.

When the ball lifts, the shutter (sliding piece) should only close after the first ball is shot, or if the game tilts before a ball is shot. If it closes sooner, either the game is getting confused about ball count (trough switches) or the ball gate switch is not adjusted properly. May be other causes, but that's the stuff I'd check first.

It only opens when the first coin is played.

In the last photo above, it appears that there are only seven balls in the game. Eight need to be present for the game to operate properly.

Hi Bingopodcast, watch it closely. There are two balls in the ball liftersystem, so there is no ball on the 8th ball position

Oh yeah, thanks for the reminder. Thought I had an easy answer... haha

Look at the coil side of position 14 on the Bikini schematic. There are only two switches in the circuit for the lifter motor when looking at the trough switch 8 path.

Trough switch 8 itself and lifter motor 1B. This is the cam closest to the motor, the switch second from the bottom of the stack. That switch should be closed when the lifter arm is at the bottom of its arc.

Ensure that switch is cleaned.

Let us know what happens when you do that - it should be making the lifter move, no matter what.

(or the 50V has dropped out or fuse is questionable, though if the shutter motor is moving, that's not the case).

Speaking of, what is happening with the shutter as mentioned in my first post in this thread?

Perfect - that is the intended behavior, minus the balls failing to lift. The lifter motor is the motor located on the right side of the cabinet near the front.

It drives a large metal arm that elevates the ball to the playfield.

There are three cams (IIRC in Bikini) with switches riding on top above and to the left of this arm. From the factory, there was a small cover secured with two screws that prevents dirt and other contaminants from affecting the cam switches. Some operators or owners remove and throw those out. Regardless, if you see it there, you can safely remove it while troubleshooting (just don't forget to put it back when you finish troubleshooting if it is there).

The switches are very easy to see and fairly easy to clean and adjust. Note that sometimes it's easier to move the arm (thus rotating the cams) to help apply pressure to the switch faces to clean them.

Once you've done that and ensured things are closing when they should and opening when they should (esp. switch 1B), then pressing trough switch 8 should run that lifter no matter what (assuming that your fuse block and jones plug carrying 50V are working properly).

Is this a bingo or a pay toilet? Sorry. I couldn't help it.

By the way, you are in good hands with Nick (Bingopodcast) helping out. He'll have you up and running in no time.

Via email as we discussed, the trough and ball count logic is rather... complex.

Most of it is tied to a single unit in the head called the Timer Unit. This unit is used for a couple of things. It's a rudimentary ball count that doesn't reset when a ball is returned, and it is also used to turn off the motors a couple of minutes after shooting ball 5/6/7 or 8.

In Bikini, this unit is 8 steps. When the game is reset, this unit should also be reset. It should step once when a ball is initially lifted for that trough position. Meaning... if you shoot ball number 1, as it lifts number 2, it will step another time. Ball 2 shot, and ball 3 lifts, also stepping the timer. The step happens with movement of switch 2A on the lifter cams.

You can see the reset and step of this unit at schematic position 8 on the coil side.

The timer unit will also reset when the R button is pressed after shooting balls 4+ -or- if you press the yellow button, again after shooting balls 4+.

In the photo above, is one of the balls getting hung up on trough switch 2/3 (under the debuncher)? That will also slow you down.

Well, we'll see. (thanks Dennis).

OP:
As with any EM game or device, cleaning steppers goes a long way towards bringing back function. If my advice above wasn't clear, take a look at your timer unit and ensure it steps crisply and resets snappily. If the rivets are dirty, ensure they are cleaned. There are also a few switches hanging off of that unit - make sure they are cleaned and adjusted well.

Yes - at the beginning of the game, all eight balls must be in the trough. The first one will be pressing on a pin that actuates the switch underneath the lifter.

The lifter arm should be underneath the first ball. The cam detent will be in that position, and the lifter arm will click into place there. if the lifter arm is out of position, the motor runout will cause the lifter arm to reset back to ready position.

Also worth noting is that aside from labels near or on the back of each unit, the manual has great illustrations of each unit, and you can often tell what is what from those.

Trough switch 8 is the farthest left switch in the ball trough (in the lower cabinet front).

1B is attached to the lifter motor cams. If you look to the right of the trough, you'll see a switch cover above and to the left of the lifter itself. I mentioned in a post above that the cover may be missing. I looked back at your photos and see that the cover is present, so there are two screws you need to remove to remove the cover and observe the switches on the lifter cams.

I am no bingo expert but that sounds like standard operating procedure to me. After ball five, the timer stepper should be stepping up until it finally turns off the motors and puts the machine into tilt mode. Can you hear the stepper occasionally stepping up after ball five? I have a United bingo machine and it seems to take maybe 20 seconds between steps and then maybe two or three minutes or so to go to tilt mode.

Awesome, sounds like you're getting closer. This is normal, and it steps pretty slowly after fifth ball is shot. If it's never stepping, there's a switch on cam 1 (IIRC) on the control unit that isn't adjusted properly.

See your manual for details.

Bikini doesn't throw the tilt trip. Bally switched to an 8 step timer which obviously times out the motors much faster than the 40 step in United and earlier Bally games. It also allowed players to pick up an existing game later on if they desired. So if you walk up to a bikini that hasn't been forcibly tilted and hasn't been turned off and back on, you can pop it into extra ball mode and actually keep playing a previous game!

No, I was explaining why the United machine referenced had different behavior. Your machine has a problem stepping the timer after fifth has been shot. Again, looking at your manual, you'll see that on pg. 21 - switch 1A of the control unit is responsible (my memory isn't failing yet!). It's misadjusted or dirty. OR there's an issue with the switch stack on the search disc, but far more likely that 1A is just messed up. If you observe that switch, you'll see it's pseudo-randomly pulsed. The shape of the cam and the drag arms on the front of the control unit make that happen. It's a pretty cool way of doing it that ensures you don't have EXACTLY 22.6 seconds after the game is over to decide to continue playing before the motors shut off. As I mentioned above, it doesn't matter either way, but the motors can keep turning that way.

OK, this requires a bit of 'thinkin' to understand. Unlike in a flipper game, the bingo pinball wants you to 'feed' it multiple coins. The initial coin drop acts like a red button press. On the backglass it says it can lite features and scores. And it can! You always get your odds reset/stepped up to the first position in all colors on first red button press. There's a (small) chance you'll also get a feature award with that initial coin.

After the first coin, your first ball comes to the shooter lane. Before shooting** you now have the ability to feed the beast. Pressing the red button before depositing coins (on your first or second odds position) will guarantee an odds jump. You will also have a CHANCE at a feature award. Further coins in red will give you a CHANCE at an odds jump or feature award. When the red button coins/replays are played, you'll see lights dance everywhere on the backglass except the extra balls section.

The green button plays for features only. You'll see lights dance only in the upper part of the backglass (odds remain static). Playing for features gives you a SLIGHT advantage over playing red button as far as feature awards. This is all dependent on what you've already earned and what you have left to earn, as well as how much you've previously won vs. lost,etc. The machine takes all of this into account with every coin played except for guaranteed awards. There are no guarantees using the green button, but it's a bit easier to get the screen and extended time tree with this.

Blue button gives you odds play only. You'll have a better chance at advancing your odds using this button. If you play the blue button as your SECOND coin, you'll get a guaranteed double jump in all odds. Pretty nice! It's extremely unlikely that you'll have a jump in all three colors beyond odds position 2, so don't get used to living on easy street.

Remember to press whatever button you want before inserting your coin. Bikini is smart enough to keep playing for the last option selected, so if you hit blue then drop a coin and dorp a second coin before hitting another button you'll just play for blue twice.

Once you get the game coined the way you want, you don't have to press any additional buttons, just shoot the first ball. After that if you drop a coin, the game will reset.

EXCEPT for extra ball mode! When you shoot your fourth ball, you trigger a special state in the machine where you can press the yellow button and trip the extra ball relays. When you do this Extra Balls will lite on the backglass. That tells you you are in EB mode. Dropping a coin while EB is lit will make the extra ball lights dance. When you light three panels (1st... extra... ball), the first extra ball is awarded and lifts. You can earn up to three for a total of eight balls.

The magic screen is controlled via the footrail after shooting the first button and before the last ball indicated by the time tree in the right of the backglass. By default, if awarded, it will lock you out of button presses before shooting your fourth ball. YOu can get extensions to before fifth or even after your fifth ball. If you have after fifth, it's important to move it where you want before shooting an extra ball as the screen will lock when your sixth ball is shot.

Pressing R with three or more in a row (grouped together) or section (together or separate within the same tetris piece) will award you credits anytime after shooting your fourth ball. There's a -VERY SLIGHT- advantage to pressing the R button after playing for your first extra ball as the reflex unit will not step with your winnings until you press that R button. But that's pretty advanced.

Hope that helps - the backglass and rule cards do explain this but it can be a little tricky to understand.

The timer unit must step in order for those features to work. If that's happening, then the trip relays for before fourth and before fifth are not tripping. Those are in the large trip bank on the back door. They are supposed to trip when the timer steps and x number of balls have passed through the gate without resettling in the trough or being relifted.

There are many ways to attack that problem, but my preference is to use a green scotch Brite pad and scrub the rivets. The spider on the front unscrews with a single screw. Even on steppers like the timer where it would be unlikely to install upside down, I reset the unit then take a magic marker and mark one finger of the stepper and a spot on the bakelite portion to help line it back up.

Then I remove the spider (timer on bikini is hooked to a springy conduit so it will hang). The nylon hear comes out if you remove the spring on the back. It is powerful and wound usually 2x or so. Loft it off the hook and count the number of turns and remember or write that down. There's a small hook that hooks into the nylon. You can mark that hole as well if you like.

Pull the gear out and clean off any crud. That nylon hear needs zero lubrication to function properly.

Now for the rivets. Using the green scrub pad, scrub them until shiny. Sanding will wear down the rivets which will clean them but will destroy them. This is still abrasive but will allow them to function for much longer. Polishing with a Dremel or other rotary tool is also possible but super overkill (and in some instances abrasive as well).

Once shiny, clean the fingers of the timer spider. You can use a fiberglass pen, or a quick swipe with your green pad.

Before reassembling use a VERY SMALL amount of lube and wipe over the rivets on the bakelite. Pbr grease, 3-in-1 in the red can, or super lube. Basically I get my finger tip wet then spread it over the rivets. Usually takes 2 dips in the grease before every rivet is covered.

Reassemble and test. The back spring provides resistance as it steps and more importantly the tension to force back to zero position. If that's too tight it won't step. Running without any lube on the rivets and it won't step well. Grease on the nylon and it won't step well... I'm sure you see the pattern - make it step cleanly and reset crisply from every position. There's only 8 on the timer so that's not a big deal.

Once that's done you'll have ruled out a big potential set of problems. But more likely (outside of mechanical trouble) your problem is elsewhere.

OK, you missed a few bits,

It only lifts an extra ball when 1st Extra and Ball panels are ALL lit solid on the lower portion of the backglass. Same for 2nd and 3rd.

This is the most complicated part of the game, scoring. Tackle this last or you'll drive yourself insane. I speak from experience. But this boils down to the search disc. It's almost certainly dirty. It requires a REALLY clean transfer of power, so I usually clean the slip rings, the slip ring wiper arms, the search disc and the associated other bits and bobs. I would highly suggest that you observe and understand a bit about how scoring is supposed to work before trying to clean or adjust the search index coil switches (located below and to the left of the search disc). Those are instrumental in scoring but SUPER hard to adjust properly. Especially for a beginner at bingo repair. You'll get there, but one bite at a time.

That means that your replay reset relay is engaging. Either the game hasn't been started yet since turning it on (that's normal behavior - it's a way to zero the remaining credits on power loss), or you have a short in your 50V. I'm guessing from your description it's the former rather than a short... so... normal behavior, hopefully.

Yes, exactly. Observe and you'll see a time when that switch should be closing momentarily while the motor is running. Adjust it so that it does in fact close and you'll have fixed your timeout issue.

That means that one of the switches behind the buttons is incorrectly adjusted. Most often, I find this is one of the switches behind the red button, but it inspect the switches behind each button. A good question before you go too far down this rabbit hole is if you have credits on the replay register, are you able to press the green or blue buttons after reset (always red even if you press green or blue)? If so, and it plays off a credit but just shows red, it's the switches behind the buttons (most likely).

I'm saying all three panels 1st extra and ball ALL must be lit before the first EB lifts.

Each coin/replay played using the yellow button gives you a chance at lighting one or more panels solidly in the EB section. In fact, if the stars align properly, you can actually earn all nine panels on a single coin/replay.

That means the EB unit isn't stepping properly. Stepping this unit runs through the 2 EB trip relays as well as the unit itself (and a couple other places). Easiest thing to rule out are mechanical problems with the extra ball unit like the timer. The EB unit is most easily accessed when the backglass is removed and the white board is laid down on the siderails. It's underneath the magic screen unit and mounted horizontally. A bit of a tight squeeze to access it, but once rebuilt one less thing to worry about.

Multiple good questions here, so let's start with the first two. Correct. It's just a chance. There's no guarantees in life except for death, taxes, and not getting the award you want when playing the green button. One game could take one coin, another could take 25 or more!

Last question - the OK game is a really difficult concept to explain, but I'll give it a shot. The OK panel will light at random. That allows the screen to move to the right two spaces (after shooting the first ball). It's subject to the time tree on the right, even if the magic screen has not been awarded.

If you get only TWO balls anywhere in the orange section, then hold the R button down for about 3-5seconds, the game will make a few clanks and clunks and the futurity bank will increase by the number of games indicated in the upper left of the backglass.

When you have any number of games banked in the upper right of the backglass, you can press the orange button on the footrail at -any time- to start an OK game. This game gives a guaranteed set of odds and features as indicated on the narrow instruction card that sits in the middle of the bottom apron. If you don't have this card, it is on the bingo.cdyn.com site.

The higher the futurity number, the better the game you are given.

Bikini and Lido are the only two bingos with the futurity feature. It's a really nice feature for a home game as you can play and bank futurity games over the course of many sessions, playing a HUGE futurity/OK game.

The searching needs to work properly in order to tabulate the OK game properly, of course.

Searching for winners is a complex process. The normal process is that pressing the R button pulls in the search magnet relay plate (this is mounted underneath the search disc wipers and locks them in the "ready" position.

When it is released, the search disc wipers will start to turn with the motor. As they sweep across the 50 positions, the search relays will start to pull in. Three will be pulled at once for a three in line, four for four, and all five for five.

This is for a standard in-line (default) screen position.

For sectional scoring, the game has to do a lot more 'thinking'/math. Aside from the standard search relays pulling, it will pulse the sequence and winner unit when the appropriate portion of the search disc is hit while the screen is on a position outside of the standard inline winner. This makes a ton of noise that is very distinct.

Once a winner is detected in either style, the machine will lock the search wipers into place using the search index relay (mounted below and to the left of the search disc assembly). This jams a small piece of metal into a metal gear that holds the wipers in one spot until payout is complete.

Payout happens by unlocking the replay cams using the replay cams index coil. This allows the payout cams to rotate, and based on the type and amount of winner, will pulse the appropriate color replay unit as credits are added to the replay register.

So! While a winner is running, the following coils will be left energized:
Search index relay
search relay 1-5 (depending on type of winner).

The other coils are pulse momentarily.

If your game is having a hard time searching, and I'd encourage you to observe it from the back once you press the R button, or press on the search lock magnet coil plate (not search index, search lock magnet) and observe the speed with which the search disc wipers rotate. These should move at the speed of the motor and should not be able to be re-latched until they make a full revolution. If they are not moving once you press that coil plate, then your clutches need to be oiled or the entire control unit main bar needs to be cleaned and/or deburred.

Gummy clutches are kinda likely, and there's a hack or two to get them running relatively quickly, but they may be fine (at least for testing). Gummy clutches would also prevent payout in a timely fashion as the replay cams are also clutched.

To register the futurity games, you have to hold the R button, but other winners just require a quick press. In the right box you should (within about 20s or so) see the number of futurity games reflected on the left upper corner added to the futurity games on the upper right. If you're already at max futurity, obviously that can't happen. If futurity games are not added, but you're hearing the search noises for the OK, then there is either dirt on the search disc, an adjustment needed on the search index (really, seriously, leave this for last - it's trivially easy to bump the switches out of alignment and a bear to put back without experience), dirt on the search relays, issues with the various discs for searching, a mechanical problem with the futurity unit, or a problem with the OK trip relay. So only 1000 things. Lights not working would be ideal, in other words.

You could check by manually stepping the futurity unit to an arbitrary position then try pressing the orange button. For the orange button to work, there are several relays in the backbox that need to be functional and clean. Your manual does a great job of explaining the function of each switch on each relay.

OH, big note...!

While a game is paying, there's a race condition in Bikini and other screen games where it could continue to step the timer while paying a winner. This is not ideal as once it hits the 8th step, the motor stops, but the relays are locked on to pay. To restart the motors, hit the r button again. Never walk away from a game while it is paying, and always make sure it has finished paying before walking away.

If you leave, the game could catch fire. It's a relatively rare thing for it to get in this state, but knowing about this problem is very important.

That also may explain why the switch 1A was misadjusted. Could have been intentional to prevent the motors from timing out.

Have you cleaned the stepper? It moves like any other, but gets pulsed a -lot- during a typical search, so it is very important that it move cleanly and crisply. The fact that it's trying to move means that it's probably pretty close to working once that's cleaned.

Yes, if the sequence unit and winner units are not able to move properly, that might be the cause.

Yes! So the red sections will score the red odds, green scores green, and yellow scores yellow.

The striped sections score per normal unless the super sections panels are lit (with green or red button play). In those instances, pocketing only two balls scores as three, three as four, and four as five, but only in the striped sections.

Thank you for listening! Hope it helps!

Yes, for sure. The older woodrail games had a page in the manual that described using a torpedo level on the bottom of the cabinet to level front to back and side to side. That doesn't account for games where the playfield isn't screwed down or other discrepancies with the playfield caused by normal temperature and humidity shifts, but it's a great starting place. Then leveling side to side with a smaller torpedo level on top of the playfield in multiple places.

If you are leaning to the left, it's way too easy to collect an OK game. Leaning to the right and it might be too easy to win in some sections, including the blue. Getting things left to right level is really important.

From a playing perspective the front to back level is not as important (but the levelling the bottom of the cabinet trick is a good start). Higher in the back means that the ball spends less time in the top rows, but it also makes achieving a particular hole much harder. By the time it gets to the bottom of the playfield it's moving pretty quickly.

Totally agree - there's a lot of playing value in a bingo, especially for the money they go for.

As far as playing tips, there are players who hold the siderails and follow the ball down (like Vic Camp), and players that control from the footrail (@okorange).

I prefer the siderails, as it's easier to steady the cabinet with a leg and prevent tilting (somewhat). Also helps focus and drive to the appropriate hole (sometimes). Skills like being able to walk a ball from one side of the playfield to the other are invaluable, and learning how to twist and pull as well as push to nudge are really useful and translate well to other games of all eras.

If the search disc wipers didn't return to their standard position that's one possiblity. They should be latched in by the search magnet.