Thanks guys! I got it, thanks to Schwaggs' guess. I completely missed the connectors with the green and white wires. The backbox end was hiding behind the big blue capacitor, and the bottom end behind the transformer. I knew it was something simple that I just must have missed.....boy do I feel dumb!

Awesome! Glad you found it!

I am happy to be joining this member's group. My Black Knight is finally finished. Thanks to Schwaggs and a few others for helping me along the way. I am thinking about installing LEDs. Any advice on kits or things to watch out for when switching to LEDs?

One other question. When I bought my restoration Black Knight it came with an extra partially populated playfield. The playlfield and plastics are in decent shape, some wear but no planking. I am not an expert but it looks like it could be candidate for a full resotoration. Is there a market for this? If so, what would you estimate the price range to be?

There is absolutely a market for the playfield! Post up some pictures so we can help you with a value.

Here are some pictures of the playfield and plastics.

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Everyone, I need a favor. Just bought a Black Knight. Took off the back box to get it home.

Can't find the red white grounding lead. I have looked for hours. It is driving me insane. Where does this cable come from? Where does it split off into a single cable?

Thank you for your help. Pictures would also be helpful.

Cheers,

Eric

UPDATE: made the decision to plug the game in without the red/white grounding lead. Magnets do not work, but they did yesterday.

I can't really help with the price range, have you looked in the Pinside Market Archives?

Here is where the Red/White wire is on mine. It's on the harness with the larger black connector as it enters the head. Magnets will not work without the Red/White wire grounded.

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You are a lifesaver!!! Thank you so so much @schwaggs!

Ok, I’m back on this. Black Pyramid was sold and the boards are back from being refurbished, bulletproofed and a NVRAM installed. Unfortunately when I fired it up, the pop bumper solonoid burned up! Aside from that, there are still lots of issues. I went through the switch test, and I fixed them one by one. Nothing new pops up, but only the top left drop targets reset, the rest don’t pop back up, the magnets don’t work, the middle ball lock won’t pop out the ball, the ball trough won’t pop the ball to the switch 17-19 area, and the ball doesn’t pop into the shooter lane.

So big stuff still not working, and I need a new digital tester. What does work are the rollover switches, the spinner and middle ramp gate, lights, scoreboards and the top left drops.

The question is, where do start for the next stage of fixing?

When the pop bumper solenoid burned, it probably blew the solenoid fuse which is why your other solenoids are not working. I would start by figuring out whats going on with the pop bumper. Look at the pop switches and make sure they adjusted correctly.

A problem has arrived. Three drop targets, all in different banks function fine, however the score isn't registering. Why could this be? Cheers.

If a flipper is stuck on, that means its shorted to ground somewhere. Correct? Upper right coil on mine is doing this now.

Yes

Interesting, I hope that’s it! I went through all of the fuses though. Which fuse runs the solonoid s?

Also, I just completely disconnected the pop bumper for now. Would that take out the other solonoid?

The Solenoid fuse is the 2.5 amp slow blow on the power supply board. The bottom fuse in the row of 4 on the left of the board.

When you disconnected the pop bumper, how did you do that? Did you remove the wires from the solenoid? If so, there was likely one terminal that had 2 wires on it, did you keep those 2 wires connected to each other? The power supply for the solenoids daisy chains from one solenoid to the other. If you break the chain by not keeping the 2 wires together, the down stream coils will not work.

Techincally to disconnect the pop coil, all you need to do is remove one of the wires. Removing the smaller, single wire is the easiest way to do it.

I'd clean the switches with a folded up piece of paper or business card, and also check the wiring and diodes to all the problem switches and switches adjacent to them. Give each wire and diode leg a gentle tug to make sure they're all connected firmly to the switches.

Here's a problem I'm sure others here have run into: when there's no balls sitting in the upper lock trough, at least 50% of shots to it sail right through and don't sit in the trough too be locked/scored. I've tried playing around with some brackets and stuff, but no consistent solution has come about yet. Anyone have any suggestions how to fix that?

What angle do you have the playfield at? I only get that maybe 1 in 20 shots to it (while empty). I've also got a metal plate above the lock to protect the plastic, not sure if that would affect it.

I just measured the pitch at 6.8. My game didn't have the metal protector when i got it, and I've never been able to track one down.

Mine didn't either. I've forgotten the name but some nice person in this thread made me one a while ago..

EDIT: It was @travish. Thanks Travish!

Cliffy is making these. I bought one from him a few months ago. He hasn't added them to his web site yet.
BK-PLATE, Black Knight upper kickout plastic protector plate, $9.00

Awesome, good to know! In the meantime i Frankenstein'd a couple brackets and came up with a working solution (for now at least):

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Note: Change the plunger from 02-2364 to a 02-3407-2. You would thank me.

I have several more all ready to go if you need one. Pm an address and I will stick it in an envelope. Best part is they are free.

You know, i did not keep those 2 wires connected. I’ll try that!

Edit: just connected those two wires. I’m back in action! All solonoids and drop targets are firing! Thanks man! Now, the sound is the last Thing that i need to figure out, still not on?

Really hoping someone can help me Please. Have a really nice BK that is not wanting to play nice let alone at all all of a sudden?! Game worked perfectly for a long time suddenly he (she) is fighting back. During game play the game will suddenly just reset? Not that familiar with this older board sets and hope someone could share some advice. My guess is start with the (2) BR's circled? Or do I just opt for a completely new power supply board as that is the only not new piece I haven't replaced? I would appreciate Any guidance thanks!!!!

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First thing is the check the 5V, if it's too low I'd replace the voltage regulator.

Since I will be ordering parts, any other "yeah I would do that also" type parts? I think I have a new voltage regulator somewhere in my box o crap. Since I have all new boards including displays would it be reasonable to just get a new power board? I only ask this because this game is at a relatives house now and the thought of driving there every other week to trouble shoot a new part is a last resort I am hoping..

Can't hurt to recap the board too. Rectifier diodes might be going bad.

Thank you Very much for the advise! I will overhaul them this weekend. Much appreciated!

Hey guys, I wanted to share the lighting mods I made over the years to my BK. I created a separate thread because I didn't want to clog this one up with a ton of pictures. If you're interested in seeing them the thread is "Black Knight lighting mods"

and is here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/black-knight-lighting-mods#post-4080507

Power supply caps & or flipper diodes.

The rectifiers you circled are not part of the 5V supply. There is another rectifier on the power supply board itself that is used in the 12V -12V and 5V section. To make it bullet proof, I would recap the board and replace the header pins.

The GI pins and connector get toasty on BK. Should plan on replacing J8 (9 pin below the pair of fuses for 5V on the power supply board) both the connector with trifuricon crimp pins as well as the header pins.

Have a good look at the 12 pin rectangular connector on the power supply board. This is where AC enters the board and if toasty can cause problems.

There are 2 fuses for the 5V supply. Have a good look at the clips and replace if they look like they got warm (unlikely). Using a green scrubby, clean the clips (or replace) and clean the metal ends on the fuses (or replace).

While not typically a problem, you might want to plan on replacing the connectors J6 (15 pin) on the power supply and J2 (9 pin) on your combo board and with new trifuricon crimp pins and housing. This is where power leaves the power supply board and enters the CPU board.

With these updates, you should be all set!

Thank you VERY much! Huge help and definitely a good plan of attach. I will do all that has been recommended and hope they enjoy the game for many years to come! Thank you all for your help!!

Turns out I called and they said it is only doing it when they flip both flippers which is why I assumed it might be the bridges. Fun with old games....

My BK was also only resetting when both flippers were flipped at the same time. It would do alot of other weird stuff as well sometimes. Ring the bell, knock out the feature lights, play random sounds etc.

After much checking and testing I ended up replacing the right most bridge which is for the solenoids (you will want to check that is correct on the schematic since I am writing this from memory.) After replacement I no longer have the resets.

Also, the bridge tested ok but I believe it was beginning to leak. Before doing alot of other work I would try replacement and see if it resolves your problem.

Edit- Also both of those bridges should be fused with a 8amp SB fuse. If they short they be come a fire hazard.

New Black Knight owner. Love the game but am have a frustrating issue I cannot figure out. It is a combination of the ball advance to shooter lane and multi-ball lock in upper field. Everything works as advertised every 3rd time you get 3 ball in multi-ball lock in upper field. However, the following next two times when you put first ball in the lock in upper field it will kick out 2 balls in the shooters lane. If you play both balls and loose one it ends your turn and counts up your score down the middle lane lights and advances to the next ball while the other ball is still in play. I got around this by only shooting one ball up the lane and the other stays in shooters lane. So if I get a ball in the lock again nothing happens I have to shoot the ball in the shooters lane. Now if I get a ball in the upper lock again it kicks out a ball from the upper lock when it should go into 3 ball multi-ball phase. I have to get the ball in there one more time in order to activate 3 ball multi-ball play. I have done a switch check by placing one ball at a time in the lane then pull it out then add one more ball pull one out at a time then add the third ball and then pull them out one at a time in all different orders. Switches all indicate as they should. I also did this on switches 17, 18 and 19 same results. However I did read a post somewhere on this site, I cannot find it again, that someone found out that the wiring for switches 17, 18, and 19 is not correct on the diagram and I believe it said the switches should be wired 19, 18, and then 17. Do not know if this could be my problem or if it is something else. Re-cap Instead of kicking a ball out of the upper lock on 2nd ball entry it kicks it out into the shooter lane but on 3rd ball entry it kicks it out of upper lock instead of going into multi-ball phase. Anyone have any ideas? Maybe I should just replace all the switches 41, 42, 43, 17, 18, and 19 with their diodes of course. 2 ball multi-ball operations seem to work fine.

Did the game ever once function properly since you had the machine in your possession? If it is't a stuck switch (which you already tested for) then i'd start a new game, remove the ball from play and individually examine what happens if you manually, individually press each switch in the upper PF ball lock. If the switches are somehow reversed that may try to kick out a ball prematurely. Did you try taking all balls out of the machine and see if you get any switches reading ON during a switch test?

Does anyone know if BK will allow a new game to start if there is a ball missing?

Game will not start without 3 balls in the troughs.

What are the differences between the BK and the BK ltd?

I'm new to pin side. Does posting here make me a member of the BK club? If not how do I join? And what does it mean to be members only? obviously I can post here.

Nothing really. Decal on the apron and micro switches in the troughs.

Yes you can post. Members only is something got started on a thread a long time ago. Kind of a joke. Do you have a BK?

replying to Travish, I haven't figured how to quote yet. Yes I have a very nice one. It came from an operator who was so impressed with BK he bought one for each of his pin locations. Then when it was time to rotate things he brought one home and traded in the rest. At sometime it stopped working and sat unused in his family room for years. It still in real nice shape, except for a few small scares on the cab from the number of times I've moved it, and it just recently stopped working.

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That is a nice one. Better than most original playfields. You will get it figured out. There are a bunch of smart people here. Some with their heads and some with their butts.

If you look at the bottom right of all your posts you will see a set of quotation marks. Click on that and you will see how to use the quote feature. You can delete parts of the quote as long as you keep the front and rear part. It's frowned on here to alter a quote besides shortening it. Even if is obviously in jest.

Looks great. For cleanup a good cabinet clean with Mean Green or your favorite cleaner and your good. Maybe some target stickers and a refresh on some of those dried out rubber nuts and you will be good. As you don't have much of any wear on the playfield a slow and cautious cleaning with Novus 3-2-and 1 and a good wax and the playfield will be ready. For the "not working" part of your formula do your best to describe exactly whats happening or Not happening and when and there are many here that will help as BK experts. Good find.

thanks, It's amazing how something confusing becomes so simple with a little help from a friend.

Thanks for you reply, When I went to take the picture, I was shocked to see how badly the pf needs shopping. Almost to embarrassed to include the pictures. My pins, as well as most everything else I owned was held hostage by my ex wife. After a miserable three year divorce I had 30 days to get my things out of the house or lose them. It took professional movers three trips over two days to move my coin op stuff to a house half the side as my old one. BK being one of my favorites was one of three to get set up. It worked perfectly, and got as much play as the TZ and FH it sat next to. At that time I new it could use a good cleaning and new rubber, but after not having my games for so long all I wanted to do was play them. When BK stopped working it stated to collect stuff on top of the pf glass. It took me a good 5 minutes to clear the glass for the picture. Every pin I own except one I've owned over 20 years. Just getting back to the hobby I'm amazed at things like drop target stickers being remade that in my time were only available by being lucky enough to find some dusty nos that an operator happened to still have. I used to repair my boards to the component level. Hopefully with the help of this group, I can get to point of helping others with their problems. I used to think I came from the golden age of collecting. When I started collecting there were two other collectors in my area. Both were strictly em guys who advised me to stay away from digital. They often talked me out of buying a pin I wanted, because it would only rate an 8 and everything they owned was in much better condition, and they would help me find a better one. Actually finding machines that matched the condition of machines that they had owned 25 years hardly ever happened. Being the only one buying digitals at that time let an ordinary guy like me ( I was an audio visual technician for a school district.) to amass my collection. Now I wish we all could be buying pins for what I paid for mine, but sites like this that allows us to share information, and the availability of remanufactured parts might make this the golden age. Thanks to all for welcoming me into this group. By the way in my day I was considered an interesting, but very strange guy to be collecting Pins.