Pretty new to reading schematics but not afraid to try. Bought this game about 4 years ago and never got around to getting it running so I am beginning to try. So on restart, start relay fires, hold relay operates and game motor starts and spins and spins, never stopping. At first, I thought the problem might be ten thousand reel as it did not look completely zeroed but I was able to get it to zero but that did not stop the restart attempt. The ball advance coil continues to fire, and if I manually turn the ball count stepper to say 5, the coil stepper moves from 5 to 4, etc all the way to game over. That is pretty much where I am. I have the schematic that I bought when I bought the machine but still not well enough versed at reading it to know where to go next. I will admit I think I may have a problem with that 10000 reel but it is zeroed and I cleaned the contacts on the reel but am now stuck. I don't want to shotgun this, I want to now develop my investigational and trouble shooting skills with your help. Any suggestions appreciated. I played High Hand back in the day, loved it and from the reviews and rarity of this game, I think I will have a winner when working. Game looks extremely clean under the hood.

I have a scan of the schematic ready but wasn't sure I could post it here. I sent you a message about this. Looking forward to hearing from you.

My 10000 reel is screwed up, I can tell it is at least a part of the problem. The startup has this reel clacking to get to zero and even though it shows zero in the window, it is still in motion. To get it out, do you recommend unsoldering the coil wires and leave the coil and piston intact so I can make sure it works properly? I will need to post a pic of it as there are "fingers" at one end of the axle the numbers spin on and I have no idea what position it needs to go back in at, does one end line up with zero? Maybe if you let me know is unsoldering is the right move first and then when I have it out I will post pics.

No, I have the reel out, removed the electical "board" on its side, took out the reel and its spring, etc but I would like to clean everything up and doing it standing in the back of the machine is not the best place for it. I need to remove all the electronics to get it out and to my kitchen counter and everything else can be removed with screws holding switches except for the coil. I can remove it and also leave it dangling in back of the machine but then I will be missing the piston and coil sleeve I would like to have to play with the entire unit and make sure that the coils firing will advance the reel.

This is what the reel looks like. I removed the brown bakelite top and took out the reel. But to have the coil and sleeve with the unit to test its movement, I need to unsolder the coil, I think.

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So I read the repair description under the pic I just posted and he talked about shortening the spring rather than removing, I would rather remove and clean it up so let me know what you think. BTW, now I understand that that is just a match plate and therefore the position of the fingers is irrelevant and not oriented to the reel in some needed manner so disregard that question above.

Yes, I have been reading this very section for the past several hours. I now agree I will fix this thing in the machine as it looks like cleaning, switch adjustment is what I need, I agree. I also will order a repair kit to have around. Thanks for stopping me!

Thank for all your input Howard and curriedog. Here is the latest, not all bad actually, I think. I am still having issues with the 10K reel and I have partially disassembled it but now am going to more aggressively disassemble to clean out the coil sleeve and make sure it is usable. I did get the reel to function somewhat normally and a new, I think good behavior began. When I press the replay button, the reels reset and the clacking of the subtract ball count unit coil begins. Now when the 10K reel resets, about once every 30 seconds, the add ball count unit kicks on for 5 fires, turning off the game over light and advancing to 5 balls remaining, only to have the subtract ball unit immediately remove them. (one quick question, should the 10K coil stay energized until the game completely resets, as I notice mine is even though the EOS break switch is clearly broken)? This is where I am at, I think that subtract ball count unit is firing and shouldnt be, prob because of a switch on the score motor but I haven't delved into this yet as I want to get those reels working reliably. Howard, I went to Staples and the copies are in your email.

Great, thanks so much as it is apart right now so perfect timing too!

I will have to look at the EOS switch and wires to make sure there is no connection as the switch is visibly breaking. I just didn't know if that behavior stopped when the game was fully reset, which I have yet to attain. Any thoughts on the "add ball", "subtract ball" battle that is waging in the back of the machine?

Is this the circuit I should be looking at for the "stuck" 10K coil?

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So I cleaned all the score reel relays in the back and adjusted them properly I am still having trouble and I think I'm going to go to the trouble of breaking down all the score reels and cleaning the parts putting in new sleeves etc., so that will be fun! I am still having the problem of the 10,000 coil being active throughout the restart process. I was actually able to play the game by manually finishing the reset and again, that coil is energized until a score is made at which time it turns off. There are some other crazy activities including improper scoring, improper add a balls given, etc. I have to get the game to the point where it reliably restarts before I worry about these.

So I am so confounded in this matter with the 10,000 unit coil remaining energized on reset that I am quoting myself. This schematic which I think I'm getting better at reading, only shows two paths to energizing the 10K coil one is through the nine position on the thousand unit circuit through the L relay and the other goes through the Z relay. Now we know that the other coils are not firing or trying to fire at the same time ( I think negating the possibility of this coming from the Tze relay) but this one is energized and most importantly the 1000 is not. I would think if the energy is coming through the nine switch on the 1000 relay that this coil too would be firing at the same time which it is not it is clearly in the zero position. From where is the energy to the coil coming?

Actually, the more I look at it, it has to be going through the L relay to the nine position on the thousand unit as that is the only route it would cause this problem without causing other noticeable problems. Let me know if you agree with that thanks.

Yes, it was good advice and I found the short that was causing the 10000 real coil to stay energized. The switches on the 10000 unit itself were being shorted and because I can't describe what I did to fix it let's just say the coil is no longer staying continuously energized. It is however, continuing to fire and run in circles along with the continued start up efforts of the entire machine. I did check the 9 unit on the 1000 reel to make sure the energy wasn't coming through that switch going to the 10000 and it was not. The reel continued to spin and actually now I can see that all the reels are actually functioning pretty well and probably will not need the rebuild that I was planning. But just to make it clear, only the 10000 rel is spinning as the machine tries to start. I need to look at the schematic but I am willing to listen to any suggestions for the next part of my endeavor. I will say, I can stop the start up attempt by manually firing the end reset relay, if that helps.

Sorry, Howard, the AR/A reset relay. Where is that switch located, on the 10K reel?

So I rebuilt all the score reels and now when I start the machine they roll quickly to 0 in perfect manner. Now the game continues to try to start with the score motor spinning and the subtract a ball coil firing continuously. Occasionly, the add a ball coil will fire and bring the ball count to 5 which are immediately removed by the subtract a ball.

Another thing I just noticed is when playing with the playfield targets, I knocked entire bank of 4 and a loud buzz began. Now after turning the machine off and turning it back on the replay button no longer resets the targets or tries to start the game. Have no idea whether this is related or just another solitary problem to solve. I am going to look now if I can see where the buzzing is coming from.

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This is the relay that is buzzing, located under the playfield at the top. There is a set of 5 relays and someone has wired them for a purpose I don't know . Look closely and you'll see the red wires on each of the 4 relays towards the left. Not sure what this is supposed to do but if you have any ideas let me know.

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OK, maybe that is a normal function as each of the relays fires when the entire bank of four targets is dropped but just the one is particularly noisy when it fires. I was able to get the game to restart by messing with the hold relay and wow relay just randomly pushing them and suddenly the game was able to start up again but is only spinning and spinning, not completing the entire start up.

So I manually fired the A/interlocking relay And the game became quiet. I reached in the back and added 5 balls by spinning the add a ball stepper and the game played normally in fact the points and everything seemed perfectly normal. Once the game was over I tried to restart and again I get the score motor spinning so the start up is not completing for some reason.

Agreed, sorry, so let me be sure of the circled area on the schematic, one of those relays is keeping the motor running on start up? This is not like my Eldorado where the motor start spinning immediately when I turn the machine on but rather only starts when I press the start/ replay button. I should still check these relays?

So I checked all those relays and the motor switch and adjusted them all as well as cleaned them but the behavior continues.

Hope i am not too much of a headache but I neglected to consider the switches to the right and after adjusting the A interlocking relay, the behavior of the running motor stopped. Now on pushing the replay button, the targets reset, the motor spins 1/3 of a rotation and that's it, no other activity. The subtract a ball coil is no longer firing. That is where I am at, game over lit. It is obvious when mobilizing the A relay that some rewiring has taken place there too, if it matters.

I apologize Howard, when I dictate these notes sometimes I don't see the mistakes I make. What I meant was the switches on the right end of the schematic namely, the A relay. I was looking to the left on the schematic at the different relays and just neglected to see the ones on the right end of the schematic that you posted. That said, something is weird about that A relay and although the motor has now stopped running there's not much happening when you push the button for a replay. I think maybe I should take you up on your phone call as I might make more sense and you actually may be able to hear the machine in the background or I could send you a video. I am not in front of the machine but I do believe the start relay activates the motor turns 1/3 of the rotation and everything then stops. I will try to post tomorrow what activity I see on restart and what state each of the relays you asked are in.

Howard, I went out to look at the game tonight and again on start up, the score motor is running nonstop. The score reels reset correctly. The problem seems to be the A relay. If I "fire" the lower coil, moving the plate and engaging the interlock mechanism, the score motor stops but the game is still in "game over" mode. If I then engage the W relay and add (5) balls, the game is playable and appears to play exactly as it should, complete with correct scoring, add a ball for the correct scores, etc. I attempted to trace the circuit to both the W and A/AR coils and did not get beyond this point. Is this my next step? Thanks for your help, maybe I am close?

The closed switch that is causing the score motor to continue to run is on the A interlocking relay--I am pointing to it in the picture. The coil to the upper left in the picture never seems to fire and pull the plate toward itself stopping the motor-I put a voltmeter on this coil and see no pulses of energy to it. Even if the coil did fire and the game was now reset there still has been no consistent activity from the W relay adding balls to the game--it does occasionally fire perhaps once a minute. I checked every switch that I see on this schematic dealing with the W relay and the A relay and how they interrelate but I still haven't gotten the game to start on it own completely. If I manually stop the motor by manipulating the A relay the game quiets and then I can activate the W relay manually, add 5 balls and you can immediately play the game.

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I sure do and made 2 of them a couple weeks ago--I will put them to use this weekend and thanks for highlighting the circuits.

So the major problem I found today is that one of the A coils (the one to the upper left in the last picture) doesn't have enough OOMPH to pull the final reset plate to itself--I am going to clean up the plates, adjust the springs and see if that makes a difference. It is definitely firing so... The add a ball relay W is still not firing consistently--I suspect a motor switch and will evaluate that after I have the interlocking working well, one thing at a time as you wisely put it.