Hard to say without a schematic. But you can investigate some to see if it's a mechanical or electrical issue.

The Ball Count unit is likely a stepper of some kind. With the game unplugged, can you push in and release its solenoid plungers and have it reliably step forward and backward with the wipers landing squarely on the contacts below? If it's gummed up and sluggish that could easily explain what you're seeing.

You can also start a game and watch what happens to the stepper when the ball drains. Does it try to advance? You could use a bulb tester or analog meter across the ball count advance solenoid solder lugs to see if it's getting a pulse or not.

Does it behave any differently if it's a one or two player game?

/Mark

It's certainly possible since the Ball Count shouldn't advance until the last player has drained.

I'm having one do the same thing, this is a very strange setup on these Chicago Coin games. At the beginning of the ball, if the player control relay is pulled in, it resets the player unit (which leaves it at player 1) and also pulses the ball count unit.

If the player control relay is not pulled in, it pulses the step up on the player unit... this all has a timing to it too as it all runs through the score motor.

Here's the indepth look at what it does, I'm typing it out because mine keeps jumping to player 2 like Raff's was. I guess it's something on the coin/player unit not connecting through well and the player control relay doesn't pull in... however, I am also having it do it on ball 1 which it shouldn't be able to do because the 1st ball relay hasn't tripped. So it's getting power to a coil that should be impossible, I keep looking for cut wires and shorts but nothing so far.

Chicago Coin Moonshot Startup Sequence:

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The score motor has 6 positions, 6 is home

Ball lands in the outhole switch or is sitting there

Game over relay should be energized by the lock relay, and A-6. Any tilt switch will trip it.

Pressing Start turns on the replay reset relay

Replay reset relay turns on score motor and will fall out when E1 opens at position 5

Replay reset Relay Resets the Replay Unit when B-2 pulses at position 3.

Replay reset relay holds the game reset relay on until A-3 opens at position 6

The game reset relay pulses the counter, and steps up the coin unit.

If a point was scored in the previous game, the 1st ball relay is tripped. The 1st ball relay being tripped means the game reset relay trips the #1 start relay

The #1 start relay trips the #2 start relay

The #1 start relay holds the score motor on

The #2 start relay turns on the score reset control relay

The Score reset control relay holds on until a-2 opens at position 6 (but will stay on until all 16 reels reset)

Score reset control relay turns on Score reset relay #1 and #2

Score reset control relays reset all the score reels

At B-1 (position 3) the #2 start relay and score reset control relay pull in the bank reset relay which holds itself in until A-7 opens at position 6

The bank reset relay resets the bank at E-2 position 5

This resets the game over relay, and resets the Ball count Reset coil at C-1 position 4

When the game over relay resets, it energizes the out hole relay which holds itself on until E-1 opens at position 5 (but is still held in until the ball is off the switches)

At position C-1, with the outhole relay in and the last ball relay not tripped, the ball is shot out at position 4.

With the ball off the switch, the outhole relay opens at position 5.

The player control unit should not step up, because the 1st ball relay hasn't been tripped. When the ball crosses the playfield ball return switch in the trough, it pulls in the ball count relay which holds in until B-6 opens, at position 3.

The Ball count relay keeps the score motor running until A-1 opens at position 6

The Ball count relay pulls in the player control relay which holds in until D-4 opens at position 2.

The player control relay pulling in allows A-3 (position 6) to pulse the player control unit reset (after each ball) and also the ball count step up unit.

So the player control relay should be pulling in as the ball passes the trough, and having the player control unit resetting and the ball count unit stepping up. It shouldn't do it on the first ball, because the 1st ball relay isn't dropped.