As stated in the subject line, my EBD has started awarding an extra ball for each and every game/player after first plunge of game. There are only two possibilities on initial plunge: Lane A or lane B. Either lane awards an extra ball. I've examined the underside of the playfield, and I see no switch or solder issues. I'm thinking this is a problem on one of the chips on the MPU, but I don't know how to track it down. Oddly, this only happens on the first ball of every game, so effectively the 5 ball game becomes a 6 ball game. As I'm not that great of a player, I probably shouldn't complain, but I'd like to make this as it should be. Thanks for any advice, and I apologize if this has been addressed elsewhere, and I simply couldn't find the topic in my search.

Rick, you nailed it. I checked the replay settings and found the following: Replay 1 set at 1,000; Replay 2 set a 1,600; Replay 3 set at 7. Seven! I'm not sure how this happened. I set the levels for replay 1 and replay 2. It should have read "0" for replay 3. I reset it to "0" and the problem is fixed (wow, I miss that 6th ball!) I have no idea how this happened, but the game does some weird things from time to time. The battery has been replaced by an NV RAM chip, but it still has the original MPU. Occasionally, the game won't make it through the boot series. Power cycling another time usually works. Also, on occasion, during a game the machine will just cease play - game over. One more quirky thing, occasionally, during play, the game will sound the slam tilt alarm ending the game, but not legitimately so. I've checked the slam tilt mechs, and it appears to be a false switch closure, as it would take a lot of roughing to trigger one of the slam tilts, and I don't treat my game that way. These anomalies only happen randomly once in 20 or 30 games, so kind of hard to track down, but could be caused by the same problem that changed my setting for Replay 3 from "0" to "7". Thanks again for the suggestion.

Thanks for the input. All very helpful. I remember reading about what the MPU flashes mean (though it's been a while since I've looked over Clay's repair guides). I'd have to dig a little to find which flash means exactly what, but I'm sure I can find that info. Yes, I could remove the backglass and open the lamp panel before turning on the game each time and try to catch it failing, but since this only happens occasionally, and it's kind of hard to access in my line-up, it's somewhat of a pain to do so. Other option would be to just leave the backglass off, but that's somewhat blinding during play (I know, enough of the whining). All of your suggestions are good. I'll look at re-seating the chips you mentioned, and check the 5V power and the Cap. I was going to send the MPU off to Clyde at the Coin-Op Cauldron for a re-work, but he stays pretty busy and I haven't been able to reach him. He does good work and has rebuilt several boards for me in years past. Other option - easier, but most expensive - would be to replace the MPU as you suggest. I've heard several people saying they prefer the Weebly board over the Alltek. I'll look into that as well. Thanks again!