I have some extra parts from fixing up an EBD that I will sell.
Ive got brand new EBD schematics, brand new full cap kit, brand new 8 ball keychain, brand new post caps and a used set of post caps, brand new drop targets (2x, 3x, 5x, 8 ball), fully working sound chip rom, used lane guides, used plunger and assembly, brand new plunger tip.

PM me if interested. I will give a great price.

I think I have everything sorted out on my EBD now, except for one thing...

The blue 70,000 bonus lamp (up the left lane) stays on all the time. It's always lit, and even in self-test mode, it stays lit while the other lamps blink (except for the GI lamps). It's as if it is linked to the GI wiring, but when I look under the playfield it is wired just like the other lamps in that lane.

Any suggestions?

You probably have a shorted driver transistor on the auxilary lamp driver board for that lamp. You can look at the schematic yo find which one it is.

it´s Q2 if I have it correctly

Hi All,

Just bought a 1981 EBD and it has a weird issue with the playfield lamps/1-7 and 8-15 ball (horseshoe) drop targets:

First of all, while all the targets are all standing, the 2, 5 and 6 ball lights next to the targets are out, and down at the bottom above the flippers, it shows the 2, 6 and 13 balls lit. For the second player (shooting stripes), it shows the 9, 10, 13 and 15 balls out and down below, the 13 ball is lit.

When the horseshoe drop targets are hit, it does the following:

Target Top, Bottom
------- ---- --------
1 Stays lit, 9 lights up
2 Out already, 2 goes out (instead of lighting up)
3 Properly goes out, 3 properly lights up
4 Properly goes out, 4 properly lights up
5 Stays lit, 1 lights up
6 Stays out, 10 lights up, 6 goes out
7 Properly goes out, 3 properly lights up

The striped balls have similar issues.

Any ideas of what may be causing this? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'd prefer not to spend too much (if any) on a pinball repair specialist coming to the house.

Best to all, and start chalking!
Steve

First impression to me is a lamp matrix addressing issue. I'm assuming it's never worked for you since you just bought it....do you know the repair/upkeep history of the machine from the previous owner? First thing I'd do is re-pin the J4 connector on the Lamp driver board (which contains the four lamp matrix addressing wires). Prior to that, you could try pulling off the connector and re-seating it, and/or while the game is running try wiggling that connector and see if the behavior changes. If it does, that's your culprit. If it doesn't, I'd still repin that (and pretty much all) connectors on the nearly 40 year old machine. Re-pinned connectors often fix many squirrely issues.

First thing you should do is put the game in self test mode. The first press of the red button inside the coin door puts the lamps in "burn in" and they will flash repeatedly while in test mode. Any lamps that do not flash have a shorted driver transistor or scr or a short in the wiring harness. Any that do not light either have a bad bulb, loose connection in the lamp socket, bad driver transistor. Often these bulbs will light after pulling them out and pushing back in. The 555 sockets are flaky and and get dirty because of their design. If you are new to pinball, turn the game off while checking under the playfield to prevent accidental shorting. Be sure to bend the sockets back to their original positions.
Open up the back box during the test. Turn game off and re-seat the connectors to the lamp driver and aux driver boards and see if anything changes. If it does, then you need to check and or replace the pins and also look for cold solder joints on the header pins. Push on the connectors while in test mode and if lamps start to light, this will tell you if there's a connector issue.

100% agree. Tedious & time consuming, but it needs done for sure. Male & female sides

Back box door what are the light boxes called?

Does anyone sell these?

Do you staple back into place?

CAB3E3BC-9704-4886-B896-EA9831EF3E71 (resized).jpeg

https://www.pinballlife.com/search.html?Search=Light%20baffle

Thanks for link, baffle was the term I was looking for

Thanks slghokie for that info. I think after my touch-ups I'm going to try painting on a clear coat over the board, sanding, then applying another coat. Based on Vid's suggestion, I know that spraying is better than brushing but I simply don't have the know-how to take apart the playfield any further and simply want to seal in the touch-ups I've done.

Thanks to both Mathazar and Lovef2k for that great info. I'm not too technical but believe I understand what you're saying and will try re-seating the connectors to those driver boards and see what happens. Hopefully I'll come back with another post soon saying everything is fixed! Much appreciated.

First impression to me is a lamp matrix addressing issue. I'm assuming it's never worked for you since you just bought it....do you know the repair/upkeep history of the machine from the previous owner?

BTW @mathazar, I forgot to mention that I bought this off eBay and it essentially works fine. The scoring on the horseshoe drop targets seems to work correctly - the only issue is which billiard ball lights turn off or turn on. So it's not essential to get this part working properly but who doesn't want to have a 100% fully functioning game! Thanks again.

Good luck with it, I will be following up on your progress...

If anybody needs these, I 3D print these out of petg, very durable and will not warp. PM me for details.

9667DA66-31DF-4343-B6DA-F8FE79C4A117 (resized).jpeg

CC9EB4A0-5E0C-4DE8-8CE5-169E416C60AD (resized).jpeg

All I can say Mathazar and Lovef2k is that YOU GUYS ARE GENIUSES!!! I pulled off a couple of the connectors on the two lamp boards, simply plugged them back in, and VOILA, EVERYTHING WORKS AGAIN!!! Well, at least with the mapping of the horseshoe drop targets and the corresponding billiard ball lights. AMAZING! You didn't just make my day, you made my month!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you. And thank you to Pinside as well.

OK, now that you're my go-to techs, I have a follow-up question for you:

A couple of the playfield lamps are still out and they remain out during the self-test. I would presume that they are simply bad sockets since I've tried replacing the bulbs multiple times and nothing happens. Should I clean the pins on the connectors that go into the lamp boards or leave well enough alone there? And if I need to have someone replace the sockets, do you have a recommended seller for those?

Take care,
Steve

https://www.pinballlife.com/lamp-sockets.html

Glad to hear you're making progress! There's nothing quite as satisfying as getting something that's not working on your pin working again with your own two hands.

For the lamps that are out, it could be any number of things (including the socket you mention):

1 - Bad bulb. I think you've eliminated this possibility.
2 - Bad socket. 35+ year old sockets indeed can give you fits and they're not very expensive. You can source them at Pinball Life as well as Marco's and most other online pinball parts suppliers. Before pinning your hopes on that solution, tho, I'd recommend a test if you've got any experience with a soldering iron. Swap a non-working lamp socket with a known working one under the playfield. If the original lamp location continues to not light and the swapped lamp location does light, the problem is not with the socket and you need to focus elsewhere. If the not-lighting socket continues to not light in its new location (and the swapped socket lights in the original location), you indeed have a bad socket and can be confident in buying a new one (they're only a few bucks each).
3 - Broken or corroded wires. This issue is VERY common on these 35+ years old machines as you've experienced by playing with connector insertions and getting some things to magically work again. I'd still recommend re-pinning all of the connectors.
4 - Bad SCRs (transistors) on the Lamp Driver Board. This is another common failure. There are procedures for determining which SCRs are bad if you have the ability to desolder the old bad ones off of the PCB and solder in new ones (SCRs are a couple bucks each). Alternatively, you can buy a new replacement Lamp Module Board from Alltek for about $120 or a refurbished original Bally for around $75.

There's another good troubleshooting step you can take for #3 and #4....for about $50, you can get a Lamp tester PCB from Pinitech. With this lamp board tester, you remove the cables from the lamp board and plug the test board directly into it. When you do the Lamp test from the coin door on the pinball, it will flash LEDs on the test board instead of the playfield. If any of the LEDs on the test board are stuck on or stuck off, the board will tell you exactly which SCR transistor is responsible for that lamp and you know what needs to be changed. You'd also know that the wiring isn't playing a part in the failure. Conversely, if all the test LEDs on the Lamp tester board are working with no problems, you've then confirmed that you've got wiring (connector) issues with the wire harness.

Isn't this fun?

Welcome to the hobby!

Thanks Spiderpin

Well, I'm not the handiest guy around but willing to try soldering the sockets on and off it you think I won't ruin anything. Do I need a heat-sink or anything like that to make sure I don't screw things up? I don't remember too much from high school electric class, but remember the heat sink thing!

Thanks Mathazar

Honestly, I can't tell you if you'd anything or not without knowing your skills. You can get some basic pinball soldering tips here....don't forget to be careful and not get solder blobs dropping into/onto other parts of the playfield underside:

Excellent, thanks. Just watched the video and waiting to receive my soldering diploma in the mail.

Hi there, my playfield is almost exactly the same in that section. Do you happen to have a high-resolution photo of a perfect playfield you could send me or post that I could use as reference? Thanks!

Bad Playfield at Bottom (resized).jpg

Which lamps? It’ll narrow down which board and connector(s) that might be the issue if that's where the problem is.

How fast do you need it? I could scan my IPB PF that Ron Did for me, but it will take a couple 3-4 days...

Bob

Hi @BobLangelius, a scan would be fantastic, thank you so much. No immediate rush...

Thanks @slghokie, that's the best I could find as well...

Hi @frenchmarky, I followed some suggestions above about removing and replacing the pin connectors to the lamp boards and voila, they all worked as they should! Thanks for your willingness to help!

Just about to start using naptha, then a magic eraser and alcohol to clean my playfield. Noticed that there are some holes next to the end of each of the three flippers for some reason, possibly had a thin post in them or something? Please see pictures attached. Does anybody else have these on their playfield or know the reason for them? If not, seems like I should fill them in and touch up the paint. Thanks, Steve

Flipper Holes 1 (resized).JPG

Flipper Holes 2 (resized).JPG

Every early Bally playfield has those dimples next to the flipper tips. They are there to help you align the flipper bats. Do not fill them in..
See here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/centaur-clubmembers-only/page/20#post-4965425

My EBD (1984 version) doesn't have those dimples. Neither does my Mata Hari (1977).

It may have something to do with which vendor made the PF. I read that Bally used multiple source for PF's for the same titles. I have seen variations with the red outlane inserts on some EBD PF's where some were translucent and some opaque.

Umm, did you forget that you installed a hardtop on your Mata Hari:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/mata-hari-club-em-and-ss-all-are-welcome/page/8#post-4939789

And the photo of the sanded playfield before the hardtop install shows the dimples:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/mata-hari-club-em-and-ss-all-are-welcome/page/7#post-4877169

Lets see some clear pictures of your EBD.

Quench - that's just too funny....great memory you have. When I checked for dimples on the Mata Hari, I indeed went straight to the one that I put the new hardtop in! And I just checked my other Mata Hari project....there are indeed little dimples there as well.

I double checked the EBD...no dimbles. Here are some photos (Mata Hari w/ hardtop, Mata Hari no hardtop, and the 1984 EBD).

Flipper Dimple 01 (resized).jpg

Flipper Dimple 03 (resized).jpg

Flipper Dimple 02 (resized).jpg

You might be right on that one. However the left flipper dimple position is covered by the flipper rubber in that picture. Care to take another picture with you holding both flipper bats up?

I have seen them on every Bally P/F I have owned including the eight currently in house. From Night Rider to EBD.

Bats up....

Flipper Dimple 04.jpg

Thanks. Looks like yours were weakly punched but the dimples are there: Have a look at your third left side flipper for a dimple too.

EBD_FlipperDimplesS.jpg

If you look real close (zoom in), these two pics in the gallery have them in the same position:

https://images.pinside.com/c/59/c5922963d15d6c0f4b34ad0c58b2a527175a21de/resized/large/c5922963d15d6c0f4b34ad0c58b2a527175a21de.jpg

https://images.pinside.com/a/45/a45c29a5e608ebd6419b02a0a8448c816d42285e/resized/large/a45c29a5e608ebd6419b02a0a8448c816d42285e.jpeg

Nice eye, @quench. I'll have to have a closer look at the third flipper when I'm home later tonight. Learn something new everyday here on pinside!

Alright, pin sharks...got another bit of buggery goin on with my EBD. See linked video.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1P7WDlrK8jOEBahQYpa_0J66ldYdLV3OD

All displays flicker and spasm whenever the game is in Game Over/Attract mode, but clear up almost completely after a game has been started. Any thoughts or suggestions? My initial thought is a gunky connector somewhere? Maybe once the game starts, more voltage pushes through, causing the problem to clear up?

Thanks in advance!

Kasey

Couple thoughts:
- If this were affecting only 1 or 2 displays, I'd say the problem was with the displays themselves and would be candidates to have the header pins reflowed with new solder. Still...if these are the original displays and that's never been done, that would be a good thing to do for all 5 displays anyway. And eliminate that as the potential culprit.

- Since this is happening on all 5 displays, my inclination is to look for something common between them and that would be the HV circuit on the SDB. If the SDB is original and has never had rework done on it, that means you've got 38 year old capacitors that had a maximum lifetime expectancy of about 15 years. Very common problem. I'd recommend having your SDB re-capped. If you're a do-it-yourselfer, lots of online places sell very affordable kits that come with all the caps, resistors, and parts you need.

Oh, I'm fine with doing my own work. I've got a basement arcade of ~23 machines that I've done all of the restoration work on. I'm sure I've capped 15 or more monitors. I'm just new-ish to pin repair, specifically alphanumeric LED display issues.

And, by SDB, are you saying Solenoid Driver Board?

I'll start reflowing tonight and order whatever caps I don't already have in stock.

Yes - exactly.

Thanks @quench!

Alright, continuing to make progress on the playfield restoration. Used the ZEP heavy-duty citrus cleaner/degreaser to clean the playfield, hopefully removing any old wax and dirt. Then sparingly used the magic eraser and 91% rubbing alcohol to try and remove as much of the swirl/ball marks as possible. Next planned step is to naphtha and then tacky cloth the playfield to prepare for painting. QUESTION: For a pretty beat up 1981 playfield (see picture taken before steps above were taken), would you recommend a light spray with Varathane before painting or not. (Please note, my goal is to make this game as good/great as possible without taking apart the entire playfield, using an airbrush, etc. I am mortal and not a professional restorer so I'm prepared for very good results, not professional results)

Bought some Createx paints per Vid1900's suggestion and am planning to touch-up selected areas or fill entire areas with one color (such as the yellow in the "1" ball pictured). QUESTION: Was the "white" portion of the billiard balls at the bottom and middle of the playfield originally a bright white or an off-white?
Following the painting, the plan is to mask off any areas that shouldn't get clear coat and then lay down a few coats of Varathane from rattle cans, sanding appropriately in between.

Any other final tips before I really get underway? Bought replacement plastics, new screws/bolts, rubbers, bumper caps, balls, etc. Excited to finish this puppy and start playing!

Bad Playfield at Bottom (resized).jpg

One other QUESTION: I'd like to take the playfield completely out of the cabinet. Looks like one big, thick braid of wires under the playfield that connects to multiple pin connectors up in the back box. If I unplug all of those connectors in the back box and run the cables through the slot into the main cabinet, am I good to go or is something else connected that I'm not noticing? Thanks