Trying to repair a Gottlieb Ship-Mates for a friend. I am a solid state guy and have only tinkered with a few EM's. I am in middle GA and there is no repair help for EM games in this area.

This is a game that was restored and working perfectly. The player one "one's" score coil locked up. I removed the coil and reset all score reels to zero. When the game is turned on the score motor keeps turning, the backbox 0-9 unit assembly keeps rotating and the bell chimes. I checked all playfield switches and I do not see any closed. I do have a schematic.

Any ideas? Is there a scoring switch closed somewhere?

Thanks for any input!!!
Big Bob

#2 5 years ago

???

currieddog

Pinside member

Springfield, MA

7y 63,550 3,312 6

Likely your '0' pos. sw. Read more here: http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index2.htm#reels

*Oooops. Didn't read the post thoroughly-disregard.

#3 5 years ago

MarkG

Fun With Pinball

9y 71,300 4,353

OP
Quoted from Big_Bob:
When the game is turned on the score motor keeps turning, the backbox 0-9 unit assembly keeps rotating and the bell chimes. I checked all playfield switches and I do not see any closed. I do have a schematic.

I think your instincts are good but don't dismiss the playfield switches just yet. The fact that the 0-9 (match) unit and chime are working does sound like it wants to score points instead of just trying to reset. Do the points score 1 at a time (a constant pause between chimes) or in groups of 5 (longer pause after each 5th point)? If it's groups of 5, there may be a 5 point relay stuck on for some reason.

Also survey the game and note which relays are stuck on or pulsing. Then have a look at your schematic to see which of those is causing the score motor to turn. That would help narrow down the problem.

/Mark

#4 5 years ago

CHD

Cheddar

GoldenStatePin

Lodi, CA

11y 117K 5,180 17 10

Unplug the playfield Jones plugs and try it. That will isolate the problem to the playfield if it goes away.

#5 5 years ago

???

Big_Bob

Pinside member

Warner Robins, GA

11y 33,050 311

Ok, there was an intermittant switch that was causing the 0-9 unit to run.

I am going to start a new thred labelled start for archival purposes. Thanks

Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!

From: $ 5.00

Cabinet Parts

Gottlieb Score Reel Guide Brackets / Slides

Space Coast Pinball

From: $ 33.00

Gameroom - Decorations

Game Room Decor: Ship-Mates, by TurboFox Photography

Rocket City Pinball

Great pinball charity

Utilizing pinball for the education of kids!

Pinball Edu

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!

This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/em-help-needed-gottlieb-ship-mates and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.