(Topic ID: 195202)

EM schematic fully described from beginning to end (Bally Bon Voyage)

By xsvtoys

6 years ago


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#1 6 years ago

The Short Version (TL;DR)

The circuit descriptions with pictures will be posted in sections as shown below. I will post one section and then wait for an unspecified time for comments. There may be questions, inputs, corrections, criticisms, etc. Once everything seems complete for that section, then the next one will go up and this will continue until the end. As the sections are added I will come back and add links to the section headings to make the TOC more useful.

  1. Part 1: Power Supply
  2. Part 2: Power On
  3. Part 3, 1 / 2: Coin Chutes and Credits
  4. The Score Motor
  5. Part 3, 2 / 2: Coin Chutes and Credits
  6. Part 4, 1 / 2: Start New Game
  7. Part 4, 2 / 2: Start New Game
  8. Part 5, 1 / 5: Game Play (10, 100, 1000 points)
  9. Part 5, 2 / 5: Game Play (500, 3000, 5000 points)
  10. Part 5, 3 / 5: Game Play (B-O-N-V-O-Y-A-G-E Special)
  11. Part 5, 4 / 5: Game Play (Collect Lit Value Hole, Spinner Disc)
  12. Part 5, 5 / 5: Game Play (Tilts, Flippers)
  13. Part 6, 1 / 2: Ball Drains (Balls in Play)
  14. Part 6, 2 / 2: Ball Drains (Last Ball)

What good is it?

If you have a Bally Bon Voyage, you are golden. You will be able to quickly troubleshoot practically any problem that comes up.

If you have a Bally EM of similar vintage this should help to understand how it works. Many of the sub circuits use the same logic from machine to machine.

If you want to know more about how an EM works this could be a good illustrative example. I am not sure how well the information will translate over to other brands such as Gottleib which may use different schematic layouts, but the general ideas should be somewhat consistent.

The Longer Explanation

The Bon Voyage or BV for short was my first pinball machine, bought before I knew about Pinside. I had an idea that people had them in their homes and I knew that new ones cost $5000-8000 which seemed pretty high. Then I realized it was possible to get the older ones for far less than that, even a few hundred dollars. I liked the idea of getting one of the older machines, and ended up getting the BV via Ebay which turned out to be a local Pinsider. It was in really good shape and all working when I got it.

While playing the machine for fun was a major point of getting it, right away I also wanted to poke around the machine. I was intrigued about the operation of an EM machine. My friends would look at it and say "how does it control everything with no circuit board, no CPU, no memory, etc?" I just opened it up and showed them and answered "it's all done by relays. And motors. And stuff." I had looked at the workings of the machine and the schematic but I had no clue about how it actually worked.

For no reason other than curiosity I started trying to figure out how things worked. As I watched various things physically happening I formed ideas in my head about how those things were controlled. In some cases I had the right general idea, but in many cases I wasn't even close to the reality of how it actually worked. I found out later that this was really because I wasn't thinking yet in terms of "pinball logic". Once you get the concepts of pinball logic down it gets much easier to understand the circuits.

I wasn't coming into this cold as I actually had a fair amount of previous experience working on machines with a similar design in a job I had long ago. These machines were also completely electromechanical and used large numbers of relays to control the logic and turn various motors and solenoids on and off. So I had experience looking through large fold out schematics and trying to troubleshoot problems by figuring out the circuit paths. Nonetheless despite looking at the schematic and the machine for hours most of it still made no sense to me and I might as well have been reading Greek. I did not want to give up and I vowed I would methodically go through it until I figured out every last piece.

I used a combination of observing the machine and studying the schematics and other available information, and it finally started to come together. It did take a while, but actually the process of figuring everything else out in my head wasn't too bad and went pretty quickly once I got it going. Then I decided to write it all out which took a bit longer. After that I decided I would put the whole thing together with drawings in the form of web pages. As I started doing that I also incorporated a comprehensive set of descriptive information to keep things organized and logical. This was a fun project but it ended up being a lot of work and it took quite a while to get it all done. Also as I went along I was often not satisfied with earlier efforts and I kept going back and revising and improving things. The final result will be shown here and I suspect that I will need to make many more revisions based on inputs from those that have been doing this much longer than me.

Hop in, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times, supervise your children, and enjoy the ride. You will see more than you ever wanted to know about the Bally Bon Voyage.

  • 119 lamps
  • 44 relays
  • 22 solenoids
  • 8 stepper units
  • 310 individual switches!
#2 6 years ago

Reference Materials
I won't spend too much time on the most basic theory since that is covered well elsewhere, so these explanations assume the reader has basic knowledge of how a relay works, how a switch works, what NO, NC, and MB mean, etc. Here are some good references for that information. There are many others to look at, Google "pinball schematics". But these two are great to start with.
http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index.htm
In particular here:
http://www.pinrepair.com/em/index3.htm#schematic
And this is great too:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/em-pinball-circuits-basics-to-not-so-basic
Schematic
I purchased the schematic from PBR. I use the paper version a fair amount but I also do a lot of work with the e-version. There was no e-version that I found so I made my own scan and stitched it up and fixed it a bit in Photoshop. That version is now posted on IPDB on the BV page, I'm not sure exactly how it got there but I believe someone from Pinside put it there. For this tutorial I redrew some parts of the schematic in vector format using Microsoft Visio. At one point I thought about redrawing the entire schematic this way so there would be a perfectly clean vector version, but that project would require a fair amount of time.
The BV schematic is a typical schematic of that Bally era as far as I can tell. It should be noted that there are some errors in this schematic, which will be pointed out of course. The schematic generally will tell you what you need to know, but you have to know how to use it. The hardest thing to deal with is the fact that the relay switches are not labeled and organized in relation to the relay they are on. In other words if a relay has say 4 switches you would not easily know this when you look at the schematic. Those 4 switches each might have a certain function and the might be scattered from one end of the schematic to the other end. When you see one switch from that relay in a sub circuit you would have no way to know how many other switches might be on that relay. You could start at one end of the schematic and work your way to the other and try to search out all of them. It is actually much easier to observe the relay or take a photo of it and then count up the switches on it. Then you know exactly how many to look for on the schematic if you want to fully describe that relay.
The schematic is drawn to represent a certain state of the machine. It is important to understand this if you are trying to figure out circuits. There seems to be somewhat of a pinball standard for this:
Coin put in, credit button pressed, first ball in the shooter lane, then machine power switched off.
Operator Manual
The BV manual is available at IPDB. The Bally manuals provide some good information including a general description of how the machine works and a description of the start up sequence. If you understand how the schematics work this manual actually explains a lot, but if you are coming in cold sometimes it is hard to grasp. I have looked at a few different manuals from Bally Ems of this general era and it seems that the quality of the content varies quite a bit. Some of them are much better than others, for example with the details on the score motor switches. The BV manual seems to be a fairly mediocre effort. It has quite a few outright errors and the score motor information is slightly lacking.
Bally Parts Manual
This is very handy as a source of general information as well as specific details for each machine.
http://www.planetarypinball.com/reference/partsmanuals/BLY_Parts_1976/files/mobile/index.html#1
My Documents
The primary reference document I made for this project is a spreadsheet for parts of the BV. This includes all of the relays, solenoids, stepper units, targets, etc. to keep things organized everything is labeled using a my own numbering scheme. The coup de grace is a table that lists every switch in the machine, including where it is in the machine, where it is in the schematic, the wire colors and where the wires go, and it's function. By combining this table with the schematic and description it should be easy to narrow down and understand (and troubleshoot) any sub circuit in the machine.
The latest revisions of my Bon Voyage documents can be found here:
http://www.xsvtoys.net/bon_voyage_pinball_documents.htm

Added over 7 years ago: I forgot to put in another very good document:

"Introduction to Bally Flipper Games".

This is full of very good drawings and explanations. A quick Google should net you a printed version to buy or even a downloadable PDF.

#3 6 years ago

some stuff will go here

Added over 7 years ago: PINBALL LOGIC

I mentioned "pinball logic" in my initial post. As you might read this thread or other resources about pinball schematics and pinball operation, and as you try to figure out or troubleshoot your own machine, if you can get thinking in terms of "pinball logic" then things start to fall together more quickly. And sometimes things actually make sense.

In the EM world, we know that basically everything is controlled by a series of switches. There are switches everywhere: On the playfield, on the various stepper units, and on all of the relays in the machine. These switches are connected in a series of subcircuits which add up to the entire schematic. Each subcircuit is responsible for doing its own task, so once you can start to break things down into sections it becomes easier.

If there are just two things you should focus on for understanding Pinball Logic these would be 1) the lock-in switch and 2) the score motor.

The lock-in switch is found on almost all of the typical G type relays you find inside an EM pinball machine. This is a switch on the relay that is wired directly to its own relay coil. This means that as soon as the relay becomes energized then the lock-in switch will hold it in that energized position until the circuit voltage to the coil (through the lock-in switch) is cut off somehow, usually by another switch that is closed but then opens to cut off the circuit.

Why is this needed? In general, it is best of the relays are not energized for long periods. Now there are some relays that do stay energized for long periods, for example the Coin Lockout relay or the Lock relay. These need to stay locked on for long periods in order to do their job. These relays must be built with special coils that are capable of handling the load of being on all of the time. The other normal relays are meant to just be turned on then off quickly and use coils designed for that purpose.

The problem is that the triggering events are too short in time to allow the relay to be closed long enough to do everything it needs to do. Consider for example the 10-point relay. It is energized when the ball bounces off a slingshot switch, pop bumper or similar playfield switch. That switch will just be closed for a short instant of time when the ball strikes it, then it opens back up. This will energize the 10 point relay, but that short period of time won't be enough so the 10-point relay can accomplish all of its jobs: advance the 10s score reel, sound the 10 point chime, etc. So we use a lock-in switch on that relay to hold it energized just long enough to get all those things done.

The length of time of a relay's lock-in is typically controlled by a score motor switch. The lock-in switch will be in series with a NC score motor switch, thus completing the circuit and keeping the relay energized. The action being performed will involve sending the score motor the signal to go along with everything else that needs to be done. So when the score motor rotates around to whatever cam position that score motor lock-in switch is located, it will change from NC to NO, opening the lock-in circuit to the relay and thus deenergizing the relay.

The machine exploits the different positions on the score motor cams as they rotate with different timings, and that way you can control what things are done in what order.

Once it becomes second nature to find the lock-in circuit for a given relay and to understand how the timing of the score motor works, then it becomes much easier to look at a section of the schematic and figure out what is going on.

You are thinking with pinball logic, and life will be good.

#4 6 years ago

FAQ
Are you crazy?
Yes. No sane person would do this.
Are you OCD?
Yes. No normal person would do this.
Will you do another one?
Never again! It's too much work. But, I do have a similar vintage Bally Monte Carlo. It would be interesting to figure out the extra stuff associated with a 4-player game. So, maybe yes.

Added over 7 years ago: Can you make a video of this?
I would love to see this information put together into a video with improved graphics, some circuit animations, actual video of the machine working including the internal parts such as relays, stepper units, etc. I have all of the tools to do this and I think it would be a fun project that could be useful. However this type of project takes a considerable amount of time so for now it is not practical. Also, there isn't any reward other than the satisfaction of doing it and knowing that maybe some others got some good knowledge about it. It is almost impossible to make any money from YouTube videos unless you can get millions of views and that doesn't seem likely, as popular as pinball is.

#5 6 years ago

Part 1 POWER SUPPLY

The power supply in a EM pinball machine is as about as simple as it gets, predating modern power supply boards and modules that produce a variety of voltages in AC and DC. There is a transformer, and that is basically the entire power supply circuit. A transformer uses coil windings and magnetic induction to change one voltage to another. For the Bon Voyage and many EM machines, everything in the entire machine is AC (alternating current). There is no DC (Direct Current) anywhere in the machine.

Some of this power supply wiring can vary between machines depending on where the machine has been in the past. For example, if the machine was installed in Canada or Europe, it may have modified parts and wiring for the source power in those areas.

The power supply includes fuses which will protect the machine against electrical shorts which could otherwise cause damage or even fire. This machine has 4 fuses.

  • 15 A
  • 10 A
  • 10 A
  • 8 A

These fuses are of the type known as 3AG. This designation describes the physical size of the fuse. In addition to needing to be the right physical size each fuse has a voltage and amperage rating. The amp rating is critical and only fuses of the proper matching amp rating should be installed. The voltage rating for the fuse can be the same or higher than the rated voltage. The most common 3AG fuses are 250 V, and these will work fine.

This section of the schematic shows the entire power supply. For a typical USA 120 VAC input, the green wire goes to ground. The neutral wire (white) goes to the bottom of the transformer on lug 5. The hot wire (black) goes to a tie point on the insert board (big black dot), where it is connected to a yellow wire. That yellow wire goes to the power switch. On the other terminal of the switch is a blue wire which goes to an 8 amp fuse, and finally on the other side of the fuse is an orange wire that is attached to lug 1 of the transformer. So if the 8A fuse is good and the power switch is turned on, the transformer will get an incoming supply of 120 VAC.

power supply (resized).jpgpower supply (resized).jpg

The design of the transformer is set up so the other side will give us the voltages we want to run our machine. For this machine, there are just two AC voltages that are used to run everything, 6 VAC (nominal) which is used for all the lamps and 50 VAC (nominal) which is used for everything else. From this point we will just use "V" instead of "VAC" since it is understood that everything in this machine is AC voltage.

As is common in EM machines, the higher voltage can be set for two different settings. This is clearly described by this sign which is stapled on the inside of the machine.

sign_transformer_wiring (resized).jpgsign_transformer_wiring (resized).jpg

The "high tap" setting was meant to be used if the incoming voltage was low. Either the high tap or the low tap setting will work. Some EM fans like to use the high tap setting because it makes everything a bit "livelier". This machine is wired for high tap as shown here.

The yellow wires attached to lug 8 of the transformer takes one leg of the 50V out to the machine, and the red/white wire attached to lug 2 (the high tap lug) goes to a 10 A fuse which will protect the entire 50V circuit. The 6V lamp circuit uses the same yellow wires from lug 8 for one leg. The yellow/brown wires attached to lug 10 go to two different fuses that split the lighting circuit into two parts, one protected with a 10 A fuse and the other with a 15 A fuse.

This is how the transformer looks inside the machine.
power supply 2 (resized).jpgpower supply 2 (resized).jpg

And this is how the fuses look.
fuses (resized).jpgfuses (resized).jpg

After this Part 1 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.

BonVoyageSchematicPart1 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart1 (resized).jpg

#6 6 years ago

First thing I would do on that Bally is to change the garbage OEM fuse holder to a new improved, reliable version.
Originals are almost always have weak tension on the fuses, leading to excessive heat & failure - maybe even a fire...

#7 6 years ago
Quoted from dasvis:

First thing I would do on that Bally is to change the garbage OEM fuse holder to a new improved, reliable version.
Originals are almost always have weak tension on the fuses, leading to excessive heat & failure - maybe even a fire...

I have the part, just need to do the job. Too busy drawing these pictures!

#9 6 years ago

A big THANK YOU to xsvtoys for taking the time and effort to put this together. The previous documents he has created for Bon Voyage have been a great resource for any Bon Voyage owners out there, myself included, as well as his Bon Voyage Restoration thread at:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bally-bon-voyage-restoration-lite

I look forward to the remaining sections as they get posted!

#10 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 2 POWER ON

The first operation we need to perform is to flip the power switch to the On position. Typical of Bally machines of this era, the power switch in found underneath the front right part of the cabinet. The picture below shows the top of the power switch on the left (which is inside the cabinet) and the bottom on the right (the toggle which is underneath the cabinet).

power switch (resized).jpgpower switch (resized).jpg

Flipping on the power switch doesn't cause much to happen. There isn't much noise and the only lights that come on are the ones on the coin door.

There may be a buzzing noise coming from the front door. If this is the case, it is most likely the Coin Lockout coil. As shown here, the Coin Lockout coil is always on when the power is on, except for a short time which is to prevent 2 coins being inserted in rapid succession, this is controlled by a Score Motor switch 1B which is NC but will open briefly after a coin is inserted. (The score motor will be covered in more detail later). The purpose of the 8200 ohm resistor that is parallel with the score motor switch is to reduce arcing at the score motor switch.

EXTRA NOTE: There have been many discussions about this resistor in the lockout coil circuit path here at Pinside and in other places. My explanation above is my conclusion as the most logical reason it is there. But if there is more debate on this, I would be interested to hear it!

coin_lockout_schematic (resized).jpgcoin_lockout_schematic (resized).jpg

The sole purpose of the Coin Lockout coil is to allow a coin reject bar to spring into place when the power is off, so anyone who puts a coin in while the power is off won't lose it. Then, when the power is on the coil activates and has to constantly hold the coin lockout bar open by its magnet. Because it is on all the time it eventually heats up and starts to buzz. The Coin Lockout coil is not needed on a home machine and it can be entirely disconnected if desired to make things simple. This is done by unsoldering the 2 wires to the coil and then closing them off with tape or wire nuts so they don't short.

lockout_coil (resized).jpglockout_coil (resized).jpg

For the lighting circuit, we can see that as soon as the power switch is turned on the Front Door Illumination circuit is alive, getting 6V from R-B wire from one of the 10 A fuses. This R-B wire goes to the coin door to the lamps that are there, with the other half connected to the yellow wire which is one leg of the 6V power supply. This circuit is shown in red.

front door illumination (resized).jpgfront door illumination (resized).jpg

We can also see that all other parts of the lighting circuit are cut off from power by 2 switches on the Lock relay, seen in the picture above just below the red front door illumination circuit. Shown below these switches are Normally Open or NO. The 2 switches are highlighted in yellow, as are the General Illumination, or GI, which controls the rest of the lights.

lock_relay_GI (resized).jpglock_relay_GI (resized).jpg

Here we can see how the schematic is a useful reference for looking at pieces of the circuits, but can be limiting when trying to understand how the circuits work. We see two open switches that are on the Lock relay. But we don't see the Lock relay itself in this area. It is located elsewhere in the schematic and we have to find it there so we can figure out how everything works. We can also look at the actual Lock relay coil itself to see if we can get more clues and information about what is going on.

When we look at the Lock relay we can see the 2 switches which we can identify by the corresponding wire colors in the circuit, they are the middle two switches. Even though it is somewhat hard to tell in the photo, these 2 switches are actually open at this point, which means the lighting circuits are cut off as shown above. We also can see that there a 4 switches total on the Lock relay, and each switch has its own pair of colored wires connected to it.

CR05_lock_relay_1 (resized).jpgCR05_lock_relay_1 (resized).jpg

It is best to keep track of all of the switches on each relay so we can figure out everything that is going on. I use a labeling scheme for the switches to make it easy to track them. The switches are first identified by the relay coil code for the relay they are attached to. The coil codes were arbitrarily assigned by me. The Lock relay is number CR05. The switches are numbered in the same way shown in the Bally Parts Catalog:

"Switches are listed below in numerical order, commencing with Switch Plate end of each switch-stack. When 2 switch-stacks are used, stack nearest to Relay Mounting Board is Stack A. Second stack is Stack B."

So for this relay, we identify the switches like this:

CR05_lock_relay_2 (resized).jpgCR05_lock_relay_2 (resized).jpg

#11 6 years ago

This points out another problem when using the schematic to try to understand how a circuit works. We see 2 switches from the Lock relay in the part of the circuit we are investigating, but there is no way to tell how many switches in total are on that relay, where they are, and what they do. In order to totally understand all the functions of a given relay it is necessary to locate all of the switches for that relay on the schematic. And, if you don't know how many switches are on a given relay, this makes the process of finding them all even more difficult since you don't know how many to look for.

The best way to deal with this situation is to make a table for the relays and their switches. For each relay, when you first start to work with it, it is best to simply observe the relay (or a good photograph of the relay) and count how many switches there are. Finding all the switches for a relay in the schematic is easier when you know how many you are looking for. Once those are located, you can note the wire colors and the destinations for all of the switches on that relay. This is my method for helping to understand the complete schematic.

Since we are looking at the Lock relay now, first we look at the relay itself in the picture above, and we see there are 4 switches. We can also see by closely oberving the switches that in the current state of the machine (the power is off), switches CR05-2, CR05-3, and CR05-4 are NO (those 3 switches are open) and CR05-1 is NC (that switch is closed).

Next, we look through the schematic until we find all 4 switches. Sometimes they are easy to find, but the reality is any switch could be anywhere in the schematic depending on what it's job is, even very far away from other switches on the same relay. This is the case with the Lock relay. Here is a thumbnail of the schematic with the 4 Lock relay switches highlighted. We can see that the 4 switches are spread from one side of the schematic to the other.

BonVoyageSchematic_lockrelayswitches (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematic_lockrelayswitches (resized).jpg

Now we can correlate the wire colors to the actual physical switches. Finally, we can trace each wire on the schematic and note the other item it connects to. All of this information goes in a table like this.

ID Description Location Default Schematic Wire Colors To Wire Colors To
CR05-1 Lock Relay Mounting Board R NC E10 G-R Game Over Trip Relay Y 50V leg
CR05-2 Lock Relay Mounting Board R NO E10 R-B 10 A fuse BR 6V leg
CR05-3 Lock Relay Mounting Board R NO E10 BLU-R 15 A fuse BLU 6V leg
CR05-4 Lock Relay Mounting Board R NO E10 W-G Lock Relay Y 50V leg

Armed with the details in this table, the schematic, some basic ideas of what is going on, and observation of the machine, then maybe we can figure out how everything works.

Another important piece of information is the "state" of the machine as shown by the schematic. When the schematic is drawn, it is showing all the different switches as open or closed. Since any given switch could be open or closed depending on the state of the machine, the way the switches are drawn on the schematic represents an arbitrary decision by whoever drew the schematic. After studying this schematic, I agree with what I have seen elsewhere, which is that this is the description of the machine state as represented by the schematic:

Machine was turned on, a game was started, then the machine was unplugged.

In addition to working through and organizing all of this information we also need to add one more ingredient: careful observation of the machine. What can we see and hear for different situations that we are studying? Consider the situation where the game is sitting there unplugged and then it is plugged in and the power switch is switched on. There are 2 possible states the machine can be in, as it is sitting there with all power off.

State 1: Previous game was completed before machine was unplugged.
State 2: Previous game was not completed before machine was unplugged.

If the power switched is turned on for State 1, as noted before nothing happens, other than the coin door lights coming on. However, if the machine is turned on while in State 2, there is a definite loud noise we can hear. This noise is the Game Over Trip Relay activating. The Game Over trip relay is located on the trip relay bank. When a game is completed, this relay will trip, and stay tripped until it is reset. That is why the machine doesn't make a noise when the power is switched on from State 1. In State 1 the previous game has been finished, and when that happens the Game Over trip relay will trip, and it will stay tripped until a new game is started. Later we will look at the Game Over trip relay in more detail to see how it works. If the power is switched on from State 2, the Game Over relay will not be already tripped, because the previous game did not complete. Therefore the Game Over trip relay will immediately trip through the NC switch CR05-1 on the Lock relay. The purpose of this circuit is to prevent the remains of the unfinished game from being played when the machine is powered back up. This is shown in the circuit below. Note that once the Lock relay is energized, then this switch CR05-1 will open, which is a good thing, since if it stayed closed it would keep the Game Over relay energized and a game could never be started.

Bon Voyage Schematic Game Over Lock (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Game Over Lock (resized).jpg

By looking at the schematic we can see that switches CR05-2 and CR05-3 cut off the GI (General Illumination) circuits in their NO position. Switch 2 is connected to the "Insert GI" or backbox lights, and Switch 3 is connected to the "Panel GI" or playfield lights. Switch CR05-4 is connected to the Lock relay itself and is used as a lock-in function for the Lock relay when it is activated, which will happen in the next step.

For this type of Bally pinball machine, the next step typically is to "press the left flipper button to turn on the the lights". The circuit was originally designed this way to save power, allowing the machines to have their power switched on but the lights not lit until ready to be played. Since we know the left flipper button is involved, we need to find that part of the circuit. We find it here, connected to the Lock relay.

lock_relay_flipper (resized).jpglock_relay_flipper (resized).jpg

We can also see the 4th switch of the Lock relay (CR05-4) as described previously. This switch provides a "lock-in" function for the Lock relay. When the left flipper button is pressed, the switch closes and this energizes the Lock relay. The instant the Lock relay energizes, it closes switch CR05-4 which is connected directly to the Lock relay itself. This means the Lock relay will stay on permanently (until the power is switched off). For this particular relay, there is no other switch that will release the lock.

The latched Lock relay now closes switches CR05-2 and CR05-3 and these then provide power to the lighting circuits. On the bottom leg the BLU wires in conjunction with the Y wires provides "General Illumination" or GI for the Panel which is the playfield. The leg with the BR and Y wires provides the GI for the Insert, or backbox. This is the same circuit shown above but now the CR05-02 and CR05-03 switches are shown closed, which means the GI lighting will now come on.(click image to enlarge). For this tutorial, switches that are in a different state than their "normal" position will be colored red so it is understood that they have changed state for the circuit being discussed. So for these 2 switches they are Normally Open or NO, but now they have become closed once the left flipper button has been pressed and the Lock relay has been energized.

lock_relay_GI-2 (resized).jpglock_relay_GI-2 (resized).jpg

Just next to the Insert GI We can see a circuit for the Credit lamp, which is located near the left flipper. If there are any credits on the game, then the Credit Unit Zero switch will be closed, and this lamp will be on via the same circuit that turns on the GI. If there are no credits on the game, then the Credit Unit Zero switch will be open and the Credit lamp will be unlit. Also, if the previous game managed to go over 100,000 points and trip the 100,000 Trip relay, then the 100,000 lamp will still be lit. These circuits are shown below with the different switch states in red and the circuits highlighted in yellow.

credit_lamp (resized).jpgcredit_lamp (resized).jpg

When the lights come on, we can observe the machine and see that the Game Over lamp is lit. Here is the circuit for that lamp. Obviously the switch on the Game Over trip relay has to be moved to the other position. In its current state in the schematic it would be showing one of the Balls to Play lamps, not the Game Over lamp. This is how we know that the schematic is drawn with the power off, because the instant the power is turned on the Game Over trip relay will activate through switch CR05-1 on the Lock relay as previously discussed. So the Game Over lamp is lit and the Balls to Play lamp is not lit. We can confirm this by observing the machine and seeing there there are no Ball to Play lamps lit.

game_over_lamp (resized).jpggame_over_lamp (resized).jpg

When the machine is first turned on, we also can observe the machine and see that the last match number is still lit, as are any of the bonus letters (B-O-N-V-O-Y-A-G-E) that the last player may have lit. These are all connected to the same circuit as the GI and that is why we see them now. These parts of the circuit will be covered later.

match_bonus_lamps (resized).jpgmatch_bonus_lamps (resized).jpg

#12 6 years ago

Finally, the left and right Pop Bumpers (or Thumper Bumpers) are always lit in this game, which means that they are definitely connected to the general illumination circuit and therefore stay on with all of the other again GI lamps. This is an error in the schematic, and the 2 Pop Bumpers should be moved over over next to the GI circuit.

thumper_bumper_lamps (resized).jpgthumper_bumper_lamps (resized).jpg

Now that we have identified the functions of all of the switches on the lock relay, we can add a column to the table to describe the function. With this table and the schematic combined together it is much easier to understand and work with the part of the circuit that involves the power switch, left flipper button, and the lock relay.

power on relay table (resized).jpgpower on relay table (resized).jpg

After this Part 2 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.

BonVoyageSchematicPart2 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart2 (resized).jpg

#13 6 years ago

Before I go onward with the project, I am posting this one piece of the schematic from above here again. As I have come back to revisit this part of the schematic, I feel a bit put out because I can't think of a solid explanation for this resistor in the lockout coil circuit. Have a look below.

OK this seems obvious: The lockout coil needs to be energized all the time when the power is on. If it is not energized then the coin reject bar will drop back and if the player inserts a quarter it will come right back out. So in theory you could just wire in the lockout coil so it always gets voltage (and it has to be a coil that can handle that constant-on voltage).

This is almost what we have here, except that there is a way to break the circuit and de-energize the lockout coil via the score motor switch 1B.

While that switch is closed, the power (current) will take the easiest path which is through the coil and straight through the score motor switch 1B which has zero resistance (or close to it). There is no reason for any current to take the path through the 8700 ohm resistor. So the lockout coil will stay energized as we expect, holding in the coin reject bar.

Every time the score motor turns its switch 1B will open from its NC state for the entire cycle of the rotation due to the shape of score motor cam 1. This would seemingly deenergize the lockout relay. I think it was RolfMartin who proposed the theory that this is done so that if the player tries to rapidly shove in quarters while the machine is doing a startup reset then their quarter will be kicked back to them rather than getting in and messing with the startup logic, which does make sense. But if the circuit to the lockout relay is opened via that switch 1B, then you still have another complete circuit which passes through the resistor. The question is, why is that there? It seems that you would still get a circuit completion through the resistor, although maybe the voltage drop won't be enough to energize the lock relay. Otherwise, the lock relay would stay energized which would seemingly defeat the point of having it turned off during the score motor rotation.

As I wrote above, I did read somewhere that the purpose of the resistor is to reduce arcing at the score motor. This seems feasible but the explanation is lacking in details in how it actually works. Any ideas out there?

coin_lockout_schematic (resized).jpgcoin_lockout_schematic (resized).jpg

#14 6 years ago

Hi xsvtoys
thank You for doing this immense (big) work - once finished it will be of great value for "to learn how Bally and Williams pins work".
In post-1 You invite us to write - a problem I see: You do a structured document and when we fellow pinsiders now and then write: Our writings will be disturbing the flow in Your document.
Want to talk to "pinside-officials" if they let YOU rearrange the posts in the "then completed topic" - means YOU move the "fellow pinsiders posts" to the end / after the end of Your document (?). Or maybe an "pinside-official" will do this rearranging (?). Or maybe You start a new topic with the title "posts of fellow pinsiders to em-schematic-fully-described-from-beginning-to-end-bally-bon-voyage" (?). I wait a while - maybe I see this new topic - then I contribute there. Greetings Rolf

#15 6 years ago

After thinking about the resistor I think I have the answer. Or something a lot closer to it. I don't know enough electrical theory for a complete and correct explanation but this is what I surmise.

The lockout coil is different than any other coil in the machine in that it is always energized and a switch is used to turn it off. In all other coils they are normally not energized and a switch closes to complete the circuit and then energize them, usually for a short period of time which is enough for them to do their job. Electrically there can be a difference between closing a switch to energize a relay versus opening a switch to deenergize a relay.

Since the lockout coil is always energized with voltage there may be a buildup of something called back EMF which will promote arcing across the controlling switch when the switch is opened. Presumably the alternative path through the resistor will offer a way to disperse that excess energy via the resistor. Also I guess that the resistor itself will reduce the power enough so that the lockout coil won't energize during that score motor rotation while switch 1B is open.

That is my shocking theory.

#16 6 years ago
Quoted from rolf_martin_062:

Hi xsvtoys
thank You for doing this immense (big) work - once finished it will be of great value for "to learn how Bally and Williams pins work".
In post-1 You invite us to write - a problem I see: You do a structured document and when we fellow pinsiders now and then write: Our writings will be disturbing the flow in Your document.
Want to talk to "pinside-officials" if they let YOU rearrange the posts in the "then completed topic" - means YOU move the "fellow pinsiders posts" to the end / after the end of Your document (?). Or maybe an "pinside-official" will do this rearranging (?). Or maybe You start a new topic with the title "posts of fellow pinsiders to em-schematic-fully-described-from-beginning-to-end-bally-bon-voyage" (?). I wait a while - maybe I see this new topic - then I contribute there. Greetings Rolf

Hi Rolf,

I think it should be Ok because of the way I will organize it. The entire thing is broken up into sections. Each section is made of several posts that will be grouped together, then you can easily access each section from the table of contents in post #1. So even if there are discussions in between is should be easy to find whatever part you want.

However, if everyone feels that it would be better to upload the entire thing all at once I will do this, no problem. This will take some time though because there is a lot of it! Even though it is all written it takes some extra time because all of the images need to be manually brought into the forum posts.

#17 6 years ago

Hi xsvtoys
You do Your topic as You want --- from what You have posted so far: I believe it will turn out to be a great, very useful document - so I thought maybe some future readers will be annoyed when there are some "fellow pinsider posts in between Your posts".

You wrote "The schematics has some faulty drawing --- I believe the "Primary side of the transformer is a mix-up of 110VAC domestic-USA-drawing and partial european-220VAC-drawing.
Your first JPG in post-5 is much better. There You show wire of color white --- where do You have this color white from ? In the third JPG in post-5 I see You made a circle "white" but the wire is not white. The second JPG in post-5 shows the way to change the transformer from 110VAC use to 220VAC use. I happen to help in another topic and there I show "on top of the JPG" the wirings (green is 110VAC wiring and red is 220VAC wiring): https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/spirit-of-76-odd-fault#post-3905951

In post-11, second JPG You show the Game-Over-TRIP-Coil and the switch on Lock-Relay, in the last sentence just before this second JPG You give an explanation I do not agree --- Your "which is a good thing, since if it stayed closed it would keep the Game-Over relay (TRIP Coil) energized".
Think of "we ONLY toggle-on the pin but we do not start a game - but we do not press the left flipperbutton. We toggle-on and the Lock-Relay does not pull-in - we can have the pin for hours in this state --- the Game-Over-TRIP-Coil will NOT pull for hours --- the tripping Game-over-Relay CUTS the connection on the powerside - see my JPG.

The 8200 Ohm resistor on the Coin-Lockout-Coil: One theory is "reducing arcing on the Score-Motor-Switch" - another theory is "some kind of preheating the coil so it acts more lifely" - one theory is "something like diodes in SS-pins to hinder backlash-current" --- maybe close to Your EMF-theory. I do not have an Bally pin to try it myself so I suggested in other topics: Somebody can throw a Toggle-Switch --- we users do not know "AAA whith the resistor" - "BBB without the resistor" --- we make an statistic --- the "somebody does switch sometimes to AAA - sometimes to BBB" - we do not know - we always write down a comment to "arcing" and to "actuating". After some hundred tests we analize the data - we may take the data to a statistic professor.
Greetings Rolf

0Bon-Voyage-Work-03 (resized).jpg0Bon-Voyage-Work-03 (resized).jpg

#18 6 years ago

Rolf, one thing you should note is that in this game, the Game Over trip relay is a physical trip relay. It resides on a separate motorized relay bank along with all of the bonus relays. These trip relays become mechanically latched once they are energized once, and they will not be opened again until the relay motor makes a turn. They are separated from any voltage once they are tripped as well. So basically, once the Game Over relay is tripped, it just sits there in its tripped state until such a time that the relay motor turns. The relay motor will turn during the start up sequence, therefore un-tripping the Game Over relay which then allows a game to start.

This will become more clear in the upcoming exciting part "the start up".

The Game Over relay is tripped at the very end of a game after the last ball drains (also to be covered later). If by chance the machine has been powered off in the middle of a game, the Game Over relay will NOT be tripped yet. When the machine is turned back on, therefore it is not in a Game Over state yet. In this condition, it could then be possible for the player to continue on with the last game, playing however many balls are left. However, this will not happen because the instant power is turned on the Game Over relay will trip. This is because the Lock relay has gone back to its default state after the power is turned off, thus closing that one switch which is connected to the Game Over relay.

I can confirm all of this for sure for this game via observation. I have looked a few other games and I think the Game Over relay is not a physical trip relay in this manner so it would probably be handled differently.

Additional Edit: Just to confirm, the part you drew that shows where the Game Over switch will cut off power to much of the circuit shows that switch in the closed position. This switch is NC for the state of the schematic, which is "coin in, game started, power turned off". In this state the Game Over relay has NOT been tripped yet, it only trips at the end of a game. So if you turn off the power before the end of the game, this switch will in fact be closed. The rest will happen as I described above.

I do cover exactly how this all works at the very end when it is time for "the last ball". Sometimes in this linear discussion you will see that I will need to show some things early because of what they do, and I will then say "this will be fully explained later".

#19 6 years ago

Sorry for the confusion on the power wiring, you are right there is not a white wire there. This is because in the machine I used a typical power cord that has 2 wires that are both black (one having a rib on it so you can tell them apart). When I redrew that part of the schematic I used the typical wire colors for here in the USA for 110 VAC house wiring. These colors can be different in different situations, but a common convention for a 3-wire connection is black (hot), white (neutral) and green (ground) as shown in this picture. That is why I drew the circles in that photo in those colors.

110vac wire (resized).jpg110vac wire (resized).jpg

It is also expected that the Hot wire will be connected to the on-off switch and not the Neutral wire, which is how I have shown it. Everything should be correct here but I should note that I am not an electrician in real life but I sometimes play one on the internet.

#20 6 years ago

This is a great thread and relevant to my learning of Bally Rocket III which is also 1-player and trip relay reset bank.

Also, now I know where the pink lady in your avatar originates!

Thanks and keep up the good work.

#21 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 3 COIN CHUTES AND CREDITS PART 1/2

Assuming the game has just been turned on, the next action is to put in some coins to get game credits. An important thing to know is that the arrangement of the coin chutes can vary between games as there were many different combinations used. Therefore, the wiring in the door of the coin chutes in a specific machine may not match the general schematic. This is the case with this specific Bon Voyage. It can get confusing if you try to understand your coin chute wiring and what you are looking at doesn't match the schematic. In this case, the highlighted sections below are not present at all and can be ignored. The yellow section would apply to machines that were set up with nickel or dime coin chutes. This machine has two quarter coin chutes so that part can be ignored. The red section does not apply because there is no 3rd coin chute relay in the machine.

coin chute schematic (resized).jpgcoin chute schematic (resized).jpg

It is obvious that the 3rd Coin Chute relay is not here because there is a labeled slot for it on the relay board, but it is empty. If you look underneath the mounting board in that area, you can see the various wires meant for the 3rd Coin Chute Relay are tucked underneath.

no 3rd coin chute relay (resized).jpgno 3rd coin chute relay (resized).jpg

Even with the removal of the 1st Coin Chute and the 3rd Coin Chute components, the schematic still isn't exactly right. This machine has 2 quarter coin chutes, and they are wired in parallel with each other and then to the 2nd Coin Chute. Wiring them in parallel this way provides redundancy, so if one of the coin mechanisms fails, the other can be used to accept money. In order to fully understand the coin door wiring, it is a matter of carefully observing all of the wires and where they go, so this was done manually. By identifying where all of the wiring goes, this part of the schematic has been redrawn. This is the correct schematic for this particular machine. It is important to get all of the wiring correct if you want to understand how the circuit works.

coin_chute_schematic_corrected (resized).jpgcoin_chute_schematic_corrected (resized).jpg

The yellow highlights show the start of the coin circuit. When a coin is dropped into the machine, it first passes through the coin mechanism (usually called a coin mech) whose job it is to determine if the coin real. If it is not a good coin, the coin mech will reject it mechanically. If it is good, then it falls all the way through and on the way out it trips the coin chute switch (either the left one or the right one). This will activate the 2nd Coin Chute relay, which in turn will cause credits to be added to the machine. This circuit also includes an adjustment plug that lets the operator decide if a single coin should give the player 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 credits. This is called the 2nd Coin Chute Adjustment Plug. We see here that the addition of these credits is controlled by various switches on the Score Motor, which are highlighted in red. In order to understand how this circuit works, along with many other circuits in the machine, it is necessary to have a good understanding of how the Score Motor works. So now is the time to take a side trip to study the Score Motor.

#22 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. THE SCORE MOTOR

The Score Motor, shown in the picture below, consists of a series of cams on a shaft which is connected to a motor that rotates the shaft, and therefore the cams. Mounted on top of the cams are stacks of switches. When the Score Motor is resting all of these switches are in their default state as drawn in the schematic. Some are NO and some are NC. Each cam has a different shape via some protruding lobes so that as it rotates, it causes the switch stack above it to swap states as the cam rotates. This means all of the NC switches on the stack will open and all of the NO switches will close. The various cam shapes are used to provide timing for the switch changes as the motor turns, or to provide multiple pulses for some switches. The Score Motor looks intimidating with all of those switches and wires, but if you work on it logically one step at a time you can figure it out.

score_motor (resized).jpgscore_motor (resized).jpg

The Score Motor itself is shown below in the schematic highlighted in yellow. There is one special Score Motor switch on the first cam that controls the Score Motor itself. This is switch 1F (also yellow) which is actually a make-break switch. One half of it is Normally Open at rest. The Score Motor can be triggered to start running by a variety of switch inputs. Once it starts turning, switch 1F will immediately move to the other position which then provides continuous power to the motor, keeping it turning. This is needed because the switches that trigger the score motor to start are generally only closed for a short duration, so on their own they would only move the motor a small amount. But we need it to make a complete half-turn for everything to work right, and that is the job of switch 1F. Once it has rotated around 180 degrees (halfway), the shape of the cam is such that switch 1F will move to the opposite position, which cuts off the power to the motor and stops it, unless there is still some other input telling it to go. Thus, the Score Motor is naturally set up to make a one-half revolution whenever it gets a signal to go. During this revolution all of the switches will move up and down with their cams and every switch will change states, that is, all NO switches will close and all NC switches will open. But each switch will only make something happen if it is connected via some other switch in the entire circuit. By going through the entire circuit diagram we can eventually figure out all of the actions of the score motor.

score_motor_1f (resized).jpgscore_motor_1f (resized).jpg

This drawing from the Introduction to Bally Flipper Games document shows the shapes of the score motor cams.

score_motor_drawing (resized).jpgscore_motor_drawing (resized).jpg

Also included in that guide is a good description of how the cams relate to each other.

score_motor_description (resized).jpgscore_motor_description (resized).jpg

This picture shows the full shape of all 11 of the cams in the Bon Voyage. Remember that the score motor performs its function with one-half turn, so the pattern of the lobes is repeated twice for each cam. The #1 cam is called "dwell" because unlike all of the other cams the switches are resting down in the off position, and then they all stay lifted as the score motor turns 180 degrees.

score_motor_cams (resized).jpgscore_motor_cams (resized).jpg

The schematic includes this box below which is the "Sequence of Operation" for the score motor switches. This is just another way to look at the timing of the lobes for all of the cams, as the score motor rotates for two half-turns. Here we can see how some cams move the switches up and down multiple times, and the single-lobe cams are aligned at different points during the rotation of the score motor.

score_motor_sequence (resized).jpgscore_motor_sequence (resized).jpg

Another way to view the same information is with a pulse diagram. It is very important to understand these diagrams and how they relate to the cams on the score motor. Once you can visualize how these diagrams relate to the shape of the cams and how and when the switches change state as the cams rotate, the concept of the Score Motor will become clear and many of the circuits will become much easier to understand.

score_motor_timingdiagram (resized).jpgscore_motor_timingdiagram (resized).jpg

#23 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 3 COIN CHUTES AND CREDITS PART 2/2

For the first example of score motor operation we can return to the addition of credits based on the position of the adjustment plug. This circuit actually uses a variety of the cams and provides a good example of how the score motor works. When one of the chute switches is momentarily closed due to a coin passing through, we see that the 2nd Coin Chute Relay is activated. So the first thing we should do is go through the process of identifying all of the switches on that relay so we can figure out exactly what it does.We observe that there are 3 switches on the 2nd Coin Chute relay.

CR02_2ndCoinChuteRelay (resized).jpgCR02_2ndCoinChuteRelay (resized).jpg

After finding all 3, we make out a relay switch table by studying the schematic and the picture so all of the information is correct.

CR02 relay (resized).jpgCR02 relay (resized).jpg

Switch CR02-2 is in the Score Motor circuit, so when it momentarily closes it will start the score motor running, and then as previously discussed SM switch 1F will take over and keep the Score Motor running for a half-revolution. Note that the circuit to start the score motor is complete through both of the coin chute switches. So if either of those switches are broken (such as from people mishandling them with the coin door open to get free credits) then this circuit will not complete which means the score motor will never turn and the machine will not work at all.

CR02-02_switch (resized).jpgCR02-02_switch (resized).jpg

Switch CR02-1 is connected to the CS19 Credit Unit Step Up Solenoid. In line is Score Motor switch 11A which is NO. We can see that if 11A should close, it will cause the Credit Unit Step Up Solenoid to energize, which will then add a credit by moving the Credit Unit (SU05). Also in line with this circuit is the Credit Unit Limit switch, SU05-04, which is mounted on the Credit Unit. It is NC but will open due to a post on the advancing wheel if the Credit Unit is maxed out at 25 credits. Thus the Credit Unit Step Up Solenoid will not activate after 25 credits have been loaded.

CR02-01_switch (resized).jpgCR02-01_switch (resized).jpg

The Credit Unit SU05 keeps track of the available credits for play. It is one of several similar modules in this machine that are called Step-Up Units. The Credit Unit is a specific type called an Escapement Reset, or also called a Single Step Reset. This means that the unit can be decremented one step at a time as well as incremented one step at a time. In this type of Step-Up Unit there are 2 solenoids. There is a Credit Unit Step-Up Solenoid that will add one credit when energized by turning the wheel in one direction (as shown above), and there is a Credit Unit Reset Solenoid that will subtract one credit when energized by turning the wheel in the other direction. The Credit Unit has 4 switches mounted on it, 3 near the Reset Solenoid and 1 near the Step-Up solenoid. The Credit Unit Limit switch SU05-04 can be seen here.

credit-unit-labeled (resized).jpgcredit-unit-labeled (resized).jpg

The Credit Unit Step-Up Solenoid End of Stroke switch SU05-01 is an end-of-stroke switch for the step-up solenoid. It is normally open but will close momentarily when the solenoid moves the plunger to add a credit. This switch is inline with the knocker solenoid. So each time a credit is added, a satisfying knock sound will be generated.

knocker_credit (resized).jpgknocker_credit (resized).jpg

#24 6 years ago

If we consult the timing diagram for Score Motor cam 11 we can see that it will cause switch 11A to close 6 times, assuming the circuit shown above stays closed. So how does it control whether 2,3,4,5, or 6 credits are added? The trick is to control the duration that the 2nd Coin Chute relay switch CR02-01 is closed. As soon as it opens, Score Motor switch 11A is cut off, so even if it closes the credit solenoid won't get a voltage.

score_motor_sequence_cam11 (resized).jpgscore_motor_sequence_cam11 (resized).jpg

The timing of that 2nd Coin Chute relay switch is controlled by this circuit. Switch CR02-3 acts as a lock-in for the 2nd Coin Chute relay. As soon as it is cut off, it will then deactivate the relay. This will then open switch CR02-1 at the Credit Unit Step Up Solenoid. The position of the adjustment plug determines when that will happen. For 2 credits the relay is cut off by a switch on the Score Motor cam 5. For 3 credits, it is cam 6, for 4 credits it is cam 7, for 5 credits it is cam 8, and for 6 credits it is cam 10.

If we observe the timing diagram now we can see how the number of credits is controlled. An important part of this process is that the pulses on cam 11 or actually "between" all of the others. Now we can see that when the adjustment plug is set on 2 credits, the 2nd Coin Chute relay will deenergize when cam 5 pulses Score Motor switch 5E, so there will be just 2 pulses from switch 11A getting to the Credit Unit Step Up Solenoid. When the plug is on 3 credits, now it will stay energized until cam 6 closes switch 6C, and then will let 3 pulses via switch 11A and 3 credits will be added. The 4 and 5 plug positions work similarly using cams 7 (switch 7D) and 8 (switch 8F).

For the 6 credit position Score Motor switch 10C is used. Since the cam 10 timing pulse is after the 6th and last pulse from switch 11A, 6 credits will be added. Note also that the other 4 plug positions all feed through that same Score Motor switch 10C. This is for "insurance" to make sure the 2nd Coin Chute relay is unlocked and de energized in case there was a problem with one of the other Score Motor switches. This would prevent extra "free credits" from being added which is important for a machine that is collecting money.

This shows the schematic when the plug is in the 2 credit position.

coin_chute_schematic_corrected_credits2 (resized).jpgcoin_chute_schematic_corrected_credits2 (resized).jpg

This shows the schematic when the plug is in the 3 credit position.

coin_chute_schematic_corrected_credits3 (resized).jpgcoin_chute_schematic_corrected_credits3 (resized).jpg

This shows the schematic when the plug is in the 4 credit position.

coin_chute_schematic_corrected_credits4 (resized).jpgcoin_chute_schematic_corrected_credits4 (resized).jpg

The same pattern is followed for the 5 and 6 credit positions. The timing diagram shows that when it is in the 6 position, cam 10 switch 10C is used, and this will allow all 6 pulses from cam 11 to activate the Credit Step-Up Solenoid, adding 6 credits to the game.

This credit circuit using 6 different score motor cams, all timed to get the desired result, is a good learning example for how the Score Motor works. It is worthwhile to spend the time to understand this circuit completely as this will make it easier to understand more circuits using the score motor that will be coming. It is also notable that there is only one switch on cam 11, so that cam with its 6 pulses is only used to add credits and is not used anywhere else during the operation of the machine.

With the credits added, no other actions will occur until the next step, which is to start a game.

After this Part 5 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.

BonVoyageSchematicPart3 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart3 (resized).jpg

#25 6 years ago

This guy would be happy. Taken at MGC 2016. I deleted my original photo, but found here.

https://images.pinside.com/e/a6/ea65f16d949e3124c4e2194d92968c96d1b832b8/resized/large/ea65f16d949e3124c4e2194d92968c96d1b832b8.jpeg

#26 6 years ago

Pretty awesome, If it were ever possible I would so like to be able to ask him some day about the two people falling from the plane on the backglass! How did he come up with that? What does it mean? Was it inspired by D B Cooper?

#27 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 4 START NEW GAME PART 1/2

Starting a game causes more simultaneous action than any other part of playing a pinball machine. Everything needs to be reset and organized for the start of the new game. The credit button is used to start a new game. If there are zero credits on the machine, then pressing the credit button will do nothing (normally, unless the machine has been modified for free play). This is controlled by the Credit Unit Zero switch . When the credit unit is on the zero position, this switch is held open by a pin on the unit, as discussed in a previous section. Once any number of credits has been added as described previously, the Credit Unit Zero switch will close. This will now allow the machine to start up a new game when the Credit button is pressed. This is shown here.

credit_button (resized).jpgcredit_button (resized).jpg

To help us analyze the circuit for this part, we can start with a decent explanation of the startup procedure from the operating instructions.

1D. When the credit unit has been advanced from the 2nd or 3rd coin chute, (as described in sections 1B and 1C) the front door credit button switch will energize the credit relay and then the credit relay will energize coin relay.
2A. The coin relay, when energized by any of the ways described, (in sections 1A thru 1D) will stay energized thru its own hold in switch and normally closed #8 score motor switch.
2B. The coin relay will energize the lock relay which stays energized thru its own hold in switch and a normally closed switch on the delay relay.
2C. The coin relay will energize the reset relay which will stay energized thru its own switch until all drum unit zero switches are open and #8 score motor cam switch is open. The score reset relay will pulse thru #2 score motor cam switch as long as the reset relay is energized. The score reset relay provides the pulses to advance the drum units until the individual drum unit reads zero. The reset relay also operates the score motor.
2D. The coin relay thru a normally closed #I score motor cam switch will latch the game relay if the ball count unit is in index position or it will trip the game relay if the ball count unit is not in index position. If the game relay is tripped, it will lock in the coin relay and thru the combination of the two relays and the #2 score motor cam switch, they will reset the ball count unit to index position. With the ball count unit in zero position, the coin relay will latch the game relay when the score motor is back in index position. The coin relay is still locked in thru the #8 score motor cam switch. When the game relay is latched and the coin relay is energized, the ball count unit will advance twice for a 3-ball game thru #4 and #5 score motor cam switches or four steps for a 5-ball game thru #4 and # 9 score motor cam switches. (#5 score motor cam pulse is cancelled out by the #9 score motor cam switch).
2E. If the game is adjusted to register game over when the game is tilted, the coin relay will latch the tilt relay thru the #3 score motor cam switch.
2F. A coin relay switch thru a normally open #3 score motor switch will advance the total play meter; if a credit was used to start the game, it will reset the credit unit one step.
3A. A ball on the out hole switch will energize the out hole relay thru a normally closed #1 score motor switch; and it will stay energized thru its own hold in switch and normally closed #10 score motor switch.
3B. The out hole relay will operate the score motor and then energize the out hole kicker solenoid thru a normally open #7 score motor switch. The 1st ball is kicked thru the ball trough to the shooter alley and the game is now ready to play.

We can use this information combined with observing the machine and studying the schematic to figure out how it all works.

First, we can take the information above and boil it down to these more easily-understandable steps which all need to happen when the game is started up.

  1. Reduce the Credit Reel count by one digit.
  2. Turn off (Latch) the Tilt relay if it has been tripped (depending on adjustment).
  3. Reset all of the trip relays.
  4. Advance Total Play Meter by one digit.
  5. Turn off (Latch) the 100,000 Point relay if it has been tripped.
  6. Reset all of the Score Reels to zero.
  7. Set the Balls To Play count to 3 or 5 (depending on adjustment).
  8. Kick ball from the Outhole into the shooter lane.

There are two different start-up situations that we can analyze in detail to understand how the schematic works.

  1. The new game is started after the previous game has been completely finished. In other words, the last ball was played and the machine is in the Game Over state.
  2. The new game is started before the previous game has been finished. In other words, the credit button was pressed in the middle of an ongoing game.

We will analyze the "previous game over situation" first. So the the previous game was finished and the display indicates Game Over.

By observation (or listening) we can see that the score motor most typically will normally make three half-revolutions to accomplish the startup procedure. It will help us to analyze the circuit if we know when things happen, so more observation confirms the following:

  1. Reduce the Credit Reel count by one digit. First score motor half-rotation.
  2. Turn off (Latch) the Tilt relay if it has been tripped. First score motor half-rotation.
  3. Reset all of the trip relays by turning the Reset Motor. First score motor half-rotation.
  4. Advance Total Play Meter by one digit. First score motor half-rotation.
  5. Trip the 100,000 point relay if it has been latched. First score motor half-rotation.
  6. Reset all of the score reels to zero. If all of the shown digits are 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 0, it will reset all to zero in the first score motor half-rotation; if any of the digits are 4, 3, 2 or 1, then it takes two half-rotations of the score motor to reset them all to zero.
  7. Set the Balls To Play count to 3 or 5 (depending on adjustment). First score motor half-rotation.
  8. Kick ball from the Outhole into the shooter lane.Last score motor half-rotation.

Now we have to break down how all that actually works.

Pressing the Credit button will close it and this will complete the circuit which will activate the Credit solenoid. Also involved in this circuit is switch 1F on the Score Motor, a switch on the Reset relay, and a switch on either the Game interlock relay or the Game Over relay. This is shown this part of the schematic.

Bon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay 1 (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay 1 (resized).jpg

In order to start the game, the Credit Unit Zero switch, which is shown open, will need to be closed. If there are any credits on the credit reel (mainly from putting a coin in), then it will be closed. If this switch is artificially closed by installing a jumper across it or by forcing the switch contacts together, then pressing the Credit Unit Zero button will always start a game. Thus, the machine will be on "Free Play". In the diagram below, the Credit Unit Zero switch is now shown closed. The Credit Button is also shown closed, which will happen when it is pressed, Therefore a circuit to activate the Credit relay is completed through a switch on the Reset relay, and switch 1F on the Score Motor. I believe that the Score Motor 1F switch is in that circuit to close off the credit button while the game startup sequence is going to prevent confusion to the logic.

If the previous game was finished, or if the machine was just powered on, then the Game Over relay will be tripped and that switch will be closed, allowing the Credit relay circuit to be completed via the green path.

Bon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay 2 (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay 2 (resized).jpg

Once the Credit relay has become energized by the press of the Credit Button, it will stay locked in by its own lock-in switch CR04-3, shown below now closed as part of the green path. This will keep the Credit relay activated through NC score motor switch SM7D (which was also used for adding 4 credits via the coin chute as previously described). Therefore, as soon as the Score Motor makes a half- rotation and switch 7D opens, the Credit relay will turn off. This is long enough for it to do its job.

Bon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay 3 (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay 3 (resized).jpg

To figure out what the Credit relay does, as usual, first we look at the relay itself and see how many switches it has. We can see there are 3:

CR04_credit_relay (resized).jpgCR04_credit_relay (resized).jpg

Next we find all 3 switches on the schematic and figure out where they are connected.

CR04-1 Credit Relay Mounting Board R NO D20 W Credit Unit Reset Solenoid GRAY-R SM3B
CR04-2 Credit Relay Mounting Board R NO D4 GRAY Coin Relay BLU-Y SM8C
CR04-3 Credit Relay Mounting Board R NO E7 BR-Y Credit Relay G-Y SM7D

We already identified switch CR04-3 above, so we know its job is to lock in the Credit relay until the Score Motor rotates and opens its switch 7D. Switch CR04-2 is connected to the Coin relay, and its job is to energize the Coin relay as shown below. The circuit is completed through Score Motor switch SM8C. IMPORTANT NOTE: The schematic is mislabled for this switch as 8D. This is definitely wrong as 8D is also elsewhere in the schematic.

Bon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay Switch 2 Coin Relay  (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay Switch 2 Coin Relay (resized).jpg

The first switch on the Credit relay CR04-1 is connected to the Credit Unit Reset Solenoid as shown below. When this solenoid is activated, it will reduce the credit count by one. That circuit will be completed via a switch on the Coin relay, which was activated above, and also by NO switch 3B on the Score Motor, which will close when the cam 3 position triggers it. So, the credit count won't be reduced until the Score Motor turns. We will see how that happens next.

Bon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay Switch 1 Credit Reset  (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay Switch 1 Credit Reset (resized).jpg

As we saw above, when the Credit relay is energized, its switch CR04-02 will then energize the Coin relay. When we observe the Coin relay we see it has 7 switches, and when we find all 7 of those switches on the schematic (scattered from one end to the other) we can construct this table.

CR01-A1 Coin Relay Mounting Board R NO C11 G-B Reset Motor Y 50V Leg
CR01-A2 Coin Relay Mounting Board R NO B11 O-R Reset Relay Y 50V Leg
CR01-A3 Coin Relay Mounting Board R NO C10 W-G Lock Relay Y 50V Leg
CR01-A4 Coin Relay Mounting Board R NO B20 O-B SM3B Y 50V Leg
CR01-B1 Coin Relay Mounting Board R NO B26 Y-B Game Relay Y 50V Leg
CR01-B2 Coin Relay Mounting Board R NO B8 R-Y Score Motor W Coin Chutes
CR01-B3 Coin Relay Mounting Board R NO C4 GRAY Coin Relay BLU-Y SM8C, Game Relay

The Coin relay switch CR01-A3 has a simple task. It will energize the Lock relay which we previously discussed, if it is not already on. Normally it probably would be on since it would be turned on at the beginning of the day by pushing the left flipper button, which will turn on the general illumination (GI). But in case the left flipper button was not pressed yet, and there are credits on the Credit Reel, then this switch will energize the Lock relay, turning on the GI. Also as discussed before, the Lock relay then will stay on via its own lock-in switch until the machine is turned off. This switch and circuit path are shown below, the Coin relay switch CR01-A3 is shown closed.

Bon Voyage Schematic Lock Relay Coin Switch (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Lock Relay Coin Switch (resized).jpg

The Coin relay switch CR01-B2 is connected in the Score Motor path, so its job will be to give the Score Motor the signal to start turning, which it will do as long as the Coin relay is energized. This is shown in the circuit path below, and switch CR01-B2 is shown closed.

Bon Voyage Schematic Score Motor Coin Relay (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Score Motor Coin Relay (resized).jpg

The Coin relay switch CR01-A4 was already shown above in conjunction with the Credit relay switch CR04-1. This is shown here again. CR04-1 is closed because the Credit relay is still activated. CR01-A4 is closed because the Coin relay has been activated. The Score Motor will start to turn due to CR01-B2 as described above. Thus, there will be an early pulse from cam 3 for Score Motor switch SM3B. This will then energize the Credit Unit Reset solenoid which will reduce the number of credits on the reel by one. Also, remember that the Credit relay is being held by its lock-in switch connected to NC Score Motor switch SM7D as discussed above. So shortly after SM3B closes and reduces the credit count, cam 7 will cause SM7D to open and the Credit relay will be turned off. This will stop the Credit Unit Reset Solenoid from being activated again via the circuit as the score motor turns during the startup sequence (which would take additional credits of the machine and annoy the player). So the Credit relay will turn off toward the end of the first half-rotation of the score motor, having completed its tasks (which you can confirm by observing).

Bon Voyage Schematic Credit Reset Coin (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Credit Reset Coin (resized).jpg

If the game has been tilted before the startup, then the Tilt relay will be tripped (the Tilt circuit will be covered in detailed later). If the Tilt option has been set via its adjustment plug to Game Over (game is ended upon a tilt), then the same Coin relay switch CR01-A4 will also energize the Tilt Latch relay in partnership with SM3B, which will then turn off the Tilt condition. This is shown in the circuit below.

Bon Voyage Schematic Tilt Latch via Coin (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Tilt Latch via Coin (resized).jpg

If the last game was played until the end, then the Ball Count Unit Zero switch SU06-1 will be as shown highlighted in yellow below. This make-break switch will be in this position when the Ball Count unit is at its "zero" position which is actually ONE ball to play. This means that the 100,000 Latch Relay will be activated via the same Coin relay switch CR01-A4 which is now closed as shown during the previous discussion of the start up. Normally the 100,000 Relay is latched. When the score is turned over from 99,990 to 100,000 the 100,000 relay is tripped and the 100,000 lamp comes on. If this is the case during the new game startup, then this will relatch the 100,000 Relay and the 100,000 lamp will go off. This will happen almost immediately via the NC Score Motor switch SM1D.

The same Coin relay switch CR01-A4 also provides a path to increment the Total Play Meter by one. This is done as the Score Motor makes it rotation via SM3B as shown closed below.

100000 and play meter startup (resized).jpg100000 and play meter startup (resized).jpg

Another Coin relay switch #CR01-A1 is shown in the circuit below. This switch is NO but will close when the Coin relay is energized. This will close the circuit for the Reset Motor which will then make a rotation and therefore reset all of the trip relays. Similar to the Score Motor,the Reset Motor has its own Index switch shown in the same circuit (highlighetd yellow) which will close to keep the voltage to the motor for one full rotation. At the end of the rotation the Index switch opens again and the motor will stop.

reset motor coin relay (resized).jpgreset motor coin relay (resized).jpg

So far then, we have accomplished startup tasks #1 which was to reduce the credit count by one, #2 which was to reset a tilt if present, #3 which was to activate the Reset Motor to reset the trip relays, #4 which was to advance the Total Play Meter, and #5 which was to turn off the 100,000 lamp if it was lit from the previous game, all done with a partnership between the Credit relay and the Coin relay. Next is #6 which is to reset the score reels to zero.

#28 6 years ago

(from before) So far then, we have accomplished startup tasks #1 which was to reduce the credit count by one, #2 which was to reset a tilt if present, #3 which was to activate the Reset Motor to reset the trip relays, #4 which was to advance the Total Play Meter, and #5 which was to turn off the 100,000 lamp if it was lit from the previous game, all done with a partnership between the Credit relay and the Coin relay. Next is #6 which is to reset the score reels to zero.

This action is controlled by the Reset relay and the Score Reset relay. First, the Reset relay has been energized through the Coin relay switch CR01-A2 which has been closed as we see below. As soon as the Reset relay is energized, its Lock In switch CR06-B3 will keep it energized through the "4 Drum Units Zero".

reset and score reset relays (resized).jpgreset and score reset relays (resized).jpg

The schematic uses a short cut to represent the 4 zero switches on the 4 score reels. This would be correctly drawn as shown below, with the 4 zero switches in parallel. For each score reel there is a zero switch that is closed for every number position except 0. If any one of the score reels is showing any number then its zero switch will be closed, and the Reset relay will stay energized. For example, as shown below the 100, 1000, and 10,000 score reels are all at the 0 position, so the switches are open. But the 10 score reel is still on some other number, so its zero switch is closed. When the 10 reaches zero then all of the switches will be open, and the Reset relay lock-in will be broken the next time the score motor rotates and opens up its switch SM8B.

reset and score reset relays expanded (resized).jpgreset and score reset relays expanded (resized).jpg

The Reset relay has a switch CR06-A3 that will keep the score motor running as long as the Reset relay is closed. Looking back above, we see that score motor switch SM2A will be closed as the score motor turns. If we consult our timing diagram we see that the #2 cam provides 5 pulses for each half-rotation. These pulses will be used to move the score reels towards their zero positions.

score_motor_reset_relay (resized).jpgscore_motor_reset_relay (resized).jpg

The Score Reset relay has 4 switches, one for each score reel step-up unit as shown below. Each time the Score Reset relay is pulsed by SM2A it will advance the corresponding score reel step-up solenoid. When a score reel reaches the 0 position, then its zero switch will open and this will stop it from being moved again. This will keep the first ones to reach 0 at the 0 position so they don't keep rotating while the others catch up.

As we observed before, if all of the shown digits are 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, or 0, it will reset all to zero in the first score motor half-rotation; if any of the digits are 4, 3, 2 or 1, then it takes two half-rotations of the score motor to reset them all to zero. Now we can why that is so, because we only have a maximum of 5 pulses available for a half-rotation via cam #2. Those 5 are enought to step up a score reel to 0 from 5 or higher, but another score motor rotation is required to get more pulses if an reel happens to be on a number less than 5. So in most cases there will be 2 half-rotations of the score motor since the numers of the score reels are randomly distributed. But if all 4 of them do happen to be 5 or higher, then the can all reset in a single half-rotation of the score motor.

score_reels_reset (resized).jpgscore_reels_reset (resized).jpg

Now we have accomplished startup tasks #1 which was to reduce the credit count by one, #2 which was to reset a tilt if present, #3 which was to activate the Reset Motor to reset the trip relays, #4 which was to advance the Total Play Meter, and #5 which was to turn off the 100,000 lamp if it was lit from the previous game, and #6 wich was to set all of the score reels to zero. Next is #7 which is to set the Balls To Play to the correct number.

Because Bon Voyage is an add-a-ball machine, resetting the ball count on this machine has a bit more complexity than a typical EM machine. For the Bon Voyage, the machine displays "Balls To Play", as shown below. This is different than a standard (or non add-a-ball) machine which will show "Ball In Play" as shown on the bottom (Bally Monte Carlo).

balls_to_play (resized).jpgballs_to_play (resized).jpg

Going back to our original plan, we are considering the situation where the game is being started after the previous game was completely finished and in the Game Over state. In this situation, the ball count will be at ONE (or the zero position if you like). This will influence the Game Relay which is used to set up the proper ball count. The Game Relay shown below is one of 3 G Type Interlock relays in the Bon Voyage (the others are the 100,000 and the Tilt). When these relays are energized once they will stay latched mechanically. There is a second coil in the assembly which acts as a Trip, when that coil is activated it will mechanically trip or unlatch the primary relay with the switches. Later we will explain exactly how this Game Relay works, but for now we can observe that for our start-up sequence with the ball count set at one it is in the latched position as shown below. The 5 switches on this relay are in the positions they are shown on the schematic.

CR20 CR21 game  interlock relay (resized).jpgCR20 CR21 game interlock relay (resized).jpg

If we refer to this part of the schematic that we looked at before when analyzing the Play Meter and 100,000 relay, we also notice the position of the Ball Count Unit Zero switch. When the Balls To Play is at index (showing 1) then it is in the position shown below. Therefore we can confirm that the Game relay will be immediately latched through that Zero switch, Score Motor swith 1D, and the same Coin relay switch CR01-A4.

100000 and play meter startup (resized).jpg100000 and play meter startup (resized).jpg

The Game Relay switch one or CR20-1 is a make break swith and it is shown below in the schematic. It can be seen that it is completing a circuit for power via the still-closed Coin Relay switch CR01-B1. These are connecting the Ball Count Unit Step Up Solenoid to power via some score motor switches, so this is how the ball count will be stepped up to the proper number. The schematic by default shows the Game relay in the latched position, providing the paths below in green as we confirmed above that the Game relay is latched.

ball count step up (resized).jpgball count step up (resized).jpg

We can consult the schematic timing diagram or this diagram for the score motor cams to see how it works. If the Ball Per Game Adjustment Plug were set in the 3 position, it would disconnect the right-hand part of the circuit. So there would be one pulse from SM4B followed by another pulse from SM5B, causing the Ball Count to step up twice, from One to Two and then from Two to Three. With the adustment plug set to 5 balls as shown in the schematic, we can see below that 3 more pulses will come via SM9A. But actually only 2 will cause additional step ups, because the first pulse from cam 9 overlaps with the pulse from cam 5. So in that position, 2 more steps are added and the ball cont goes from Three to Four and then Four to Five, ready for 5-ball play

score_motor_timingdiagram_ball_count (resized).jpgscore_motor_timingdiagram_ball_count (resized).jpg

Previously we saw how the Knocker solenoid was activated each time a credit was added to the machine. The Knocker is also activated each time a ball is added. Each time the Ball Count Unit Step Up solenoid energizes as described above, it will activate its End Of Stroke switch SU06-03 and this will close the circuit to the Knocker.

knocker_ball_stepup (resized).jpgknocker_ball_stepup (resized).jpg

The Ball Count Unit Disc has a wiper switch SU06-4 which will close the circuit for the appropriate lamp for the current Balls To Play. In the schematic it is shown pointing at lamp #1, or the index position.

ball count unit disc (resized).jpgball count unit disc (resized).jpg

Now we have accomplished startup tasks #1 which was to reduce the credit count by one, #2 which was to reset a tilt if present, #3 which was to activate the Reset Motor to reset the trip relays, #4 which was to advance the Total Play Meter, and #5 which was to turn off the 100,000 lamp if it was lit from the previous game, #6 wich was to set all of the score reels to zero, and #7 which is to set the Balls To Play to the correct number. The next and last step is #8 which is to kick the ball from the Outhole into the shooter lane.

If the last game was played until the end, then the ball will be sitting in the Outhole, causing the Outhole switch to become closed from its NO position as shown below. This will allow the Outhole relay to energize through the Score Motor switch SM1E. However the Outhole relay will not energize until the Reset relay has been turned back off. This is because this circuit is cut off from voltage via Reset relay CR06-B1 as shown below. It is normally closed but it will be open for the first two turns of the Score Motor while the Reset relay is energized and doing its job resetting the score reels. As we have seen, the Reset relay will then de-energize and this will in turn complete the circuit again, allowing the Outhole relay to energize on the third turn of the Score Motor.

outhole relay (resized).jpgouthole relay (resized).jpg

When the Outhole relay energizes, its NO switch CR07-B2 as shown below will close and this will allow the Outhole Kicker Solenoid to energize as soon as the Score Motor switch 7A closes during the third rotation. This solenoid will kick the ball out to the shooter lane, and the start-up sequence is now complete. At this point all actions are stopped and the game is ready to play.

outhole kicker solenoid (resized).jpgouthole kicker solenoid (resized).jpg

#29 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 4 START NEW GAME PART 2/2

If a new game is started by pressing the Credit button before the current game is finished, then a new start-up sequence will occur. It is almost the same as the version previously discussed, with a few changes that will be described here. The initial start-up will be slightly different because in this situation the Game Over trip relay has not be tripped, so the start-up path we used in green will not work as before. However, as we can observe that the Game relay is always tripped once a game starts (which we will analyze later), and this means that the Game relay switch CR20-3 will close from its NO position, allowing the circuit to be completed as before once the Credit Button is pressed.

Bon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay 4 (resized).jpgBon Voyage Schematic Credit Relay 4 (resized).jpg

In review because Bon Voyage is an add-a-ball machine, resetting the ball count on this machine has a bit more complexity than a typical EM machine. For the Bon Voyage, the machine displays "Balls To Play", as shown below. This is different than a standard (or non add-a-ball) machine which will show "Ball In Play" as shown on the bottom (Bally Monte Carlo).

balls_to_play (resized).jpgballs_to_play (resized).jpg

If a machine needs to restart to the Ball In Play mode, then it simply needs to move its position to #1, which typically can be done in one motion via a stepper unit. To start a game it will reset to 1, then it will count upward for each ball until it reaches the last ball. For the Bon Voyage, the Balls To Play needs to be set up for the correct number of balls at the beginning of the game, which can be 3 or 5 depending on an adjustment plug setting. For an EM machine like this, there is no "state recognition" for a ball stepper unit, that is, it can't directly go to any random number you want it to from any position. So in order to accomplish this, it is done in two steps.

First, drive the stepper unit all the way to the lowest position (ball 1). Then it is at a "known and defined position" because it has been stepped down all the way until it can't move any more. It "knows" it is in position 1.

Second, drive the stepper back upward one step at a time until the desired number is reached. If 2 step-up commands are sent then it will increase from 1 to 2 and then from 2 to 3 and it will be ready for 3-ball play. If 4 step-up commands are sent it will increment 1-2, 2-3, 3-4, and finally 4-5 and be ready for 5-ball play.

Before we investigate this part of the circuit further, just like for relays we need to observe and analyze the stepper units. They typically have one or more solenoids as part of their assembly and often they have switches as well, so we need to figure out where those switches go. Below is the Bon Voyage Ball Count Stepper Unit, which I have arbitrarily labeled as SU06 (Stepper Unit #6). It has 2 solenoids which are CS20, the Ball Count Unit Reset Solenoid and CS21, the Ball Count Unit Step Up Solenoid. It also has 3 switches as labeled.

SU06 Ball Count Unit (resized).jpgSU06 Ball Count Unit (resized).jpg

Just like for the switches on relays, we can find all of these items in the schematic, identify their locations, identify their wire colors, and identify where they are connected to in order to help us figure out how everything works.

table (resized).jpgtable (resized).jpg

The Ball Count Stepper Unit is similar to the Credit Unit we reviewed before in that it can step up one at a time (increment) or step down one at a time (decrement). So if the solenoid CS20 Ball Count Reset Solenoid is energized the ball count will be reduced by one, and if the CS21 Ball Count Unit Step Up Solenoid is energized the ball count will be increased by one.

If a game is in progress, then the make-break Game relay switch CR20-1 is in the opposite position from from the other start-up mode from a Game Over situation. This is because the Ball Count Unit zero switch has moved position due to the balls to play being set higher than 1, so as can be seen on the right, this will cause the Game relay to Trip via its switch CR20-5. This is why CR20-1 on the Game relay is in the opposite position as shown on the left. If the game is restarted, as usual the Coin relay is energized. Now there is a path to the Ball Count Unit Reset Solenoid, through SM2B switch on the score motor cam #2 which we now now will get 5 pulses for each half-rotation of the score motor. By that means, now the Ball Count Unit will be decremented toward the zero position from whatever random number it may be on. When it reaches zero, the Ball Count Unit Zero switch will change positions. This will cause the Game relay to latch which will then flip CR20-1 back to the other side. From that point, the Ball Count Unit Step Up solenoid will now add the correct number of balls to play in the same manner as described in the previous start-up procedure.

In most cases if a new game is started before the current game is finished, it will take 2 half-rotations of the score motor to set up the Balls To Play. The first rotation will drive down the Ball Count Unit to zero and the second rotation will increment it to either 3 or 5 balls depending on the jumper. However, it is possible for the player to win multiple additional balls during game play, up to its maximum of 9. If the player should happen to have 7, 8, or 9 balls to play then the 5 pulses of the #2 cam are not enough to get it back down to 1. In this case, it will take 2 half-rotations to reset the Ball Count Unit plus another to set up the balls to play, for 3 total half-rotations for the start-up sequence (again, a rare but possible condition).

ball count reset (resized).jpgball count reset (resized).jpg

There is also a slight difference for this condition #2 concerning the lock-in of the coin relay as shown below. When the Game relay is tripped during the first score motor rotation while the ball count is reset back to 1 its switch CR20-2 will close and provide an extra lock-in for the Coin relay. This will keep the Coin relay energized for an additional score motor half-turn so it can complete its jobs of resetting the 100,000 relay, tilt relay, and play meter, which it cannot do until the Game relay goes back to the latched position when the Ball Count Zero switch changes position. Once the Game relay latches, switch CR20-2 will then open again and the coin relay will de-energize. So unlike when starting a game when the last game was finished (as described in the previous section)the 100,00 relay, Tilt relay and Play Meter will not change immediately after the Credit Button is pressed, they will wait until the first score motor half-rotation then they will change.
coin relay lockin (resized).jpgcoin relay lockin (resized).jpg

#30 6 years ago

If we consult our relay switch tables, we will see that we have found the functions for all 3 switches on the Credit relay and for all 7 switches on the Coin relay, but we have only covered 3 of the 6 switches for the Reset relay. Since the Reset relay is only used for the start-up function, we should identify the functions of those last 3 switches for completeness.

The Reset relay switch CR06-A1 is used if the Tilt Adjustment Plug is set in the Ball Over position instead of the Game Over position. This will allow the Tilt relay to be latched if it has been tripped so a new game can start.

tilt latch ball setting (resized).jpgtilt latch ball setting (resized).jpg

The Reset relay switch CR06-A2 is used in the 100,000 Trip Relay circuit. It opens from its NC position during the reset process to prevent the 100,000 relay from being tripped during the score reset cycle.

100000 trip reset switch (resized).jpg100000 trip reset switch (resized).jpg

The Reset relay switch CR06-B2 is used in the Credit Button start-up circuit that we have looked at several times. It opens from its NC position during the reset process to prevent any actions from the Credit Button being pressed while the start-up cycle is going through its steps, to prevent confusion in the circuit.

credit switch reset lockout (resized).jpgcredit switch reset lockout (resized).jpg

There is one additional function that occurs when a game is restarted. The Game Over Trip relay is tripped immediately through Score Motor switch SM1A and the now-closed CR01-B1 Coin relay switch. This will put the game in Game Over state, which would match how it would be when a new game is started after the last one has been completed. In that situation, the Game Over relay would already be tripped so this would not have an effect. It is not clear why this circuit is needed. It does cut off the top circuit thus preventing any scoring while the system resets (the green NC switch will open) , but the NC closed reset switch (also green) will accomplish the same. It does also turn off some of the scoring lights on the playfield so maybe that is the goal.

game over trip on midgame restart (resized).jpggame over trip on midgame restart (resized).jpg

After this Part 4 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.

BonVoyageSchematicPart4 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart4 (resized).jpg

#31 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 5 GAME PLAY PART 1

For Part 5 - Game Play - we will describe all of the possible events that can happen from the time the ball is launched onto the playfield until it drains. This will be done is a somewhat organized manner with the understanding that these events happen randomly during game play.

10 Point Scoring Opportunities

There are 6 switches on the playfield that will score 10 points. 4 of these are Rebound Switches behind rubbers and the other switch is connected to the Left and Right Rebound Kickers (also called Sling Shots). Actually there are 2 switches behind the left and the right rebound kicker rubbers (4 total). Each pair is tied to its corresponding Rebound Kicker (or Sling Shot) Solenoid. Even though only one switch is shown in the schematic section below, this is just another shorthand and there are actually 2 in parallel so if either is closed by ball contact they will activate the rebound kicker solenoid.

rebound kicker switches (resized).jpgrebound kicker switches (resized).jpg

The 6 switches shown here all will energize the 10 Point relay when they are closed. Again as a shorthand only one switch is shown for the 2 side rebound switches. If the ball contact closes any one of these, then the 10 Point relay will energize and perform a variety of steps.

10 point relay (resized).jpg10 point relay (resized).jpg

First, as always, it is best to identify all of the switches on the 10 Point relay, then figure out where they all go. By observing the relay we see there are 6 switches total. By going through the schematic we can identify the location and the wires for all 6. This will make the job of figuring out how everything works much easier.

table (resized).jpgtable (resized).jpg

We can immediately identify CR40-B1 in the circuit above as a lock-in for the 10 point relay. It will keep the 10 Point relay energized as long as the 10-100 Unit End Of Stroke switch is closed. This EOS switch is mounted on the 10s Score Reel. This lock in is needed because the switch closure will be a very brief time as the ball hits one of the targets and bounces away. This lock in switch ensures that the 10 Point relay stays energized long enough for everything that needs to happen to take place.

Switch CR40-A2 is connected to the 10-90 Unit Step-Up Solenoid. This will cause this solenoid to activate and it will advance the 10s Score Reel by one position to add 10 points to the score.

10-90 step up (resized).jpg10-90 step up (resized).jpg

Switch CR40-A4 is connected to the 10 point Chime Solenoid. This will cause this solenoid to activate which will create the ringing sound of the 10 point chime.

10 point chime (resized).jpg10 point chime (resized).jpg

Switch CR40-B2 is connected to the 100 Point relay. It's job is to advance the 100s Score Reel by one when the 10s reel goes from 9 back to 0. This will only happen when the 10s score reel advances from 9 back to 0. This is the function of the 10-90 Unit 9th Position switch. It is always NO except when the score reel is in position 9, then it will close, allowing this circuit to be completed so that an additional score of 100 will be added when the 10s reel goes from 90 back to 10.

10 point 100 step up (resized).jpg10 point 100 step up (resized).jpg

Switch CR40-A3 is connected inline with the 00-90 Unit Step-Up Solenoid. Each time the 10 Point Relay is activated, the 00-90 Unit Disc will advance one position. This will be used at the end of the game for the match function, to be described later.

00-90 match unit advance (resized).jpg00-90 match unit advance (resized).jpg

Switch CR40-A1 is connected inline with the Ball Index relay. It can be seen here that when that switch closes from its NO position the Ball Index relay will be energized. The function of the Ball Index relay will be discussed later.

ball index 10 point (resized).jpgball index 10 point (resized).jpg

Now we have described what happens with a 10 point scoring opportunity, including all of the switches that can trigger it, and all of the events that are triggered by the 10 point relay. This includes 1) locking in the 10 point relay so everything will occur properly, 2) adding 10 points to the score, 3) adding 100 points if the addition of the 10 will roll it over from 90 back to 0, 4) sound the 10 point chime, 5) advance the 10-90 match unit by one and 6) energize the Ball Index relay if it is not already energized and locked in.

#32 6 years ago

100 Point Scoring Opportunities
100 points can be scored by closing the switches on the 2 Pop Bumpers (BT01-1 and BT02-1), 3 Rollover Buttons (BR01-1, BR02-1, and BR03-2), or the Spinner Gate (G02-1). The 100 Score Reel also will advance when the 10s Score Reel advances from 9 back to 0 as previously described. The logic is the same as the 10 point scoring, so we can condense the explanation down. First we can see all of the switches that will energize the 100 Point Relay, the 3 100 Point Rollover Buttons (which are in parallel with the Spinner target and so activate the Spinner Relay), the Spinner Target, and the 2 Pop Bumpers. Similar to the 10 point scoring circuit, after the 100 Point Relay is Energized it has a switch CR41-B1 that will lock it in until the 100-900 Unit (score reel) solenoid reaches its end of stroke and opens its EOS switch (to give enough time for all of the 100 events to happen).
100 point scoring (resized).jpg100 point scoring (resized).jpg
The remaining actions for the 100 point score are all similar to the 10 point score actions, via the action of the switches of the 100 Point Relay CR41. The 100 Point Relay has 1 less switch than the 10 Point Relay since only the 10 Point Relay activates the match unit. From left to right:
- The 100 score reel is advanced by one by CR41-A3
- The 100 chime is activated by CR41-A2
- If the 1000 score reel is on 9 and therefor the 1000-9000 Unit End Of Stroke is closed, then switch CR41-A4 will activate a 1000 score to advance by one.
- The Ball Index relay is energized by CR41-A1
100 point scoring 2 (resized).jpg100 point scoring 2 (resized).jpg
As noted the Thumper Bumpers, also called Pop Bumpers, are one of the triggers for the 100 point scoring.
For completeness we should look at all of the switches involved with the Pop Bumpers. Also, somewhat interestingly, there are two errors in the schematic concerning the Pop Bumpers. One was covered earlier in the Power On section. The lamps for the Pop Bumpers are not drawn in the correct location and should be in the GI circuit since they are always on. In addition this section of the schematic is incorrect. The entire section that is highlighted in red should be ignored, it is extra information that is not accurate or needed as it is a repeat of the left pop bumper schematic.
Each pop bumper has a switch that is activated when the ball collides with it (BT01-1 and BT02-1). This will energize the corresponding thumper bumper relay. Each relay as a lock-in switch as shown that will hold the thumper bumper relay on so everything can be completed, When the pop bumper solenoid reaches its end of travel it will open the EOS switch and then de-energize the thumper bumper relay. This circuit is shown below.
pop bumpers (resized).jpgpop bumpers (resized).jpg
Each pop bumper relay has another switch as shown below which when closed will energize the corresponding solenoid. In addition to providing the EOS lock-in control as discussed above, of course the solenoid also will mechanically kick the ball away in the normal action of a pop bumper.
pop bumpers 2 (resized).jpgpop bumpers 2 (resized).jpg
1000 Point Scoring Opportunities
There are 11 event possibilities for scoring 1000 points by activating the 1000 point relay. These are the 3 B-O-N rollover switches, the 4 targets for V-O-Y-A, and 4 1000 point rollover switches. These are shown below with red paths which connect each one to the Black-Red wire that energizes the 1000 Point Relay. In the usual shorthand, the 3 rollover buttons for B-O-N are shown together, and the same for the 4 1000 Point Rollovers.
Similar to the 100 point scoring circuit, after the 1000 Point Relay is energized it has a switch CR42-B1 that will lock it in until the 1000-9000 Unit (score reel) solenoid reaches its end of stroke and opens its EOS switch (to give enough time for all of the 1000 events to happen). Also, similar to the 10 and 100 circuits, there is a switch on the 100 Point Relay CR41-A4 that will energize the 1000 Point Relay when the 100s score reel advances from 9 back to 0. The 100-900 Unit 9th Position switch will close when that 100 reel is on 9 as shown below.
1000 point scoring (resized).jpg1000 point scoring (resized).jpg
The remaining actions for the 1000 point score are all similar to the 10 and 100 point score actions, via the action of the switches of the 1000 Point Relay CR42. . From left to right:
- The 1000 score reel is advanced by one by CR42-A4
- The 1000 chime is activated by CR42-A2
- If the 1000 score reel is on 9 and therefor the 1000-9000 Unit End Of Stroke is closed, then switch CR42-A3 will activate a 10000 score reel to advance by one.
- The Ball Index relay is energized by CR42-A1
1000 point scoring 2 (resized).jpg1000 point scoring 2 (resized).jpg
The 1000 Point Relay switch CR42-A4 shown above has a second function in addition to incrementing the 10,000 score reel when the 1,000 rolls over from 9. As shown in the circuit below, it will also provide a path for the 100,000 lamp to light by energizing the 100,000 Relay, After the 100,000 Point Relay has been tripped then its switch will close NO CR38-B2 and this will light the 100,000 lamp, signifying that the player has rolled it over from 99,990.
The 100,000 Point Relay switch CR38-B1 will open from its NC position once the 100,000 Point Relay is tripped. Presumably this would be to prevent a second pulse from reaching it if the machine is rolled over a second time. As was covered previously, this 100,000 relay will stay tripped for the duration of the game and won't be latched until a new game is started. So this CR38-B1 seems redundant and unnecessary, as all it would seem to do would be to prevent one short pulse of power to the already-tripped relay if the machine is turned over more than once.
100000 trip (resized).jpg100000 trip (resized).jpg
Hi Score Feature
There is one additional switch CR42-B2 on the 1000 Point relay which is involved in the circuit to add a credit or extra ball when the high score is achieved. A sign next to the adjustment plug in the back box gives instructions on how to set the desired high score by plugging in a single wire of a certain color.
sign score adjustment (resized).jpgsign score adjustment (resized).jpg
The circuit is shown below. Here it is shown with the White wire plugged into the 0000 socket, as described in the sign above. This will set the high score to 50,000. This is done via a wheel on the 10,000 score reel called the 10,000-90,000 Unit Disc. When it hits its #4 position (which is actually 50,000 since it starts with 0 for 10,000) the circuit will be completed the next time the 1000 Relay energizes and CR42-B2 closes as shown.
high score 50000 (resized).jpghigh score 50000 (resized).jpg
When the game is rolled over and the 100,000 Relay is tripped, there are 4 NO switches that will close. These are used in the High Score circuit as shown below. This example illustrates the second example shown in the instruction sign, which says to plug the Blue wire into 5000 socket for a high score setting of 105,000. This will again be completed via the 1,000 Point relay switch, now in combination with a switch on the 100,000 relay. Again somewhat confusingly the 5000 socket is actually position #4 in the schematic below, since it starts at 0 (0 is 1000).
high score 105000 (resized).jpghigh score 105000 (resized).jpg
When the High Score is successfully achieved, there are 2 possible reward options which the operator can set via the Hi-Score Feature Adjustment Plug. In the "C" or Credit position an extra credit will be added. This position completes a path to the Credit Unit Step-Up Solenoid as shown below in red. If the Credit Unit Limit switch is open because 25 max credits are already loaded then the circuit won't be complete, otherwise it will add a credit. In the "XB" or Extra Ball position it will complete a path to the Ball Count Unit Step-Up Solenoid as shown in red, which will then add another ball to the Balls To Play count.
high score credit vs extra ball (resized).jpghigh score credit vs extra ball (resized).jpg
After this Part 5-1 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.
BonVoyageSchematicPart5-1 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart5-1 (resized).jpg

Added over 7 years ago: I can't go back and edit this, so please note this correction on the following paragraph which discusses the high score achievement for a credit:

Currently says:

The circuit is shown below. Here it is shown with the White wire plugged into the 0000 socket, as described in the sign above. This will set the high score to 50,000. This is done via a wheel on the 10,000 score reel called the 10,000-90,000 Unit Disc. When it hits its #4 position (which is actually 50,000 since it starts with 0 for 10,000) the circuit will be completed the next time the 1000 Relay energizes and CR42-B2 closes as shown.

Corrected version:

The circuit is shown below. Here it is shown with the White wire plugged into the 0000 socket, as described in the sign above. This will set the high score to 50,000. This is done via a wheel on the 10,000 score reel called the 10,000-90,000 Unit Disc. When it hits its #4 position which is the 40,000 position the circuit will be completed the next time the 1000 Relay energizes at its 0 position which will be the turnover from 49,000 to 50,000 and CR42-B2 closes as shown.

#33 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 5 GAME PLAY PART 2

For Part 5 - Game Play (continued)- we will describe all of the possible events that can happen from the time the ball is launched onto the playfield until it drains. This will be done is a somewhat organized manner with the understanding that these events happen randomly during game play.

500 Point Scoring Opportunities

The two return lanes add 500 points to the score as the ball passes over them. Unlike the scoring for 10, 100, or 1000 this is not a single event to advance the score reel one step to the next higher number. The 100s Score Reel needs to be advanced 5 times to add 500 points. In order to accomplish this, we must invoke the power of the Score Motor.

We can see here that the return lane switches are connected to a 500 Point Relay, which has 3 total switches to get everything done. When either of the return lane switches is closed the 500 point relay will energize as shown in the yellow circuit. Immediately its own lock-in switch CR36-1 will close from its NO position, causing the 500 Point Relay to stay energized. It will stay energized until Score Motor 10B opens, which will happen toward the end of a Score Motor rotation.

500 point relay (resized).jpg500 point relay (resized).jpg

Switch CR36-3 on the 500 Point Relay will immediately start the Score Motor for one half-rotation as shown in the circuit below.

500 point score motor (resized).jpg500 point score motor (resized).jpg

The third switch on the 500 Point Relay is CR36-2. As shown below, it is connected to the 100 Point Relay. It will close that circuit and energize the 100 Point Relay if Score Motor switch 2C closes. We know from the Score Motor pulse diagram that the #2 cam will provide 5 pulses (highlighted in red). Therefore, the 100 Point Relay will be energized 5 times in a row. Each time it will do its jobs as previously described, that is to add 100 to the score, sound the 100 chime, etc. Those 5 pulses will all happen before the Score Motor switch 10B (highlighted yellow) opens back up which will the release the lock on the 500 Point Relay.

With these circuits the 500 Point scoring operation is complete.

500 point via 100 point relay (resized).jpg500 point via 100 point relay (resized).jpg

3000 Point Scoring Opportunities

If the ball is nudged through the opening on the playfield back into the shooter lane, it will roll over and close the 3000 Point rollover switch which is in the shooter lane. This will energize the 3000 Point Relay, and 3000 points will be added in a manner very similar to the 500 point score. From left to right:

- Switch CR13-1 will lock in the 3000 point relay until Score Motor 10B opens up toward the end of the Score Motor rotation.
- Switch CR13-2 will activate the Score Motor.
- Switch CR13-3 will connect score motor switch SM9B to the 1000 point relay. This is shown in the schematic via some "jump arrows" which are sometimes used to get from one point to another when there isn't enough room on the drawing to connect them normally. They are shown here connected by the diagonal red line. As the score motor turns this time 3 to the 1000 point relay will occur via Score Motor switch 9D, since the #9 cam gives 3 pulses as shown by the timing diagram.

3000 point score (resized).jpg3000 point score (resized).jpg

The 3000 Point Relay has a 4th switch CR13-4 shown below. Its job is to open from its NC state when the 3000 Relay energizes. This will remove the lock-in for the Ball Index relay and de-energize it. As we saw previously, the Ball Index Relay will energize and lock itself the first time any score happens when the ball enters the playfield. One of its functions is to prevent a "free 3000 points" just for launching the ball, since a launch from the shooter lane will go over the 3000 point switch on its way up. Whenever a ball is launched the Ball Index relay will not be energized, and its switch CR08-02 shown in the above picture will be open. This will cut off the 1000 point relay from this 3000 point circuit so no points will be added as the ball travels up and over the 3000 Point switch. Once the Ball Index relay has been energized by any score then CR08-02 will close and the 3000 point score will occur if the ball is moved through the opening.

The same Ball Index Relay switch CR08-02 has other functions which will be covered later.

3000 point ball index (resized).jpg3000 point ball index (resized).jpg

Hitting the Special target will also deliver 3000 points. The Special target switch activates the Special relay which locks itself via its switch CR14-5. Switch CR14-3 activates the Score Motor. Switch CR14-4 will stay closed until the end of the Score Motor rotation, and through it SM9B will give 3 pulses to the 1000 Point Relay using the same path as above that the 3000 point rollover used. The rest of the Special Relay switches will be covered later.

special score 3000 (resized).jpgspecial score 3000 (resized).jpg

5000 Point Scoring Opportunity

The Spot Target offers a 5000 point scoring opportunity that works in a similar way as the 3000 score. Hitting the target closes its switch which energized the Spot Relay. Spot Relay switch CR12-1 locks in the Spot Relay through SM10B. Spot Relay switch CR12-3 activates the Score Motor. The 1000 Point Relay is energized 5 times through Spot Relay CR12-2 via the Score Motor switch SM2C. Thus hitting the Spot Target provides 5000 points to the score. Toward the end of the Score Motor cycle its switch 10B will open and that will cut of the voltage to the lock-in circuit and de-energize the Spot Relay. The Spot Target has additional functions which will be covered later.

spot target 5000 points (resized).jpgspot target 5000 points (resized).jpg

After this Part 5-2 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.

BonVoyageSchematicPart5-2 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart5-2 (resized).jpg

#34 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 5 GAME PLAY PART 3

For Part 5 - Game Play (continued)- we will describe all of the possible events that can happen from the time the ball is launched onto the playfield until it drains. This will be done is a somewhat organized manner with the understanding that these events happen randomly during game play.

The B-O-N-V-O-Y-A-G-E Special

The primary goal of the game is to get the Special. This is done by spelling out all of the BON VOYAGE lights in the middle of the playfield. This will light the Special target, and then hitting the captive ball upward and into the Special target will give the Special. There are different ways to turn on the BON VOYAGE lights which will be discussed here.

The Special is controlled by a series of trip relays which are mounted on the Reset Motor trip relay bank. The picture below shows the trip relay bank.

trip bank (resized).jpgtrip bank (resized).jpg

There are 11 trip relays mounted on the trip relay bank. 9 of these correspond to each letter in BON VOYAGE. There is one called B-E which will be used when all 9 letters have been tripped. There is also a Game Over relay which will be covered later. Remembering back to the start of the game, one of the startup actions was a turn of the Reset Motor. This will turn ensure that all of the trip relays are reset to their unenergized state. When any trip relay is energized just once, it will stay mechanically locked on, so this can serve as a sort of memory bank to keep track of things, even between balls.

First consider the B Rollover at the top of the playfield. There are 2 switches on this rollover, and we previously noted that one of them will briefly connect the 1000 point relay to add the 1000 point score. The second one will trip the B Trip Relay as shown below. The B Trip Relay is energized through its own switch CR22-2. Once the B Trip Relay has been energized, it will stay in that position since it is a trip relay (until the Reset Motor is energized and makes a rotation). The switch CR22-2 will also prevent any more voltage from hitting the B Trip Replay since it will immediately switch to the open position as soon as the relay is energized. So when the ball rolls over the B Rollover the first time, it will trip the B Trip Relay and it wil stay tripped for the remainder of the game, OR, until a Special is achieved.

B rollover B trip relay (resized).jpgB rollover B trip relay (resized).jpg

When the Reset Motor rotated upon starting the game, it moved all of the trip relays to their untripped positions. This causes all of the lights B-O-N-V-O-Y-A-G-E next to the rollovers and targets to light, and all of the lights lights B-O-N-V-O-Y-A-G-E in the middle of the playfield, called the "Score Lites", to turn off. This is shown in the first picture below. When the B Trip Relay is tripped, its switch CR22-3 (which is a MBB or Make-Break-Break switch with 3 contacts) moves from one position to the other, and this will turn off the target light and turn on the score light as shown in the second picture.

B target lite (resized).jpgB target lite (resized).jpg

Another switch CR22-4 on the B Trip Relay is NO and will close when the B Trip Relay is tripped. As shown here, it is within a line in series of all 9 letters. When all 9 letter targets are hit and all 9 trip relayes are tripped, all 9 of these in series will close and the B-E trip relay will be energized (to be discussed later).

B trip relay B-E (resized).jpgB trip relay B-E (resized).jpg

Another switch CR22-2 on the B trip relay is shown in the circuit below. It is in parallel with the "O" and "N" switches and connected to the BON light. If all 3 trip relays B-O-N have been tripped then the circuit in green will be open in the middle and the BON light will be turned off.

BON VOY AGE lites (resized).jpgBON VOY AGE lites (resized).jpg

There are 3 additional relays which are BON CR17, VOY CR18 and AGE CR19. These relays each have 3 switches below that will cause the corresponding trip relays to trip if the Spot Target is hit AND either the BON, VOY, or AGE relay is energized. This provides an additional way for the player to lite up to 3 of the bonus letter with one shot to the Spot Target. The control of the BON, VOY, and AGE relays is done via the Spinner which will be covered later.

BON VOY AGE trip relays (resized).jpgBON VOY AGE trip relays (resized).jpg

The last switch on the B Trip Relay is CR22-5. As shown below, this switch is connected to the Score Motor switch SM3E and to one side of a switch on the #1 Bonus Relay. After this switch is closed due to the B Trip Relay being tripped, it will then allow a bonus score to be added when the ball drains. The details of how this works will be covered later.

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#35 6 years ago

All 9 of the B-O-N-V-O-Y-A-G-E trip relays have a matching set of 4 switches in the same manner as the B Trip Relay described above. So if we understand the actions of the B Trip relay we can easily see how the other 8 work in the same manner when they are tripped.

- Switch 1 disables any further power to the relay from target hits
- Switch 2 turns off the BON, VOY or AGE light when all 3 of those letter trip relays are tripped
- Switch 3 switches the illumination from the target light to the score light in the middle of the playfield
- Switch 4 closes that letter in the "line" for the B-E relay
- Switch 5 activates the bonus for when the ball drains later

There is also an adjustment plug called (somewhat confusingly) "3-5 Ball Setting". This allows the game to be set up to be "easier" or "harder", and it is actually independent of how many balls per game are set which is controlled by a different adjustment plug. In the "5" position the it will close each letter trip relay when the corresponding target is hit, one at a time for all 9 letters. In the "3" position, 3 pairs of letters are tied together to each other as shown in the picture below. The red arrows indicate that the plug has been moved from the 5 position which is open and therefore doesn't affect the circuit over to the 3 position. The two O circuits are tied together by 2 wires on the adjustment plug, so if the player hits either O target then both O trip relays will be tripped. This is shown highlighted in yellow. As shown in green, the A and the G targets are connected in the same way. And finally the V and Y are connected as shown in purple. This allows the player to trip all 9 letters more quickly since they won't have to hit all 9 letters.

3-5 adjustment plug (resized).jpg3-5 adjustment plug (resized).jpg

Each of the 9 letter trip relays has a switch that is in line in series with the B-E Relay. So if all 9 targets are hit and all 9 letters are tripped, all of these switches together will complete the path to the B-E trip relay. Its switch CR31-1 will now open to lock out the B-E relay so unnecessary voltage is not continuously applied, which would overheat the coil relay.

B-E tripped (resized).jpgB-E tripped (resized).jpg

There are 4 switches on the B-E Trip Relay that will now be activated, these are all shown below.

- CR31-1 Disables power from the B-E Relay once it has been tripped
- CR31-2 Allows the Special to be awarded as will be described next
- CR31-3 Lights the Special light at the Special target to tell the player the Special is available
- CR31-4 Allows the Reset Motor to be activated when the Special is achieved

B-E switches (resized).jpgB-E switches (resized).jpg

Winning The Special

If the player has lit all 9 of the BON VOYAGE letters by tripping all of the relays as described above, now the Special is available and will be awarded if the player knocks the captive ball into the Special Target. When the Special Target switch is closed then the Special Relay CR14 will energize, and it will stay energized through its own lock-in switch CR14-5, which will keep it energized as long as Score Motor switch 10B is closed. So if the score motor turns then the Special Relay will be deenergized. This all works the same as described before for the award of 3000 points for hitting the Special Target with the captive ball. That will work the same, but now new things will happen sat the same time because the Special is active. In fact, we can use the same diagram as before as a reminder of how 3 switches on the Special Relay lock in the relay, start the Score Motor, and score 3000 points.

special score 3000 (resized).jpgspecial score 3000 (resized).jpg

Shown below is another switch CR14-2 on the Special Relay that will is NO and will close when the relay is energized. This switch allows the Special to be awarded. It doesn't award a special unless all 9 letters have been achieved, which will then trip the B-E Relay and its switch CR31-2 that we looked at previously will now be closed. This provides the path to award the Special when both of these switches are closed.

special and b-e (resized).jpgspecial and b-e (resized).jpg

Winning the Special - 3 Options

The Special Adjustment Plug can be set for 3 different rewards when the Special is achieved: Credit, Extra Ball, or 5000 Points. We will analyze each one separately to see how they work.

Special - Credit or Free Game (C)

With the adjustment plug in this position (which is the way it is shown in the schematic), the special target is connected to the Credit Unit Step-Up Solenoid by way of SM3F. This switch will give one pulse when the Score Motor rotates which will cause 1 credit to be added when the solenoid is activate. This is shown highlighted in yellow in the circuit below.

If the credit reel should be maxed out at 25 credits, the its limit switch will open and there will be no game added.

special credit (resized).jpgspecial credit (resized).jpg

Special - Extra Ball (XB)

In this position the Ball Count Unit Step-Up Solenoid is in the circuit, and it will be activated in a similar manner as above via SM3D, adding another ball to the Balls To Play total

special ball (resized).jpgspecial ball (resized).jpg

Special - Novelty or 5000 Points (N)

It's really just 2000 extra points, since hitting the Special target always gives 3000 anyway.

With the adjustment plug in this position, a circuit is made via a "hyperspace leap" between the two points 50-6 as shown in the schematic. It connects to SM3C and SM4F. First SM3C will give one closure to the 1000 Point Relay, then SM4F will give another, and there will be the additional 3000 via 9B as usual for hitting the Special target, for a total of 5000.

special novelty (resized).jpgspecial novelty (resized).jpg

After this Part 5-3 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.

BonVoyageSchematicPart5-3 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart5-3 (resized).jpg

#36 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 5 GAME PLAY PART 4

For Part 5 - Game Play (continued)- we will describe all of the possible events that can happen from the time the ball is launched onto the playfield until it drains. This will be done is a somewhat organized manner with the understanding that these events happen randomly during game play.

The Collect Lit Value Hole

The playfield Hole will give different scores as indicated by the "Scores Lit Value" light. This begins with a trigger of the Spinner Relay as in the ball is in play. Either the Spinner Target or any of the 3 rollover buttons will energize the Spinner Relay, therefore constantly changing the score value. These are all tied in parallel to the Spinner Relay to cause this action. Switch CR33-2 will activate the Spinner Unit Solenoid each time the Spinner Relay is activated, which then advances the Spinner Unit Disc each time. As described previously, switch CR33-1 will score 100 points each time those targets are hit. There are 2 switches on the Spinner Relay and now both have been described.

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When the ball lands in the Hole, that switch will energize the Hole Relay. As usual first we inspect the Hole Relay and note that it has 4 switches, then we find all 4 of these on the schematic so we can then define all functions of this Relay. Three of the Hole Relay switches are shown below. When the ball lands in the Hole it will close the Hole switch and this will energize the Hole Relay (green path). Immediately Switch CR37-1 will lock it the Hole relay through NC Score Motor switch 8D (yellow path). At the same time switch CR37-3 will start the Score Motor. We can see that at the end of the score motor rotation, SM8D will open and de-energize the Hole Relay. Also as shown on the right, the NO Score Motor switch 7A will close toward the end of the score motor rotation via the Hole Relay switch CR37-2 and this will energize the Hole Kicker Solenoid which will kick the ball out of the Hole back onto the playfield. During that single one-half rotation of the score motor the lit value will be awarded which we will analyze next.

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The fourth switch on the Hole Relay is shown below. While it is closed during the Score Motor rotation it allows the voltage through to the top Spinner Unit Disc circuit and this is where the lit value will be awarded.

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There are two halves for the Spinner Unit Disc as shown below. One half controls the lights and the other half controls the scoring. As drawn on the schematic, the arrows indicate the current position out of ten possible which are labeled 0-9. The default in the schematic is position #4 on the top part of the schematic and it is on #1 on the bottom part where the lights are controlled, which is a state that cannot exist and therefore potentially a bit confusing. They should be pointing to the same number. The bottom circuit that controls the lights is straightforward, it just turns on the appropriate light on the playfield, and also controls the lighting for the BON, VOY, and AGE inserts at the Spot Relay. The top circuit uses the Score Motor to control various 1000-point scores for 2000, 3000, 4000, or 5000 points. The position of the arrow will randomly vary as the ball in play progresses and the targets are hit. We will break it down sequentially to describe the circuit. Using our knowledge of how the Score Motor works we can break these down one at a time a see how they work.

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Spinner Unit Disc 2000 Points - Positions 1, 5 , and 8

The # 1 position is tied to SM3C and SM4F, so as these close while the Score Motor turns they will provide 2 pulses to the 1000 Point Relay for 2000 points. This same sub-circuit was also previously described as it is also used to add points for the Special Novelty setting. That is the part that goes to the right to point 50-6 at location D27.

The 5 position (green) and 8 position (blue) are also handled here as they are tied into the same circuit to provide their own 2000 point award and to light their corresponding 2000 insert lights.

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Spinner Unit Disc 3000 Points - Positions 0 and 4

We can see from the lower part of the schematic that if the pointer is at the 0 position it will light the corresponding 3000 light. The upper part shows that there will be a connection through SM9B (yellow circuit). Consulting the timing diagram we see this will give 3 pulse closures to the 1000 Point Relay, scoring 3000 points.

We can also handle the 4 position here as well, since it is tied together with the 0 position. The 4 position (green circuit) will light the other 3000 light and award the 3000 points through the same SM0B circuit.

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Spinner Unit Disc 4000 Points - Positions 3 and 7

Here it is tied to 2 score motor switches, 4E and 9C. So as the score motor rotates, first 4E will pulse the 1000 Point relay once, the shortly after 9C which as we know is on came 9 which has 3 lobes will pulse it 3 more times, giving a total of 4000 points.

The 7 position (green) is also handled here as it is tied into the same circuit to provide their its own 4000 point award and to light the corresponding 4000 insert lights.

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Spinner Unit Disc 5000 Points - Positions 2, 6 and 9

The logic is a bit different for the 5000 point position. S
tarting with the 2 position (yellow) we see that this will energize the AGE Relay. This will cause NO switch CR19-4 to close. This switch is found in the schematic near the 1000 Point Relay. It will allow 5 pulses to the 1000 Points Relay via Score Motor SM2C thus awarding the 5000 points. The corresponding insert light will be lit via the lower Spinner Unit Disc #2 position. The AGE light near the Spot Relay will also lit UNLESS all three relays A-G-E have been tripped; this circuit was described previously.

The Spinner Unit Disc positions work similarly for the # 6 position (green and BON Relay) and the #9 position (blue and VOY Relay).

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After this Part 5-4 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.

BonVoyageSchematicPart5-4 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart5-4 (resized).jpg

#37 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 5 GAME PLAY PART 5

For Part 5 - Game Play (continued)- we will describe all of the possible events that can happen from the time the ball is launched onto the playfield until it drains. This will be done is a somewhat organized manner with the understanding that these events happen randomly during game play.

Tilt Functions

There are two different Tilt functions for this machine, as is typical, "slam tilts" and "tilts".

Slam Tilt

There are switches mounted in various places on the machine that are set up in such a way that they will close if the machine is heavily mishandled. The number of slam tilt switches can vary from machine to machine at the discretion of the original buyer. This Bon Voyage has 2 slam switches, one mounted on the coin door which will activate upon heavy pounding of the coin door and one on the bottom of the cabinet which will activated if the machine is heavily manhandled, for example by picking it up and slamming it down it. These switches are wired in parallel so that if either of them closes the Delay Relay will energize. When the Delay Relay energized it will lock itself on through its own switch CR09-1. The lock-in also passes through an incandescent bulb. This is a #455 blinker bulb. For a brief time the Delay Relay will stay locked in through this bulb, but as soon as the bulb blinks it will open the circuit, cutting of the lock-in switch and then the Delay Relay will be deenergized again.

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There is one other switch CR09-2 on the Delay Relay. It NC so it opens when the Delay Relay is energized. This cuts of the voltage to the part of the circuit that is highlighted in red. The left flipper and credit functions are disabled, and also if a game has been started the power to the Lock Relay will be cut off. This means it's switch CR05-1 will go back to its default NC state and the Game Over Relay will be tripped, ending the game.

After the short time of the delay the machine can be restarted but it will require another coin or credit.

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The Tilt Relay is an interlock relay similar to the Game Relay and 100,000 Point Relay. The Tilt Latch relay is the one with the switches. The Tilt Trip relay is the one with just a blade that holds the Tilt Latch relay in its closed position, which is the default state for normal operation. This allows the Tilt Latch relay to be essentially held in without having to constantly supply voltage to it, which can cause overheating.

There are 3 methods of getting a tilt during game play. There is the Plumb Tilt which will sway as the machine is nudged and eventually make contact and close with excessive nudging, the Ball Tilt which will close if the front of the machine is picked up causing the ball to roll back, and the Panel Tilt which is a switch mounted on the bottom of the playfield to prevent excessive pounding on the playfield. These are wired in parallel so that if any of these switches is closed the Tilt Trip Relay will energize. This will bring down its Trip lever which then allows the Tilt Latch relay to open up and change the state of all of its 6 switches. One of those switches is CR15-1 shown below which will open from its NC state and cut off power to the Tilt Trip Relay, which will keep it from staying energized in case on of the tilt switches is stuck closed.

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Switch CR15-2 which is NC will open and cut off the match lights if the Tilt Adjustment Plug is in the Game Over position (red circuit). If the Adjustment Plug is in the End Ball position this switch is bypassed (green circuit). This goes along with a Game Over switch which will cut off the Match circuit instantly if a Tilt occurs in Game Over mode, preventing the player from winning a free game via a match if they tilt. The Game Over Trip Relay will be covered later.

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Switch 3 cuts off one leg of the 50V power from all of the scoring functions, including the 10, 100, and 1000 relays along with the flippers. This will prevent any more scoring if the ball is still on the playfield and the Tilt Adjustment is set to End Ball (if Tilt is set to Game Over it won't matter because the game will immediately end).

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The final 3 Tilt Relay switches are shown below.

Switch CR15-4 causes the Tilt lamp to light up in the backglass.

Switch CR15-5 will immediately energize the Game Over Relay if the Tilt Adjustment Plug is in the Game Over position. It can be seen here that if the Tilt Adjustment Plug is in the End Ball position this switch will be bypassed.

Switch CR15-6 which is NO will close. This allows the Ball Count Unit Reset Solenoid to energize when SM5A closes, reducing the Balls To Play by one. This switch allows the machine to reduce the ball count even if the ball index has not been tripped yet, so if you tilt the machine even before launching your ball you will still lose a ball. This will never activate if the adjustment plug is in the Game Over position, it is only valid for the End Ball position.

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Flipper Switches

The last past of the game-in-progress is to show the Flipper switches. Each flipper has a switch behind the button that energizes the corresponding flipper solenoid. Initially there will be a high power burst of energy to the flipper via the top coil (yellow circuit), then when the flipper extends outward its End Of Stroke (EOS) switch will open, and this will allow the path through the lower-power coil (green). This allows the player to hold the flipper button down and not burn up the flipper coil.

The Bon Voyage flippers work in the same manner as virtually all pinball machines with flippers and there are many good tutorials available that describe how they work.

flipper switches (resized).jpgflipper switches (resized).jpg

After this Part 5-5 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.

BonVoyageSchematicPart5-5 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart5-5 (resized).jpg

#38 6 years ago

Isn't the purpose of a #455 bulb in the delay relay circuit that when it first blinks it opens the circuit?

#39 6 years ago
Quoted from astyy:

Isn't the purpose of a #455 bulb in the delay relay circuit that when it first blinks it opens the circuit?

Yes you are right, I knew that and somehow I just messed that part up when I wrote it. I forgot about that being a blinking bulb, which is key to how it works. I rewrote that part and I think it should be accurate now, if not let me know! Thanks.

#40 6 years ago

Looks good, this has been a mammoth task and that was a small point.

This typo in the schematic threw me early on!

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#41 6 years ago

Wow! I have looked at that schematic probably 1,000 times and I never noticed that! Good one.

#42 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 6 BALL DRAINS Part 1

At some point all of the random fun of playing the ball on the playfield will end and the ball will drain into the outhole. For the last part of this process will will cover 3 different scenarios for the ball drain.

Ball drain scenario #1 no points are scored

If the ball is launched onto the playfield and not a single point is scored, then the ball will be kicked back to the shooter and the Balls To Play will not be decremented, giving the player another chance after their feeble attempt.

When the ball drains it lands in the Outhole, it triggers a 3-step process as shown below. First, the ball itself closes the NO Outhole switch as shown in red below in #1. In this scenario, the Ball Index Relay has not been activated. From our previous analysis we know that any scoring activity will energize the Ball Index Relay and it will lock itself in. But since this no-point shot did not energize it, it's switch CR08-1 is as shown below. This is a MB or Make Break style switch with two possible positions. By default before the Ball Index Relay has been energized (and locked-in) it will be in this position. Therefore the closing of the Outhole switch will energize the Outhole Relay as shown in yellow.

The Outhole Relay then will close its switch CR07-B3 which will start the Score Motor as shown in #2. Also Outhole Relay switch CR07-B2 will be closed, and as the Score Motor makes its half-turn its switch SM7A will close, closing circuit #3 which then energizes the Outhole Kicker Solenoid which kicks the ball back to the shooter lane, ready for another shot.

ball drain no score (resized).jpgball drain no score (resized).jpg

Ball drain scenario #2 - any ball in play except the last ball

Assuming some points have been scored, then this is what will happen when the ball drains for any ball except the last ball. That is, the Balls To Play will be 2 or higher.

When the ball lands in the Outhole it will close the Outhole switch. But since points have been scored and the Ball Index Relay has been energized and locked, it's switch CR08-1 will be in the other position. So at first the Outhole Relay will not be energized (which then causes the Hole Kicker Solenoid to energize) and the ball will sit in the Outhole while the bonus is scored. When a ball in play drains, what will happen next is that the Bonus will be added to the score. The Bonus will give 1000 points for each letter that has been lit during play. So first we will see how this part of the circuit works.

Before going through the schematic and working through all of the circuits, we can play a few balls and observe that when the ball lands in the Outhole the Score Motor will make a total of 3 half-revolutions for this step. So we need to figure out how the Score Motor is used to coordinate everything and having that knowledge about the number of score motor turns is key to helping this.

The Bonus is counted up and added in two parts. If you play some balls and observe you can see that this happens. In fact if you listen to the score motor and watch the bonus being given, you can see that the bonus for some letters happens during the first half-turn and the bonus for the rest of the letters happens during the second half-turn.

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Looking again at the same area as above, but now expanded to show more of the bonus circuit, we see that the Ball Index Relay switch CR0801 in its current position will energize the #1 Bonus Relay through Outhole Rely switch CR07-A4 as shown in yellow. The #1 Bonus Relay will then immediately lock itself in via it's switch CR10-1 and also via the Outhole Relay switch CR07-2 as shown in orange. At this point the #1 Bonus Relay is locked in and this will allow the first part of the bonus to be awarded. This happens as follows.

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Switch CR10-4 on the #1 Bonus Relay will cause the Score Motor to make one half rotation. During this rotation 1000 points will be added for any lit letters B O N V O. This is completed through #1 Bonus Relay switch CR10-2 and #2 Bonus Relay switch CR11-4, which connect those 5 letters to the 1000 Point Relay. Note that this #2 Bonus Relay switch is a make-break switch, and the #2 Bonus Relay has not been energized yet so it is in its default position as shown.

Here we can see the bank of letters. We looked at this part of the schematic before as part of the bonus setup by hitting the targets. Each bonus letter's trip relay is energized and tripped when its target is hit and that closes a corresponding NO switch in this circuit. Here is how it looks for the B highlighted in yellow. As the Score Motor turns it's switch SM3E will close and that will give the 1000 points for B if it is lit. The path is through the B Trip Relay switch CR22-5, then going through #1 Bonus Relay switch CR10-2 (now closed from its default NO position due to that relay being locked in) and finally through the #2 Bonus Relay switch CR11-4 which then goes onward to the 1000 Point Relay.

The process is the same for O N V O. Each gets another switch on the Score Motor so that each of the 5 goes in order to get their 1000 points (if they are lit). Note that each subsequent letter uses another step down the line on the score motor so these 5 letters will be scored in sequence as the score motor turns (if their respective trip relays are tripped).

1. The B is scored through score motor switch 3E.
2. The first O is scored through 4C.
3. The N is scored through 5C.
4. The V is scored through 6A.
5. The second O is scored through 7B.

There aren't enough cams on the score motor to score all 9 letters within one half-rotation, so these first 5 are done in the first rotation and the other 4 will happen in the next rotation.

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As the Score Motor completes its first half-turn, toward the end NO Switch SM10A will close. This will energize the #2 Bonus Relay, which locks itself in via its switch CR11-1 and also via switch CR07-A2 on the Outhole Relay, in the same fashion as the #1 Bonus Relay lock-in (blue circuit). At this point both the #1 Bonus Relay and the #2 Bonus Relay are energized and locked in. As before, switch CR1-4 on the #1 Bonus Relay will give the Score Motor the signal to turn again (the same circuit as above left). There are also another switch CR11-3 on the #2 Bonus Relay that will keep the Ball Index Relay locked until it is time to release it.

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For the second Score Motor half-rotation switch CR11-4 on the #2 Bonus Relay has changed position. This brings in the second bank of letters for the bonus scoring – Y A G E. These work in the same fashion as the other #1 Bonus letters, scoring 1000 if their corresponding relay has been tripped via the score motor as shown here for the Y in yellow. If the Y Trip Relay is tripped its switch CR26-5 will provide the path to the 1000 Point Relay when Score Motor switch 4B closes. In a similar manner as for the first 5 letters, subsequent cams are used for each subsequent letter, 5D for the A, 6B for the G, and 7C for the E.

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On this second Score Motor half-turn after the Score Motor switches 4, 5, 6 and 7 have done their work as described above, then NO SM8A will close and the Outhole Relay will now become energized, since that circuit has been completed by switch CR10-3 on the #1 Bonus Relay and CR11-2 on the #2 Bonus Relay (green circuit). When the Outhole Relay is energized it also immediately closes its lock-in switch CR07-B1 also shown in the green path.

As soon as the Outhole Relay is energized its NC switches CR07-A2 and CR07-A4 will open and this will cut off the lock-in circuits for the #1 and #2 Bonus Relays, causing both of those to now de-energize, so the yellow and blue circuits will become inactive.

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At this point switch CR07-B3 on the Outhole Relay will give the signal to the Score Motor as shown below left to make a third and final half-turn. Now looking at the middle circuit below, as the Score Motor turns, NO SM5A will close and in combination with switch CR08-4 on the Ball Index Relay and switch CR07-A1 on the Outhole Relay this will energize the Ball Count Unit Reset Solenoid. This will cause reduce the Balls To Play by one count. The wiper on the Ball Count Unit Disc will also move, so that the proper number in the backglass will light.

Shortly after this, NO switch SM7A will become closed and this will energize the Outhole Kicker Solenoid through the Outhole Relay switch CR07-B2, causing the ball to be returned to the shooter lane.

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Meanwhile, NC switch CR07-A3 on the Outhole Relay is now open. But the Ball Index Relay is still energized via its lock-in switch CR08-5 and NC SM8E. Shortly after SM7A closes and kicks the ball out, SM8E will open. Now there is no connection for the Ball Index Relay lock-in so it will de-energize.

During this time the Outhole Relay is still being held in via its lock-in switch CR07-B1 by way of NC SM10B. Shortly after SM8E opens and deenergizes the Ball Index Relay SM10B will also open and this will de-energize the Outhole Relay.

At this point everything has stopped and the ball is in the shooter lane, ready to be plunged to start another ball.

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After this Part 5-5 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow.

BonVoyageSchematicPart6-1 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart6-1 (resized).jpg

#43 6 years ago

Bon Voyage EM Pinball Machine - An analysis of how it works. Part 6 BALL DRAINS Part 2

At some point all of the random fun of playing the ball on the playfield will end and the ball will drain into the outhole. For the last part of this process will will cover 5 different scenarios for the ball drain.

Ball drain scenario #3 - last ball in play

On the last ball the first two turns of the Score Motor will proceed in the same way as for other balls. But now, when the Balls To Play Unit is in the 1 position (the last ball) its switch SU06-2, called the Ball Count Unit Zero switch, will change from the Open state to Closed. This will change what happens when the third Score Motor rotation begins.

The very last function at the end of the game is the Match, which adds a credit if the lit match number in the backglass matches the digit on the 10s score reel. The match function is a result of a semi-random process that occurs as the game is played. As was previously described, each time 10 points is scored switch CR40-A3 on the 10 Point Relay will advance the 00-90 Unit Disc, changing which Match Light is in line. If the these two unit discs line up and match each other, then the circuit will be completed when SM3A closes, via the Ball Count Unit Zero switch and the still-closed Ball Index and Outhole relay switches as shown below in yellow. The Credit Unit Step-Up Solenoid will be energized and one credit will be added (unless the Credit Unit is at its maximum setting of 25 in which case the Credit Unit Limit switch will be open and cut this circuit off). Also, if the Match Feature Adjustment Plug is in the OFF position, this circuit will not complete and there will be no credit added if there is in fact a match.

In this part of the schematic we can see the other wires of the 00-90 Unit Disc are connected to the 10-90 Unit Disc, which is mounted on the 10s Score Reel.

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During the course of the game the Match Lights are not lit because they are cut off by switch CR32-4 on the Game Over Relay as shown below. At this instant when the Match is awarded the Game Over relay still has not been tripped.

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Immediately after the Match function is handled by Score Motor switch SM3A SM4A will energize the Game Over Trip Relay through the closed Ball Count Unit Zero switch. This then effectively ends the game via the functions of several switches on the Game Over Trip Relay. This will open NC switch XX which cuts off the power to all of the circuits at the top of the schematic. One effect this has is to immediately deenergize the Outhole Relay which means that the Outhole Kicker Solenoid will not activate. Thus the ball stays sitting in the outhole where it will stay until a new game is started.

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The Game Over Relay switch CR32-4 will change positions and then light up the Match light and also the Game Over light as shown below.

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The Game Over switch CR32-1 changes from its NC position to open, and this cuts off the entire scoring circuitry preventing any type of scoring. One effect this has is to immediately deenergize the Outhole Relay which means that the Outhole Kicker Solenoid will not activate. Thus the ball stays sitting in the outhole where it will stay until a new game is started.CR32-2 also changes from NC to open and this cuts the credit unit.

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Finally, the Game Ovoer switch CR32-3 opens from its NC position and this cuts off the playfield lights for the Score When Lit.

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After this Part 6-2 of the circuit description we have covered the area in the entire schematic that is highlighted in yellow. The entire schematic has been described from beginning to end.

BonVoyageSchematicPart6-2 (resized).jpgBonVoyageSchematicPart6-2 (resized).jpg

Done!

I can't make this picture go away no matter how many times I delete it!

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#44 6 years ago

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1 year later
#45 5 years ago

Thanks for publishing this work, xsvtoys . I've been using this thread extensively over at least the last six months as I work on-and-off to get my Monte Carlo working. The deep dive step-by-step into the startup process was essential to finally getting to reliably start a game every time I push the credit button. The logic you present is sound and applicable beyond your target game (Bon Voyage). A little tip for those who find this thread - some things in startup happen fast; I used the slow-mo video on my phone to watch the ball count stepper which is where the core of my game's issues resided. Slowing things down can really help sort it all out!

For what it's worth, I think the resistor is there to minimize EMF. When designing that circuit, first choose a coil that will drive the lockout mechanism, then pick a resistor that will block just enough voltage so the coil can't pull the mechanism. Lacking the resistor, the step function change in current will cause the EMF to pulsate like the damped motion of a diving board. Maybe the designers found the 'ringing' in the coil could bounce the lockout lever? In that case going from full current to less current reduces the size of the step function and therefore reduces the undesired EMF which would prevent the postulated 'bounce'.

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my replacement LED score displays for model H and model S Skee Ball

#46 5 years ago

Gave the link to this thread to a friend who is a novice at working on EM’s and I am too far away to help on site; he pick up a dead Bon Voyage and in a matter of two days has the game running 100%! Great work “xsvtoys”!

#47 5 years ago
Quoted from rkahr:

Thanks for publishing this work, xsvtoys . I've been using this thread extensively over at least the last six months as I work on-and-off to get my Monte Carlo working. The deep dive step-by-step into the startup process was essential to finally getting to reliably start a game every time I push the credit button. The logic you present is sound and applicable beyond your target game (Bon Voyage). A little tip for those who find this thread - some things in startup happen fast; I used the slow-mo video on my phone to watch the ball count stepper which is where the core of my game's issues resided. Slowing things down can really help sort it all out!
For what it's worth, I think the resistor is there to minimize EMF. When designing that circuit, first choose a coil that will drive the lockout mechanism, then pick a resistor that will block just enough voltage so the coil can't pull the mechanism. Lacking the resistor, the step function change in current will cause the EMF to pulsate like the damped motion of a diving board. Maybe the designers found the 'ringing' in the coil could bounce the lockout lever? In that case going from full current to less current reduces the size of the step function and therefore reduces the undesired EMF which would prevent the postulated 'bounce'.
-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my replacement LED score displays for model H and model S Skee Ball

Great, also I have a Monte Carlo too and yes a lot of it is very similar but being a 4 player a lot is different. Well after a cooling off period from this project I started it all over with MC! I am busy with work and things recently but I hope to start putting it up soon. It will be epic! I improved many things in my descriptions based on what I learned doing BV and I also have a completely redrawn vector schematic for MC. Stay tuned!

#48 5 years ago
Quoted from Pbpins:

Gave the link to this thread to a friend who is a novice at working on EM’s and I am too far away to help on site; he pick up a dead Bon Voyage and in a matter of two days has the game running 100%! Great work “xsvtoys”!

This is awesome to hear, thanks! Hope he is enjoying BV, it's fun to play.

9 months later
#49 4 years ago

Somewhat old thread now, but just wanted to say this is fantastic! It’s pretty much the “ground up” approach that my mind gravitates towards when reading EM schematics.

It would be interesting to see more people contribute these for other games. Perhaps a template could be made from this thread so they all follow the same formatting.

#50 4 years ago
Quoted from LeChuck:

Somewhat old thread now, but just wanted to say this is fantastic! It’s pretty much the “ground up” approach that my mind gravitates towards when reading EM schematics.
It would be interesting to see more people contribute these for other games. Perhaps a template could be made from this thread so they all follow the same formatting.

Thanks! I did do the second one I swore I would never do, for the 4-player Bally Monte Carlo of similar vintage as the Bon Voyage. Have a look at it here if you didn't find it yet. I used a different approach this time but it should all be in there.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/em-pinball-machine-complete-circuit-description-2-bally-monte-carlo

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