EOS on that score reel not opening would be the first thing I'd check. Second make sure nothing was binding mechanically.
Alex

Maybe check the Score Motor switch that controls the 100 Point Relay just to be cover the bases while your at it.

Ken

The obvious question here is, the coil is magnetically holding or mechanically holding? When you try to manually release or when you turn the machine off, does it let go?
Changing the return spring will make no difference if the coil is staying energised. If you have a schematic locate the 100 point RE and check the switches under the coil.

Chris

I had the same problem with the 1000 relay on my gulfstream.

Sounds silly, but all I did was actuate the relay by hand (power off, course) a bunch of times and it doesn't "stick" anymore.

Thinking maybe the contact that breaks the connection to de-energize the coil was dirty and by pushing the relay repeatedly, the wiping action of the leaf blades cleaned the contact enough.

My swinger had the same problem a few months ago. On mine one of the wires going to the switchstack on the reel had broken loose. The 70 williams are bad about the solder breaking at the switch. Mine was hard to tell untill I tugged on it (very lightly)

Another point of failure in this trouble is the player unit.

The Player Unit disk contact which makes to the score reel solenoid can get dirty/malfunction and prevent the score reel solenoid from pulling in. The relay will pull in and hold, waitig for the score reel EOS switch to open, which doesn't happen.

My 4 player Space Mission had the same issue and I had to remove the Player Unit disk and clean all the contacts with #1000 sandpaper in the direction of travel, then put a very thin bit of Teflon grease on them before reassembly.
Solved.

Steve and others. Not to hijack this thread but I am experiencing the same problem with my strato flight with the 1000 point relay. I checked all the wires, but once the 1000 fires, the chime and coils lock in. If I either open the bonus count end of switch it ends.

Also, I manually actuated the player stepper in the back box when it locked and it locks on all 4 players, which I am guessing indicates its not the score reels in the back box, which were cleaned.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

See if you have a 1000 pt switch stuck on the pf

-Jeff

I had a magnetism problem with a relay once. To fix it i took the relay apart and tapped on the plate with a hammer. Then I cleaned both the plate and the half moon metal pieces on the coil with mean green. This made sure that the surface was nice and clean. Next I sanded both the plate and the metal contacts on the coil with 400, 600, then 800 to remove any potential burs that would cause the relay to mechanically bind. After that i heated the plate with a torch till it was nice and hot. After it cooled I cleaned it again with mean green and reassembled. The problem went away.

Thanks for the ideas way2wyrd and bitzknocker. It was actually a misadjusted pulse reset switch on the score motor. It was making contact all the time, and when the 1000 fired eventually it was completing the circuit and sticking.

After that fix the Strato-Flite is now playable and just needs a few more minor fixes. I appreciate the help.

Awesome. Glad you found the problem.

Need more assistance if possible, please. I have an old machine w/same problems. I have the schematics BUT I do not know where the 1000 pt relay physically resides in the machine? Can you help at all? thank you

I think its in the head.