It looks like you have the original battery still installed on the mpu. It may have leaked a bit. In any case, I'd clip off the battery and get a good look at both sides of the mpu. It looks like it's automatically score 5,000 points twice right away and it awards the 1 and 2 balls immediately even though the drop targets are up. Could be a number of things but definitely get a good look at the mpu. Also make sure all to do the usual bulletproofing upgrades on the rectifier board and solenoid driver board as well. Lots of connectors will need to be re-pinned/replaced to get it working reliably. Great game, good luck with it!

I think the game saying 3 ball upon power up is normal, letting you know the machine is set to 3 balls per game. Mine says 5 ball, and is set as such.

The 'saucer sound' is the normal background sound, it speeds up as you play a ball. You can turn that off in the software settings using the button inside the coin door as well as choose an alternate set of sound effects or just artificial chimes.

Post a couple pics of the boards in the backbox and i can point out the battery for you. It may not even be a problem at the moment, sounds like some of the things you're hearing are normal. Can you push the button on the coin door to cycle through the diagnostic tests?

Here's the battery on the mpu board:
1090364191.png

You may not need to remove it immediately, but they're well known to leak and damage the board. A nice alternative is to install an NVRAM chip in place of the RAM chip on the mpu (if the chip is socketed, otherwise you'll need to remove the old chip and install a socket first). Alternatives to nvram include installing a coin-style battery & holder or a memory capacitor in place where the battery was originally installed.

Connector problems are pretty common on games from this generation. Try removing the 2 connectors on the right side of the mpu and plug them back in, then try the red button mounted on the coin door again. We want to get into diagnostics if possible.

Your credit/ball displays look readable so - after the game has booted up okay, hitting the red button until the ball in play reads '18' should put you in the sound adjustments. Then choose from the four options of sound/background by selecting '00' thru '03' by pushing the credit button.

Sounds all sound correct to me, besides the ball that is scoring at game startup. Stop by and play mine if you want to check!

Every time you complete “deluxe” in the game it turns on one light on the “deluxe” on the backbox. So it will never be fully lit up

You might want to pull the lamp board and reflow all the header pins. I am restoring a Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man machine and they use the same lamp board, almost all the header pins had cold or broken solder joints. Also reflow the header pins on the power supply, look for the stacked capacitors located on the top right next to the header. If you see a .1 disc capacitor soldered to a 2.0 capacitor make sure the connection is good, I found the .1 was loose on mine and it was causing phantom switch closures and MPU reboots. It looks like the S&T board has had a full cap kit installed which will save you tons of time in troubleshooting!

For someone "not proficient at pins" you're coming along splendidly!

Sounds like you're on the right track, I'd go ahead and re-flow the headers on the lamp board as suggested above. Bally's are also known for crappy light sockets (sometimes) so watch out for that too. In this case, could possibly be a cold solder joint on the header or bad connection for that lamp on the female connector to the lamp board...or bad SCR on the lamp board.

Yep, that's the one.

Edit: It leads to scr Q25, btw.

Great stuff, man! Eight Ball Deluxe is a game i *will* own someday. Easily one of my all-time favorites. It would be really nice next to my Nine Ball...

Enjoy it!