Sea Ray
Bally, 1971After weeks of thinking I had dropped some solder or had a closed leaf switch and giving everything the "big inspection" with the "big-inspection-thick-glasses" I came across this: a short on the trunk cable as it passed around the bonus unit. I guess after years of vibrating, the sharp corner ate through the wire insulation and was wreaking havoc on game play. How often does this come up? Should I now look for this as you look for the usual suspects affecting game play?
I've seen that happen in DMD games as well.
A GI wire rubbed up against a solenoid lug. The edge of the lug was sharp enough over many years, it cut through the plastic coat.
Glad you found it!
faz
Yes, if a game has a short I usually look for this sort of thing. I've had a couple like that where the wiring harness is worn where it makes a sharp bend. Lifting the playfield over the years on a Teacher's Pet I had caused some wear through the harness where it turned toward the back of the machine. It kept spotting me a letter and it took me awhile to figure out why.
Quoted from balzofsteel:Anything" is possible.
Yep. Had 2 broken ground wires, bad spring tension, and other fun stuff on the last Gottlieb Bonus Unit I worked on. 
Ken
Target Alpha, kept blowing the 25v fuse during game play. left door open one time saw big blue sparks near tilt board... one wire to a flipper coil had rubbed against a sharp edge of the ball roll tilt piece, shorted when flipper energized, sometimes...
So yea, always nice to find these after hours of searching...
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Marblehead, MA